U2 Hellas

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

U2's Larry Mullen Jr. Heads to Cannes as the 'Man on the Train'

The drummer is about to take a turn in the spotlight as a star, producer and composer of the crime drama.

When it comes to U2's public face, it's usually Bono and The Edge in the spotlight. But Larry Mullen Jr. -- one of the band's "quiet ones" -- is about to take a turn.
The drummer is set to make his film debut as a star, producer and composer of the crime drama Man on the Train, which Sierra / Affinity and Preferred Content will be selling in Cannes next month. The film also stars Donald Sutherland, Graham Greene, Tony Nardi, Carlo Rota and Kate O'Toole in an adaptation of Patrice Leconte's 2002 film L'Homme du Train, about a retired small town school-teacher (Sutherland) prepping for open-heart surgery who crosses paths with a stranger (Mullen Jr.) planning to rob the local bank.
Mary McGuckian (The Bridge of San Luis Rey) directed the film and produced with Mullen Jr. and Martin Katz. Jon Goodman served as executive producer. The film is an Irish-Canadian co-production produced in association with Windmill Lane Pictures in Ireland and Maple Pictures in Canada.

source : http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

U2.COM : Next Up - Mexico!

Thirteen years ago Mexico City was the scene of a legendary live show by U2.

PopMart was the tour, and that 'sci-fi disco supermarket' was caught for ever in the live DVD PopMart (Live From Mexico City).

One of the stand-out tracks on the 2007 tour was Even Better Than The Real Thing, recently reimagined to open the U2 360° in South America.

Here's what Even Better Than The Real Thing was like on PopMart.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Bono battles to save troubled 'Spider-Man' with drastic revamp

U2 frontman Bono is on his way to New York to perform a drastic revamp on the troubled 'Spider-Man' musical which has already cost $70m (€49.1m).
After a critical mauling, the lights have gone out on 'Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark' for the next three weeks while rehearsals begin for a new version of the show.
The production is the most expensive Broadway show ever staged, and despite a record 140 previews, it has never officially opened. It has been plagued by technical problems and producers are now putting the finishing touches to a revised version of the show, which they hope will be more crowd-pleasing and easier to understand.

Stories About Boys

Four of U2's original inner circle recall the band's eventful early days in Dublin.

Frank Kearns (Frankie Corpse & The Undertakers, The Modulators, Cactus World News)

Larry Mullen was my mate when I was in Mount Temple. When he was having the guys around the kitchen for that very first audition I was hanging around. We'd sit down and watch them come in and they'd practice, playing songs like Peter Frampton's 'Show Me The Way'. The guys were playing songs they could play easily. Then somebody brought in a distortion pedal and they played 'The Boys Are Back In Town' which I thought was brilliant.

U2's secret '"concert" in Brazil!

April 14, 2011 at Sao Paulo, Brazil

Venue: Bar Secreto

Main Set: Let's Dance, Miss You, The Wild Rover, Psycho Killer

Comments: Bono, Edge, and Larry sing a few songs at a party in the early morning hours following the last show of U2's South American tour. We're not sure the order of songs. Larry sings The Wild Rover a cappella. Edge sings Let's Dance with Larry and Dom (from Muse) on drums, and sings Miss You with local guitarists. Bono sings Psycho Killer also with Larry and Dom on drums. It's part of a regular Wednesday event at the bar called 'This Is Not A Karaoke' where real musicians play while song lyrics show on a screen in front of the singer.

source : http://www.u2tours.com/

Bono's daughter Eve set for Cannes debut

BONO's daughter Eve Hewson will join Hollywood veterans Sean Penn and Frances McDormand in the French Riviera next month after the Irish-made film 'This Must Be The Place' was chosen to compete at the 64th Cannes Film Festival.
The film will compete for the coveted Palme d'Or with 19 other films in the Official Competition -- regarded as the most prestigious category.
The so-called "indie" film co-stars Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, Hollywood actor Judd Hirsch and Irish actor Simon Delaney. Directed by the Italian Paolo Sorrentino, it stars Penn as a fading 50-year-old Goth rock star living off his royalties in Dublin.
Eve Hewson (19) co-stars as a young Goth punk fan who befriends Penn.
And despite her famous father's Hollywood connections, it was her talents alone that landed her the role, said Dublin-based Element Pictures producer Ed Guiney.
"She auditioned along with a lot of other people but it was utterly on her own merits that she got the role," he told the Irish Independent last night.

- Allison Bray

source : http://www.independent.ie/