BTB Fest Entertainment

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is based on the first of a series of books by author Rick Riordan and is aimed at young teens, particularly boys. The series proposes that the Greek Gods are alive and kicking in the modern world, more specifically operating out of a new Mount Olympus in Manhattan.

Well now, here’s the story. A New York teenager Percy (Logan Lerman) who is living with single mom Sally (Catherine Keener) and her no-good boyfriend Gabe Ugliano (Joe Pentoliano). What Percy has never known is that his real father is Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), the Greek god of the oceans. So Percy is a demi-god, son of a god and a human.

Being the son of the lord of the ocean and of earthquakes has some great advantages, like the ability to manipulate and control water. Percy meets with fellow demigods, centaurs, satyrs and other very-much-alive creatures of Ancient Greek Myth and even manages to rub shoulders with a few gods and a rather intimidating prophecy.

The characters are much as you would expect and the film-makers have done a good job casting the trio of young leads, though fans have already expressed their opinions about changes in the ages of the characters and the look of both Grover and Annabelle.

Lady Gaga won all three Brit Awards she was nominated for this evening including International Breakthrough Act, International Female Solo Artist and International Album. The Spice Girls picked up a special BRITs Hits award for having the most memorable performance over the last 30 years. The pop fivesome beat out the likes of The Who, Pet Shop Boys, Michael Jackson, Coldplay and Scissor Sisters, and nabbed the honor for their 1997 performance of “Wannabe/Who Do you Think You Are.”

Besides Lady Gaga, the only other stateside artist to win a Brit Award was Jay-Z, who was named International Male Solo Artist.

Full list of winners at the BRIT awards 2010:
British Male Solo Artist – Dizzee Rascal
British Female Solo Artist – Lily Allen
British Breakthrough Act – JLS
British Group – Kasabian
British Album – ‘Lungs’, Florence and the Machine
British Single – ‘Beat Again’, JLS
BRITs performance of 30 years – ‘Wannabe/Who Do You Think You Are’, Spice Girls
International Male Solo Artist – Jay-Z
International Female Solo Artist – Lady Gaga
International Breakthrough Act – Lady Gaga
International Album – ‘The Fame’ Lady Gaga
BRITs Album of 30 Years – ‘What’s The Story (Morning Glory) – Oasis
Outstanding Contribution to Music – Robbie Williams

The most committed of the revelers in the southern US city began gathering on parade routes on a freezing Monday night to camp out ready for the big event.

“We’re back!” Lawton Fabacher, 29, a native New Orleanian said as she sprayed gray paint on a replica of the Saints Super Bowl trophy before a parade Sunday night. Tens of thousands of spectators dressed in Valentine-red mingled with Saints fans attired in team colors of black-and-gold, mixed in with traditional Carnival colors of purple, green and gold. Despite near-freezing temperatures overnight, hundreds of ladders and tents lined the streetcar tracks of the historic avenue. Their owners camped out in anticipation of a full morning of parades, marching bands and floats.

Also known as “fat Tuesday,” this pre-Lenten festival is celebrated in Roman Catholic countries and communities. In a strict sense, Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, is celebrated by the French as the last of the three days of Shrovetide and is a time of preparation immediately before Ash Wednesday and the start of the fast of Lent. Mardi Gras is thus the last opportunity for merrymaking and indulgence in food and drink. In practice, the festival is generally celebrated for one full week before Lent. Mardi Gras is marked by spectacular parades featuring floats, pageants, elaborate costumes, masked balls, and people dancing in the streets.

Valentine’s Day works in the tradition of last year’s February romantic success story, and Love Actually, a British dramatic rom-com that jump-started the technique of applying multiple love stories in a film. That way, if one story doesn’t work, you have multiple other chances to still enjoy the movie.

“Valentine’s Day” is set in Los Angeles where love and heartbreaks are intertwined all within those 24 hours. Florist Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) proposes to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba) and he is all excited about it. His best friend Julia (Jennifer Garner) is having an affair with Dr Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey), while talent agent in training Josh Morris (Topher Grace) has just met the receptionist Liz (Anne Hathaway), who moonlights as a phone sex entertainer.

Meanwhile 10-year-old Edison (Bryce Robinson) who is one of Julia’s pupils, wants to send flowers to his Valentine; his grandparents Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) and Edgar (Hector Elizondo) also have a surprise after being married for so long. And up in the air, an off-duty soldier (Julia Roberts) travels from afar just to spend one day with someone she loves.

Guns N’ Roses played their second private show in New York City on Valentine’s Day and narrowly escaped disaster.

The private Valentine’s Day concert was the hottest ticket in town, with a handpicked crowd including the Strokes’ Fabrizio Moretti and Albert Hammond Jr., Ryan Phillippe, Zoe Kravitz, Josh Lucas, Yigal Azrouel and Sophia Bush, who all packed into the Rose Bar for the DeLeon Tequila-sponsored first of Khan’s series of intimate concerts.

Guns N’ Roses played for two hours for 150 guests, finishing up at 3 a.m. before moving the party upstairs with a group of model and rocker friends until 6 a.m.

