Did you know? The Veronica Mars trailer is out!

The movie will be released in the first quarter of this year.

Remember when you wanted to be a private detective, and you were head over heels for Logan? Fans will get to relive the entire thrill that was Veronica Mars, and this time on the big screen!

There are two things that make a movie official, an IMDb listing, and a trailer. It’s official! The Veronica Mars trailer has been released, and sees Kristen Bell reprise her role as Veronica Mars, a private investigator, almost six years after the show was cancelled, which aired for three seasons from 2004-2007.

Series creator Rob Thomas has written the movie with Diane Ruggiero and also served as director. “This project has been a labour of love for everyone involved — me, the cast, my producing partners,” Thomas said in a statement, according to E! Online.

The movie will be released in the first quarter of this year, and will see a majority of the cast reprising their former roles. We can’t wait to see the mystery, drama and romance

Flower promises more pain for pummeled England

ANNIHILATION: It was statistically England’s worst 5-0 series thrashing by Australia. The tourists lost 100 wickets for 2,030 runs at an average of 20.30. PHOTO: AFP

SYDNEY: Coach Andy Flower warned on Monday there was more pain to come in the wake of England’s Ashes series meltdown in Australia.

Australia completed a 5-0 clean sweep on Sunday, routing the hapless tourists for 166 off just 31.4 overs to carry off a 281-run victory in three days in the Sydney Test.

Such was the magnitude of the series defeat that major ramifications are expected for English cricket, just months after they beat Australia 3-0 in England.

Flower said he would not identify individual players facing the chop, with reports that high-profile batsman Kevin Pietersen, one of the big English failures in the series, was under pressure.

Pietersen was dismissed for three and six in the final Test to finish with 294 runs in the series at 29.40.

Flower, who has said he will not be standing down as team coach, said he was prepared to make tough decisions, while admitting the nightmare series was the end of an era.

As well as speculation over the future of Pietersen, wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who was dropped for the last two Tests, could also face the axe.

“I’m not going to discuss individuals, but looking at it a little more holistically, I think it will be the start of something new,” said Flower.

“I think Alastair Cook as captain can lead that renewal and rebuilding of the England cricket side.

“It’s quite a bitter pill to swallow. But that’s what it is and we have to face up to that reality.”

Cook said after the Sydney defeat that he knows what it takes to rebuild shattered England.

He said he has been given a vote of confidence from the England and Wales Cricket Board to continue as captain as England look to regroup after sliding to fourth in the International Cricket Council rankings.

“I am desperate to try and turn it around,” he said. “I feel as if I am the right man to do it.”

Australian media hail ‘Unchangeables’

Australia’s media on Monday hailed their cobbled together bunch of rejects and recycled players for their decimation of England in a crushing Ashes series whitewash.

“Never before in 137 years of Test cricket has Australia decimated England so completely, winning the fifth Test inside three days to finish with all 100 English wickets in a series for the first time,” said The Sydney Daily Telegraph’s Malcolm Conn.

“And they did it as the Unchangeables, taking the same XI players through all five Tests after the selectors recalled man of the series Mitchell Johnson, and his closest rival for the award, Brad Haddin.”

The Australian’s Wayne Smith said English opener Michael Carberry’s bat snapping in half as he pushed forward to defend on Sunday was rich in symbolism amid the carnage of the team’s final collapse of the series.

“Perhaps, in the absence of the real symbol of Ashes supremacy, Carberry might be prevailed upon to leave his wounded bat here on these shores as a treasured reminder of one of Australia’s greatest Ashes triumphs,” said Smith.

Money cannot buy me: Aamir Khan

Aamir asserts that it is very important for him to emotionally connect with a project. PHOTO:FILE

MUMBAI: Bollywood’s Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan is currently on cloud nine, thanks to the overwhelming success of his latest release Dhoom 3, which seems to be breaking all box office records. However, Aamir asserts that money has never been a concern for him. “Till today, I have not worked for money and that is one of my biggest strengths,” he said.

