Battleship Movie Review

Battleship is an epic action-adventure that mostly plays out on the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii’s coastal region. Earth is under attack from alien-forces in which a small group of naval officers has to defeat the enemy in order to save all of humanity. Battleship has superb cinematic photography, with angles and shots that portray both depth and perception, which we as movie-lovers have been craving for years!

The movie has a rather tongue-in-cheek sub-thread when, on Hawaiian shores, USA plays against Japan in a soccer match as war ships line the background, a rather vivid metaphor to Pearl Harbor. However, when the alien-force strikes human kind, both Japanese and American rivals pull together in order to combat a new and mutual enemy. Paired with a score that can only be described as epic, Battleship is sure to be one of the most popular action-adventure blockbusters of the year. All in all Battleship has everything a great action movie needs: a gripping plot, memorable lines and speeches, comedy, tragedy, a ‘washout turns hero’ character, the always gorgeous hero’s love interest and of course lots of bombs, explosions and disaster scenes. 

The movie stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a US Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Alexander Skarsgård, Hopper’s older brother as the Commanding Officer to the USS Sampson; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s soon to be fiancé;  Liam Neeson as Hopper’s Superior, as well as Sam’s father. Singing sensation Rihanna makes her, surprisingly talented, acting debut as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and weapons specialist.

There were one or two discrepancies in the ‘realism’ of the movie but this is something we all have almost accepted as a norm in action movies.  There are no Oscar-winning performances however it is one of the most gripping action movies I have seen in years, a definite add to my DVD collection. It is sure to keep your eyes fixed to the screen, on the edge of your seat and yes dare I say it evokes you to a point where you wish you had an R5 assault rifle in order to join in the action.

10 V
131 MIN
G/2012/0376
*All images and video courtesy of United International Pictures

Alexander McQueen - Last Will and Testament

Alexander McQueen's last will and testament was made public yesterday (26 July 2011). McQueen left the majority of his estate to in a trust for his Sarabande charity, and asked it to consider using this money to fund bursaries or grants for students at Central Saint Martins.

 The designer, that shot to fame due to the inspiration and support of Isabella Blow, left £100,000 to both The Terrence Higgins Trust and the London Buddhist Center. The Independent reports that his housekeepers, Marlene and Cesar Garcia received £50,000 for their "long and faithful service",another £50,000 to his godson and each of his nieces and nephews and £250,000 to each of his three sisters and two brothers.

An additional  £100,000 was bequeathed to animal charities; The Blue Cross and Battersea Dog's & Cat's Home. The designer, known for his love of dogs in particular, left £50,000 in a trust for the upkeep of his own beloved pet dogs.

Prada Listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Italian luxury fashion house Prada will make its market debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on June 24, in a highly anticipated offering aiming to raise up to $2 billion.


In the latest move by high end fashion companies to tap the huge Chinese market, the family-owned giant plans to start bookbuilding for institutional investors on June 6 and start its public offering eight days later.

The firm will price its deal on June 17, Dow Jones Newswires quoted a term sheet as saying, and it is planning to use proceeds to expand its sales network, increase floor space, repay bank loans and supplement working capital.

A Prada spokeswoman in Hong Kong told AFP she had yet to receive any official statement from its Milan headquarters and could not confirm details on the IPO.

The company reportedly received the approval from Hong Kong's market regulators last week for its plan to sell 20 percent of its shares. The move would value the group at up to eight billion euros ($11.3 billion).

The group, which includes the Prada, Miu Miu, Church's and Car Shoe brands is 95 percent controlled by the Prada family and executives.

Prada announced in January it would make its first public listing on the Hong Kong bourse in a sign of Asia's growing appetite for designer goods, especially to capitalise on the cash-rich mainland Chinese markets.

China is the world's fastest-growing market for luxury goods.

It is forecast to be the world's top buyer of products such as cosmetics, handbags, watches, shoes and clothes by 2015, according to consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Prada will join a slew of other luxury fashion brands also eyeing a listing in Hong Kong, including US upscale handbag maker Coach and luggage maker Samsonite.

