Joyin

( Lots Of JRM )

( Fashion in Italy )

Clive Reshooting in London
( Bag Man )

( Dark Suit )

Clive Owen at the Rufus Wainwright gig at Kenwood House.. London, England - 05.07.08


( Lets Rock )

Wishing Him A Wonderful Day ...filled with All He Loves

( So Mr Cool )

Gerry at Fashion Week in Italy



( Trend Setter )

World Exclusive RocknRolla Trailer



Guy Ritchie is back in his old stomping ground with RocknRolla. The Lock, Stock... and Snatch director has returned to the world of dodgy dealers, shady scams and back-stabbing that made his name, with a story of a tale of Russian mobsters running amok in the Big Smoke.

Featuring Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven and The Wire's Idris Elba amongst the cast, the film is out on 5th September but we have the world exclusive look at the first trailer for you right here,

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=22795

Dark matter
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
The Pillowman has been garnering rave reviews upstairs at Belvoir Street Theatre for over three weeks now. Star Marton Csokas sat down with Garrett Bithell.

One of the blackest of black comedies ever written for the stage, Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman has been taking Sydney’s theatre community by the throat upstairs at Belvoir Street since June 4. Hot on the heels of his sensational Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the play marks Craig Illot’s directorial debut for Company B.

Set in an unnamed totalitarian state, the play follows the brutal interrogation of a largely unpublished writer called Katurian after a series of child murders in his town mimic the plots of his short stories.

“It’s not a very pleasant world,” Marton Csokas, who plays Tupolski, one of the sardonic policemen who interrogate Katurian, tells SX. “It’s an absurd world and a severe place to inhabit and yet, because of that, an immense amount of humour comes out.

“Katurian has a sense of humour and rebellious attitude in order to counter the misplaced crimes and the misplaced guilt that are put on him.”

The Pillowman is a challenging text. McDonagh has confronted the theme of artistic legacy – the importance of what we leave behind and whether it should be more important than what we do here and now, and ultimately the issue of literature’s ability to outlast tyranny.

“For some people it’s confronting and of course we’re all different, so I’m not keen to hype that up,” Marton says. “My personal opinion is that the more frightening, the more ludicrous, the more repressive the totalitarian regime is, the more liberating the laughter will be.

“The absurdity, the hollowness, the futility, eventually becomes so despairing and so unbearable that you laugh. And that’s where humour is our saviour.

“It’s imperative that we embrace the things we don’t like about ourselves – the overwhelming fear that can envelop us, the despair, the meaninglessness – not fight them, or look for the sunny side all the time, or run away from them. Embrace it – and from there comes the joy as opposed to escapism.”

The Pillowman had its world premiere in 2003 at the Royal National Theatre, and subsequently received the 2004 Olivier Ward and an Evening Standard Award nomination for Best New Play. McDonagh’s other plays include The Lonesome West and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and his short film Six Shooter won an Academy Award in 2006.

Marton received wide acclaim upstairs at Belvoir Street last year for his role as George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? He is also an accomplished film actor, recently starring in Aeon Flux, The Lord of the Rings and The Bourne Supremacy.

“In film, some people go out of their way to fuck you up,” he says. “It’s an interesting exploration of human behaviour. You get egos at work and they’re like viruses and it’s not pleasant. But having said that, when you’re on good film it’s hard to beat.

“What I like about the theatre is that usually the writer has toiled and laboured, and the ideas are oftentimes of greater substance and it has levels and layers. Coupled with that you have the live experience, which very enjoyable – well, sometimes it’s more enjoyable than others!”

British actor Clive Owen poses for photographers before the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2009 men's collection how during Milan Fashion Week June 24, 2008.

( The Coat )

( Bare Chest )

( Ï )

( Need to take this Call )

As you can see I now have 4 autographed from Marton ..who is as always a very gracious actor
taking time to talk and sign my program and a great memory ...he meantion the first time we meet. Hopefully I will see him on stage one more time this year :D

One of the most stunning pieces of theatre I have seen in the last few years , well written and delievered, disturbingly wonderful,the stage production amazing
All the actors in this production are truly gifted ...great cast !!
Marton's timing and facial expressions; had whole the theatre laughing.