A witness reports, “The man walked in while Guns N’ Roses was onstage and pulled out a knife and flicked the blade out. Sebastian, who was standing on a banquette said: ‘Nobody is getting anywhere near my man Axl Rose with a knife,’ and went after him. Security then immediately threw him out.

The band played for two hours at the Nur Khan’s Rose Bar Sessions. Mickey Rourke, Sophia Bush and Josh Lucas were in attendance.

Thousands of film-lovers (and film-loving journalists) descend on Berlin every year for the Berlin International Film Festival, which opened this afternoon with the world premiere of Wang Quan’an’s “Tuan Yuan” (”Apart Together”).

The film is a love story as well as a study of the contrasts– generational, cultural, architectural– in modern China. “Apart Together” examines both the joy and pain wrought by reunification, a theme that makes it a fitting choice for the 60th Berlinale. The city of Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall last year. “People are less demonstrative about their feelings in China,” said Wang, “but the longing to be together is the same everywhere.”

Reitmeier, who doesn’t speak any Mandarin but has collaborated with Wang on three films including “Apart Together,” said that there was a conscious decision to make the film look like a theatre piece– hence the multiple scenes around the table or in small apartment bedrooms.

The film’s warm, domestic tableaux seemed to sooth the press who had come in from the cold– light snow and low-20 degree temperatures  are certainly perfect movie-going weather. And if you use your imagination, snowy Potsdamer Platz in the middle of Berlin looks a bit like hazy Shanghai.

Special Forces Army Sergeant John Tyree (Channing Tatum) is home on a two-week leave from Germany. He meets Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah’s purse that had fallen off the pier. John is smitten by Savannah and falls in love at first sight. Savannah is a college student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is on spring break and is helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Military service in this movie is strictly an opportunity to engage in passionate correspondence of the old-fashioned snail mail kind. Savannah and John exchange declarations of love and loyalty revealed to us in voice-overs. But just when John’s remaining year of service is over, the 9/11 attacks happen. Poor John! Duty calls. His squad members, after a weekend during which John goes all the way back from some top secret exotic country to Charleson, all decide to re-up for duty in Afghanistan, and he can’t desert them.

For the first time, the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences has expanded the Best Picture category to ten nominations. Golden Globe Awards, which precedes the Oscars on the calendar, has ten nominations as well.  However, the Golden Globes divides the movies by genre – there are two Best Picture categories, one for drama, and the other for comedy and musical films.

The expansion of the nominations has been controversial.  The artistic side of the movie making business has expressed fears that expanding the number of nominations will dilute the quality of the nominees in favor of quantity.  In some years, it has been argued, even with just five nominations; some of the honorees have been less than stellar.

The reasoning given for doubling the number of Best Picture nominees is too many “great” movies are being excluded from the competition. In other words the controversy of 2008’s most popular and commercially successful movie “The Dark Knight” being snubbed in the Best Picture race. That issue is tied into the true reasons for the change which are money and television ratings. The Academy has finally realized the prime target audience of young viewers are not watching because popular blockbuster hits like “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” are never nominated.

Sandra Bullock, more popularly known as Hollywood’s sweetheart, admitted to being scared after the Oscar nominations were announced.

“It scares me more than anything, because you think, ‘What do I do now? What do I do now that I don’t step backwards – I step forward’,” she told Access Hollywood. “I feel like because of this honor and what I’ve been given these last couple of months, I really have an obligation not to step back even the smallest bit.”

However, unlike other actresses who lose sleep over their red-carpet gowns Bullock seemed pretty chilled out about her Academy Awards gown saying, “I’m relaxed about it because it’s someone else’s job to finely stitch thousands of pleats into a gorgeous thing to make you look divine,” at the Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon.

With less than three weeks to go until the Oscars, the ever-laid back Sandra Bullock admits she still isn’t sure what she’s going to wear — not that she’s stressed about it.

“Look, if I have to wear a trash bag I’ll belt it with rhinestones and I’ll make it work, but I’m not panicking for some reason because there are so many beautiful things out [there] that someone will not want to wear and I’ll get it. But there’s one I saw that’s just a work of art.”

Avatar took home the award for Best Film Drama, while Cameron won Best Director.

The Best Actress prizes went to Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep, while Robert Downey Jr and Jeff Bridges took home the equivalent male awards.

The ceremony was hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais. Read a full list of winners and red carpet pictures below.

Film:

Best Motion Picture (Drama) – Avatar
Best Actress (Drama) – Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Actor (Drama) – Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Pictuer (Comedy or Musical) – The Hangover
Best Actress (Comedy or Musical) – Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Best Actor (Comedy or Musical) – Robert Downey Jr, Sherlock Holmes
Best Animated Feature – Up
Best Foreign Language Film – The White Ribbon (Germany)
Best Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Director – James Cameron, Avatar
Best Screenplay -  Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Best Original Score -  Michael Giacchino, Up
Best Original Song – The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), Crazy Heart

TV: