Casillas: "I would be surprised if Ronaldo didn't win the Ballon d'Or"

Iker Casillas, in a publicity event, has made his preferences for the Ballon d'Or known: "My first vote has been for Ronaldo. I would be surprised if he didn't win it this year because his goal tally is out of this world".

After making public his preferences, he added that "to know who the others have voted for, you´ll have to wait until January".

"Ronaldo deserves it because he is having an amazing year. I would be surprised if he wasn't given it, although we all have our own criteria. Some of us value titles more, others playing style, but for me, it's about goals. Scoring more than 90 from 80 games is out of this world", he said.

Casillas assured that his priority at the moment is to get back to being a starter for 'Los Blancos': "I'm not thinking about the World Cup, but about doing things well for my club, in training better and being ready for my manager. Playing for the national team is now behind me - we classified for the World Cup a while back and now what I have to do is play well for my club as in this way I'll continue playing for Spain."

"I fight to be the starting goalkeeper. You should never throw in the towel, but train more, work harder and fight for the position", he explained.

Asked about his relationship with Mourinho, Casillas said that "it has been a pleasure to have worked" with the Portuguese. "I prefer to remember the good things, and not think about the same old things all the time. If I see him, I will offer him my hand; you'll have to ask him and see what he has to say", he added.

"I have had nothing to do with any comments in public against Mourinho, at least as far as I can remember", he finished by saying.

The people have already chosen the Ballon d'Or winner"

RUBÉN JIMÉNEZ 11/22/2013

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Ronaldo fever is gripping the world. Following his outstanding performance in the play-offs against Sweden, the whole planet has spoken out as one and come out in support of the Real Madrid player in his bid to win the Ballon d'Or.

From Rajoy to Ronaldinho, including publications such as L'Equipe or La Gazzetta, the vast majority of those asked responded in the same way: "The best player in the world? Cristiano Ronaldo".

The Spanish prime minister also expressed his support for the Real Madrid star: "If I had a vote, I'd give it to Cristiano Ronaldo". Those closest to the Portuguese player are in little doubt: "The people have already chosen the Ballon d’Or winner".

Aamir Khan A Picture Of Confidence, Among 100 Most Influential People

MUMBAI: Bollywood star Aamir Khan, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Malala Yousafzai, Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis, has been identified as one of the ’100 Most Influential People In The World’ by Time Magazine.

Aamir Khan has been named as a “Pioneer” on Time magazine’s 2013 list. Aamir’s TV serial ‘Satyamev Jayate’ examined many social and economic issues in India – like female foeticide, child sexual abuse, medical malpractices, water harvesting etc. The show had a wide-spread effect on the society, and even resulted in the state government setting up fast track courts to resolve female foeticide cases. Time said of Khan  in 2012, “He’s breaking the Bollywood mould by tackling India’s social evils. Can one actor change a nation?”

“He uses his gifts as a charmer to give his audience the most bitter medicine. Hypnotized, we take it without complaint. That’s Aamir’s magic at work,” said A.R. Rahman praising Aamir. The Oscar singer also noted that ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was not intended to provide solutions but to ask hard questions, the kind society is often reluctant to address. “By showing the courage to ask those questions, Aamir has started a movement that will help change the world in which Indians live. Jai ho!,” Rahman said.

Aamir also graced the cover of the magazine – one of the seven versions made for this special topic. Looking straight into camera, exuding confidence, Aamir charms the viewer in his black turtle-neck t-shirt.

Jay-Z (Singer) and Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook), P Chidambaram (Finance Minister) were named “titans” emphasizing on their strength. Malala Yousafzai (15 year old, Pakistani activist), Daniel Day-Lewis (actor) and Justin Timberlake (singer) were named as “icons” for strongly representing a cause, and Jennifer Lawrence (actor) and Steven Spielberg (film-maker) were named “artists”.

Will Smith Too Expensive For ‘Independence Day’ Sequel

Smith shared the screen space with Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman in the movie, which revolved around alien invasion, was a blockbuster of its time.

“Will Smith cannot come back because he’s too expensive, but he’d also be too much of a marquee name. It would be too much,” nydailynews.com quoted Emmerich as saying.

“We have like maybe half of the people that you… would know from the first film (in the script) and the other half (are) people who are new,” he added.

TRAILER: ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ – Leonardo DiCaprio Takes Wall Street By Storm

The master of modern cinema is back with a bang with ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’. Martin Scorsese gets together with his golden boy Leonardo DiCaprio to film a movie about the life of fraudulent Wall Street stock broker Jordan Belfort who was convicted for crimes related to stock market manipulations. In ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’, Martin Scorsese also gets along Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey for the ride.

‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ trailer begins by setting up Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Jordan Belfort as a pompous, flamboyant and rich stock broker who believes in making money and having fun. Some may feel that this is a repeat of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character from ‘The Great Gatsby’, but Jordan Belfort doesn’t look as troubled as Jay Gatsby. Jordan Belfort is the type of character who is ashamed because he just made slightly lesser than $1 million per week. He also unashamedly asks FBI agents to have some booze, and when they deny it, he showers money on them.

Jonah Hill looks to be Leonardo DiCaprio’s partner in crime in ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’, even taping money over a woman in a swimsuit. The trailer is choke-full with such absurd imagery. At one point in the trailer, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character throws lobsters at the FBI agents and then later carries around a chimpanzee while Jonah Hill’s character tries to eat a goldfish.

In fact, it seems the only sane person in this trailer for ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ is Matthew McConaughey’s character, but he too is still bizarre, especially in the last moments of the trailer where he gets Leonardo DiCaprio to thump his chest along with him.

‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ trailer is cut slickly to the rhythm of Kanye West’s new song ‘Black Skinhead’, and what a great feel that gives the trailer. The hip-hop song goes really well with depicting the excess of a person who earned almost $1 million a week when he was 26 years of age.

‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ releases tentatively in November, 2013, right in time for next year’s Oscar contention. Till then, enjoy watching the trailer over and over again just for Leonardo DiCaprio’s dance moves.

Sony Motion Pictures Trim Film Slate, Less Summer Releases

Sony Motion Pictures is planning to trim its film slate by reducing its number of summer movie releases in 2014 from nine to four.

Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group attributed the decision to slash movies to an increasingly crowded summer and made the announcement on Thursday, November 21, 2013 during the Sony Entertainment Investor Day in Los Angeles.

Pascal also spoke of a refined green lighting process that will lead to about eighteen movies a year, whereas Sony has typically released about twenty off films annually.

At the event, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton promised a significant shift from motion pictures to higher margin television production and networks and he told investors that he is looking at reducing about $250 million in costs over the next two years.

Sony is now also looking at keeping the shooting days to a minimum and get the most out of tax incentives. They are also looking at the possibility of cutting about $100 million in annual costs with the help of consulting firm Bain & Co.

Sony Motion Pictures has strong talent relationships with the likes of Will Smith, Adam Sandler,Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, Justin Timberlake, Katherine Bigelow and others, and would expect such names to meet Sony’s standards for profitability.

During the presentation, executives seemed to be addressing specific cost-control concerns famously raised recently by Daniel Loeb, an activist shareholder who owns a seven percent stake in Sony.

Sony Pictures Entertainment CFO David Hendler, further stressed financial discipline at the film studio. He promised more aggressive profit thresholds and a methodical examination of every line item. Hendler also said the studio would penalize talent for budget overruns and he promised further reductions in theatrical marketing, including media, print and outdoor.

IT’S OFFICIAL! Dhanush, Akshara, Big B In R Balki’s Next

From the past couple of days there have been a lot of speculations about what R Balki is upto post Paa. Finally, he has locked his star cast that marks the debut of Kamal Haasan and Sarika’s younger daughter Akshara Haasan. Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush would also be part of this project.

There has been a lot of buzz regarding Akshara Haasan’s Bollywood film debut, who was busy studying music and filmmaking till now. She felt that she was not cut for being behind the camera.

Sarika even put Akshara on to her friend Rahul Dholakia with whom she has worked in films, Parzania and Society, so that she could learn direction. Akshara will finally make her big screen debut.

“R Balki spotted Akshara, which she was assisting Rahul Dholakia. He offered her a role in his new film. And Akshara took the plunge,” says a family friend of Kamal Haasan.

Interestingly Akshara is paired with Dhanush in Balki’s film. Dhanush is a dear friend of Akshara’s sister Shruti, and also the son-in-law of Kamal Haasan’s arch-rival Rajinikanth.

While Dhanush and Akshara would star opposite one another, the stellar role is played by Big B in Balki’s proposed film which starts next month.

Kamal Haasan had said a while ago, “She has assisted Mr Rahul Dholakia. I think she is more keen on filmmaking than acting. Every time Akshara stands behind the camera and says, ‘This is where I want to be’, I am reminded of myself. I started behind the camera and gradually moved to the front. Maybe she too will do so. But not right now.”

Dhanush made his mark in Bollywood with Anand Rai’s Raanjhanaa and is very excited to be a part of this yet to be titled project. “My next Hindi film is with Balki Sir and I am every excited about it. Also, it would be a privilege to share screen space with Big B himself,” posted Dhanush on his Twitter page.

R Balki first made his mark in Bollywood in the year 2007 with Cheeni Kum with Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu, followed by Paa in 2009 with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan. Post this he took a break to produce his wife Gauri Shinde’s directorial venture English Vinglish starring Sri Devi.

R Balki’s latest film is expected to go on floor early nest year and is slated for a 2015 release.