John McCallum | June 06, 2008
The Pillowman
By Martin McDonagh. Company B. Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, June 4. Tickets: $54. Bookings: (02) 9699 3444. Until July 13.

THIS dark fairytale, about the fate of a writer of dark fairytales, is stuffed full of ideas but it is curiously disengaged from the real world. It is set in an imaginary police state but has little to do with politics or power. It includes the details of several gruesome child murders, told in a sort of jolly Grand Guignol style but, for all its black comedy, it isn't very disturbing, which is a bit disturbing.

Martin McDonagh's play opens with the writer, Katurian, being tortured by two comic policemen who are interested in the mysterious and evocative Borges-like fables he writes. It soon becomes clear that they are investigating a series of murders that seem to be based on his stories. He has a simple-minded brother whom they are apparently torturing in the next room. Beyond that I won't say anything because the plot depends on a series of revelations that make up much of the interest.

Craig Ilott's production treads the line between comedy and horror without bringing the two together, except in brief moments in the powerful emotional relationship between Katurian and his troubled brother Michal, played very well respectively by Damon Herriman and Steve Rodgers.

Marton Csokas and Dan Wyllie, as the policemen whose vaudevillean relationship parallels the serious relationship of their victims, are funny, and they have some great nasty lines of dialogue and business. But their characters are based on a comic-duo stereotype that is simplistic parody.

The brilliant set design by Nicholas Dare creates a bleak prison interrogation room, with long walls of grey concrete bricks that keep suddenly opening to show, in bright colour and a mockingly fantastical style, the scenes of horror.

In one of the best of these reveals is a most beautifully staged murder but it turns out to be just another story.
Jethro Woodward's fine sound design is understated and brooding, swelling in volume in some scenes to alert us that all is not well.
We listen to many of Katurian's dark stories, which he is obsessed with passing on to the world, at the cost of his life if necessary.
At one point he refers to his work, perhaps self-mockingly, as "somethingesque". The word sums up McDonagh's glib style. It has no voice of its own, it's all pastiche, and yet it purports to have something to say about violence against children.



SEE Next 2 post for pics ..A must see piece of theatre

No story is ever just a story. The stories we tell reflect our life experiences, even if we are not aware how. For these stories to come out, a writer will often have to go through shit. Sometimes, a whole lifetime of shit.

Anyone who saw playwright Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Belvoir St Theatre in 2003 is unlikely to forget it. Bodies were hacked to pieces with more blood than a Tarantino flick. McDonagh's The Pillowman is a lot less bloody but no less horrific.

Katurian (Damon Herriman) has been detained by detectives Ariel (Dan Wyllie) and Tupolski (Marton Csokas). The detectives have 400 of his stories in their possession. The treatment of kids in these stories make Bill Henson’s photography look like happy snaps. Kids have been killed as described in the stories and Katurian, along with his retarded brother Michal, are the main suspects.

Katurian does not usually write about his own life. The one exception is the tale of a boy who was doted on by his parents as he began to write. Next door, his brother was constantly tortured for seven years. Gradually the stories became darker.

Plays that examine the nature of writing can become self indulgent and pretentious. This is not the case here. Each of us can reflect on the events that have made us who we are. Would it be better if we hadn’t lived through the darkest times?

McDonagh once again shows us his unique blend of black comedy and sheer terror. The banter of the detectives is reminiscent of Tom Stoppard, jumbled and slightly absurd. McDonagh knows how to use a running gag as a tension breaker and the gags never outstay their welcome.

All performances are outstanding. Wyllie adds roughness and a touch of sarcasm to Ariel. Herriman is warm and genuine as Katurian. While Steve Rodgers shows just the right amount of naivety as Michal.

At approximately 2 hours 40 minutes it is worth the late night. The blend of comedy and horror makes this playwriting at its best. Members of the Sydney constabulary should see this play before raiding any more art galleries.

( Large Pic Inside , Plus Some )

Thanks to MCN for theses great pic's of Marton in Rehearsal
http://www.marton-csokas.net

( Mr Woof )