Aamir is known to have experimented with films, roles and genres galore in his over 25-year movie career. From playing a lover boy, teacher, villager and now a villain — he has done it all, but it’s vital for Aamir to connect emotionally with a project before he gives it a thumbs-up.

“I am very happy because I do what my heart says. I never work for money,” said the 48-year-old star. “Give me a billion rupees for a film and if I don’t like it, I will not do it. I cannot compromise on my emotions, and money cannot buy me.”

He cemented his spot in the movie business with projects like Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Raja Hindustani and Sarfarosh. The year 2001 turned out to be a turning point for Aamir, as he featured in notable films like Lagaanand Dil Chahta Hai.

Thereafter, he featured in films like Rang De Basanti, Fanaa, Ghajini, 3 Idiots and the critically acclaimed Dhobi Ghat. He even acted in and directed the commercially and critically lauded 2007 film Taare Zameen Par, which raised awarness about dyslexia. He reasons his choice of films on the basis of his own mental sensibility.

“It is difficult for me to go out of my sensibilities and work. I can do different kinds of genres, but if my sensibility doesn’t match, I will not do it. If it disturbs my values, I can’t do that film,” he said. IANS

Moyes admits United need new blood

HARD TIMES: The 2-1 defeat to Swansea marked just the second time in 29 years that United have been knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup. PHOTO: AFP

MANCHESTER: David Moyes, the increasingly beleaguered Manchester United manager, admits he urgently needs to buy new players in the January transfer window but confesses that it may not be possible to do so.

The Scotsman was talking in the wake of another major disappointment for his club as United, record 11-times winners of the FA Cup, were knocked out at home in the third round by Swansea.

The 2-1 defeat marked United’s fourth home loss in their last six games at Old Trafford and just the second time in 29 years that the club has been knocked out in the third round of the competition.

Moyes only brought in Marouane Fellaini after taking over at Old Trafford in the summer and with every growing setback, pressure is mounting on him to improve a squad that is looking well beyond par and which was without seven injured first team players on Sunday.

“I said I would try but I would be doubtful in January because of the window,” said Moyes of his efforts to sign new talent this month.

“So there is no point in me hyping it up because the players we would like to bring in are probably not available in January, and not because we don’t want to do it.”

Moyes refused to use the absence of key personnel as an excuse for a defeat which also featured a goal for Wayne Routledge and a quick United reply from Javier Hernandez.

“That is no excuse,” he said. “We had a very strong team out, just about every player we had out was an international player.”

Salvage job for United in League Cup semis

Manchester United will turn to the League Cup to salvage their desperate domestic season when they visit Sunderland on Tuesday for the first leg of their semi-final.

Although United remain in contention in the Champions League, the League Cup now represents their best hope of rescuing a trophy from a campaign that threatens to turn into an outright disaster.

And Moyes has urged his players to roll up their sleeves.

“If you lose games at any club, it’s always difficult,” he said. “But that’s the job. We’ll get on with it; we’ve got a big game coming up on Tuesday.”

NASA slams Beyoncé for using shuttle disaster audio in song

Singer says she included the clip as a tribute to the victims of the Challenger incident, but NASA is unimpressed.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has released an official response to singer Beyoncé’s use of audio from the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion in her new song XO, saying the tragedy “should never be trivialised,” according to The Guardian and Hollywood Reporter.

The single, which is from Beyoncé’s fifth eponymous album, has a six-second-long clip taken from television footage as the shuttle exploded and fell to earth on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members on board. Steve Nesbitt, who was the voice for NASA during the tragedy, is heard saying: “Flight controllers here are looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously, a major malfunction.”

Criticising the use of the audio in the song, NASA said in a statement, “The Challenger accident is an important part of our history, a tragic reminder that space exploration is risky and should never be trivialised. NASA works every day to honour the legacy of our fallen astronauts as we carry out our mission to reach for new heights and explore the universe.”

Beyoncé had said that the song, which is about a struggling relationship, includes the clip “in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.” But families of victims and both former and current employees of NASA seem untouched, and said that it is “insensitive” to use the audio at the beginning of such a track.