Prada's listing plan comes as second-hand luxury handbag retailer Milan Station made a successful debut in Hong Kong Monday, with its shares soaring as much as 77 percent after its IPO was oversubscribed by more than 2,100 times.

Pierre Cardin to go Chinese ?

The deck of a decommissioned Soviet aircraft carrier docked on China's coast seems an unlikely place to make a fashion statement, but to Pierre Cardin, the backdrop made perfect sense.


The feisty 88-year-old French designer, who has said he wants to sell his massive style empire, unveiled a romantic 2011 collection on the ex-battleship in an ode to peace -- and perhaps to attract deep-pocketed Chinese investors.

Dozens of male and female models strutted down a catwalk lined with fighter jets in everything from shimmery silver flight suits to sassy mini-dresses in bold colours with keyhole cut-outs that recalled the couturier's 1960s heyday.

In a bit of theatre to end Friday night's 30-minute style parade, a model in a red sequined jumpsuit emerged from a helicopter that landed on the deck and took Cardin's hand for a curtain call, to the applause of hundreds of guests.

"If you want to be a great designer, pretty dresses are not enough," Cardin told reporters before the event in the port city of Tianjin.

"You must provoke your audience -- amaze and even surprise them."

During a career that has spanned more than six decades, Cardin has certainly been a trailblazer -- he was one of the first designers to bring Western style to Asia and one of the first to develop brand licensing.
Earlier this month, he told the Wall Street Journal he was ready to sell his label, as long as he retains artistic control -- and gets the one billion euros ($1.4 billion) he insists the company is worth.

"If they don't have the means, they don't have the right to buy it. Simple as that," an unapologetic Cardin told the press conference.

The designer said he had so far received several offers for his label, including from Chinese buyers, but declined to offer any specifics on who may be in the running.

When asked if he would be keen to see his company fall into the hands of a Chinese firm, he replied: "China -- why not?"

Analysts say it could be a perfect fit.

"Right now, Chinese investors are deep-pocketed and they're looking to acquire Western brands that they can bring back to China," Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai, told AFP.

"It's too difficult to build a brand from scratch."

Sam Mulligan, director of the Shanghai-based market research firm Data Driven Marketing Asia, agreed.
"The big market for this brand in the future is going to be this market. If there is a company that would understand this market better than an European company, it would be a Chinese company," Mulligan told AFP.

In 2009, Cardin sold 32 textile and accessory licenses in China to Jiangsheng Trading Company and Cardanro for 200 million euros -- evidence, perhaps, of the brand's enduring cachet in the country of 1.3 billion people.

Rein explained that as the French designer, who first came to China more than 30 years ago, had "defined the initial taste of luxury for many consumers" in the country, the brand still has "fairly good resonance".

Officials at Pierre Cardin would not give the company's total revenue figures for China, but say they see about 20 percent annual revenue growth in the world's second-largest economy -- the fastest-growing market for luxury goods.

Cardin, whose name now adorns hundreds of products worldwide from shirts to bottled water to furniture, says he has no regrets about how he has run his business and will continue to bring his singular style to the fashion world.

"There are very few people who have the freedom I have -- to own 100 percent of my company. I have a lot of freedom," he said.

Article: Susan Stumme
Image Courtesy of Beijing Today  

Kate Moss - David Yurman Spring/Summer 2011 Ad Campaign

Once again, Kate Moss is the focus point of David Yurman Spring/Summer 2011 ad campaign. The timeless Moss was captured by world-renowned photographer Peter Lindbergh. The shots focuses on David Yurman's sophisticated timepieces and luxurious jewels

Manhattan’s Most Expensive Mansion For Sale - $90 Million

Townhouse
Purchase: $90,000,000
Rent: $210,000 p/m
Brown Harris Stevens ID: 1207017

Type: TH Single Family
Woodburning fireplaces: 8
Air conditioning: Central Air
Delivered Vacant: Yes
Elevator: Yes
Garden: Yes
Basement: Yes
Facade: Limestone
Original Detail: Yes


By the late 1890s, the retail chain of Frank Woolworth was expanding so rapidly that he was able to engage Charles Pierpont Henry Gilbert, the famed architect of mansions in the French Gothic style who had just completed a prime example at Fifth Avenue and East 79th Street known today as the Ukrainian Institute, to design one for him at 80th and Fifth Avenue. In 1910, Woolworth went downtown to build his own skyscraper 792 feet high at Broadway and Park Place. At the same time, from 1911 - 1915, he engaged C.P.H. Gilbert again to design houses back uptown on East 80 Street for his daughters: 2 East 80 for Edna (Mrs. Franklyn) Hutton; 4 East 80 for Helena (Mrs. Charles) McCann and 6 East 80 for Jessie (Mrs. James) Donahue.

All three townhouses remain today. Flanked by two 25' wide sister buildings, the middle mansion, 4 East 80 Street, is an astounding 35' wide, and is now offered for sale.

THE RESIDENCE

Completed in 1916, the imposing limestone façade of this neo-French Renaissance mansion features a central foyer opening to a grand entry hall providing access to the main residence. With a massive fireplace, the enormous entry includes three closets and an elegant powder room, access to a kitchen in the rear as well as the wide landing of the grand master staircase.

The parlour floor begins with a front drawing room spanning 35 feet with a huge fireplace, three floor-to-ceiling windows and a sensation of immense scale. Ceilings reach over 14 feet and the center landing affords a large sitting room that connects the front drawing room to the deep formal dining room. With the capacity to seat over 50, the dining room features a large fireplace and that ends in a rear solarium morning room ideal for breakfast as it is positioned next to a serving kitchen. The kitchen includes a seating area, ample storage and a dumb waiter to the service kitchen below.

The third floor includes a 35 foot-wide wood-paneled library, wet bar, and powder room. In the rear there is a two-bedroom suite with two large full baths and ample closet space. The fourth floor master suite encompasses a grand bedroom, two sitting rooms and two full baths with dressing rooms positioned on opposite ends of the master suite. The fifth floor features two large bedrooms with full baths and a gym.

The first five floors are capped by a brilliant stained-glass skylight positioned above the staircase. Above, the sixth floor is an additional level presently built out for a private office with a full bath and a powder room and the seventh floor is a two-bedroom staff suite with two full baths, a separate kitchen and elevator access. The lowest level includes a suite of offices and outdoor space. An elevator services all levels.

While the other great mansions that have come on the market in New York have been shells requiring total renovation, this is the only mansion to be formally available that has been fully renovated in a traditional prewar style. Never before could one acquire such a magnificent building in this condition - truly a rare opportunity not to be missed.

 

Paula Del Nunzio
Senior Vice President, Managing Director
(212) 906-9207
pdelnunzio@bhsusa.com

 

 Courtesy of: Brown Harris Stevens

Louis Vuitton’s new flagship boutiques

Louis Vuitton’s flagship boutique at Marina Bay Sands will be enshrined in a standalone glass-and-steel Crystal Pavilion that appears to float on the water off the integrated resort at Marina Bay.

In press statements released to the media, Mr. David Sylvester, Vice President Retail Asia, Las Vegas Sands Corp, said, “This unique Louis Vuitton store at Marina Bay Sands speaks volumes about the visibility and credibility we have established in the retail community. 

"Retailers recognize the quality of Marina Bay Sands which will attract high-level visitors from Singapore and beyond because of our winning combination of luxury brands, Celebrity Chef restaurants, a luxury hotel, a casino, expo and convention facilities, and world-class entertainment under one roof,” he added.

One of two integrated resorts scheduled to open in Singapore next year, Marina Bay Sands boasts over 800,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, with nearly 80 percent of retail space already spoken for.

According to a Marina Bay Sands spokesperson, luxury brands that have committed to open stores in the integrated resort include Bally, Blancpain, Bottega Veneta, Breguet, Bulgari, Burberry, CHANEL, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Guess, Hublot, La Senza, Miu Miu, Omega, Patek Philippe, Prada, Raoul, Tiffany & Co. and Yves Saint Laurent.

Source: Lawrence Tan