June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Challenger’s commander Dick Scobee, who died in the incident, told ABC News, “We were disappointed to learn that an audio clip from the day we lost our heroic Challenger crew was used in the song XO. The moment included in this song is an emotionally difficult one for the Challenger families, colleagues and friends. We have always chosen to focus not on how our loved ones were lost, but rather on how they lived and how their legacy lives on today,” said Rodgers.

Former NASA employee, Keith Cowing, described the clip as “inappropriate in the extreme” and not so different than “taking Walter Cronkite’s words to viewers announcing the death of President Kennedy or 9/11 calls from the World Trade Center attack and using them for shock value in a pop tune.”

Cowing also said that he wants Beyoncé to remove the clip and apologise to families of the Challenger crew. In a statement released to ABC News, Beyoncé expressed her sympathies to the families of Challenger explosion victims and clarified that she didn’t mean any offense by using the audio.

“My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song XO was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you,” she said.

Tread carefully, Sasha Fierce!

Wozniacki rallies her way to round two

SOUND START: Former world number one Wozniacki opened her season with a win against Goerges at the Sydney International. PHOTO: AFP

SYDNEY: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki opened her season with a win over German Julia Goerges in the first round of the Sydney International on Monday.

Danish sixth seed Wozniacki lost the first set to Goerges but rallied to come through 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The 23-year-old, who withdrew from a WTA event in Brisbane last weekend due to a shoulder injury, was making her sixth straight appearance at the Sydney tournament as she prepares for the Australian Open.

But fourth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic’s preparations for Melbourne hit a hurdle on Monday when she was beaten by world number 23 Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Jankovic, who is ranked eighth in the world, was 3-1 down in the second set and was never back in the game as Makarova held her nerve to serve out for the match, winning with an ace.

“I tried to be aggressive and not let her attack, because she’s really good playing down the line from the backhand,” said Makarova.

“So I tried to let her move her to the backhand, not to stand and hit it. I was moving quite good [too]… today was a good match.”

Earlier US qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-3 while Czech Lucie Safarova bundled out Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4.

Mattek-Sands will now face defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska who, fresh from the final of the Hopman Cup in Perth, said she was expecting a tough match.

Meanwhile, German fifth seed Angelique Kerber beat last year’s runner-up Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 while qualifier Lauren Davis from the United States took on Australian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova, winning 6-4, 7-6 (10/8)

Jay Z’s charity retail line evokes controversy

Jay Z refused to back out of charity project despite numerous demands. PHOTO:FILE

Jay-Z made holiday gift-giving a mighty easy task last season. The hip-hop mogul collaborated with varied elite fashion houses, including Balencienga, Lanvin, and Balmain, to create a limited multi-clothing label line A New York Holiday, according toBillboard. The collection encompassed of all types of apparel such as simple cotton shirts costing $70, and limited edition Hublot watches.

However, Jay-Z’s brand was not fashioned on a whim. Remaining true to the spirit of giving, the 99 problems rapper created the retail line to help underprivileged children go to college in the United States, and succeeded in raising over $1 million for his charity, named the Shawn Carter Foundation. Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly spent $100,000 on the line, “The proceeds are going to charity, so this is a win-win for Gwyneth. She gets to support a good friend with a good cause-and to give wonderful gifts,” said a source at Bang Showbiz.

Joining hands with Jay-Z, who donated all profits to the foundation, was Barney’s, which stocked his line. The luxury retail store also pledged 10 percent of its entire store profits for the day the line was launced, for the same cause.

However, like any other project, the Shawn Carter Foundation is not without its own share of controversy. Many people called for Jay to back out of the deal, after two African-American customers were reportedly racially profiled and detained, despite having legitimately purchased goods. However, unwilling to back out of the challenge, the rapper blogged saying he wouldn’t prematurely pull out of the collaboration until he knew all the facts. “I am against discrimination of any kind, but if I make snap judgments, no matter who it’s towards, aren’t I committing the same sin as someone who profiles?” he said.

Despite the misplaced faith from the public, the rapper’s commitment to provide education is commendable. Hopefully, Jay Z will continue to spread cheer for many more years!