Endnotes: Dirt Music (2001)
It seems Australian novelist Tim Winton is the flavour of the week, speaking to ABC News Online yesterday and telling The 7:30 Report last night about his new novel, Breath.

So, Articulate decided a Winton-themed Endnotes was in order, and what better book to choose than the multi-award-winning Dirt Music?

Winton must have been relieved to finally finish the novel - his eighth - because it took him more than seven years to write.

In 2004, he told Enough Rope's Andrew Denton that when he was approaching the deadline for the finished manuscript he suddenly faced a literary crisis.

They'd advertised it, they had a name, it had a price and it was due in a few months' time, and I thought, "Oh, man - people are gonna lose their jobs! Maybe I should just let it go." ... And I got up at 2:00 in the morning and thought, "No, I've got to start again." I worked for about 20 hours. I rode down to the office in the dark, I sharpened up 20 or 40 - I forget how many pencils - and I just started again from scratch ... I rewrote it in 55 days and nights.

Whatever changes he made to the manuscript paid off; in 2001 the novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and in 2002, it won the Miles Franklin Literary Award, two WA Premier's Awards, the NSW Premier's Literary Award and several other consumer awards.

The story follows the relationship between Georgie Jutland - an aimless, semi-alcoholic stepmother - and Luther Fox, a seafood poacher. Winton says he grew up in a town similar to that in the novel, and that he's "all of the characters" in some ways.

The book's title is explained by Luther Fox when he says dirt music is "Anythin you could play on a verandah. You know, without electricity".

And Winton came up with his own mix of dirt music and made a soundtrack of sorts to accompany the novel. The two-disc set includes classical and bluegrass tunes.

A film based on the book and directed by Aussie Phillip Noyce - starring Rachel Weisz as Georgie Jutland and Colin Farrell as Luther Fox - is due in cinemas in 2009.

Features include:2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English and French DD5.1 Surround
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
Deleted Scenes
Extended Scenes
Gag Reel
When In Bruges
Strange Bruges
A Boat Trip Around Bruges
F**king Bruges

In this critically acclaimed debut novel, the aftermath of war in all its power is revealed in the lives of survivors and their loved ones. Mark, a young war photographer, returns to New York after being injured in a brush fire. Shell-shocked, torn apart by grief and guilt, he finds that his experiences have created a gulf between himself and his loved ones. The first to notice is his girlfriend, Elena, who grows increasingly alarmed as his condition continues to deteriorate. She is the most surprised when her grandfather, Joaquin, the last person from whom Elena wants to accept help, turns out to be the one to understand Mark's trauma. The two men — bearers of grievously deep secrets — forge an extraordinary relationship that will ultimately lead to life-altering revelations.
This stunning novel is informed by Scott Anderson's experiences reporting on combat around the globe. Triage introduces a major new voice in American fiction.

IRISH ALLIANCE: After running through his lines on the Kodak Theatre stage Friday morning, Colin Farrell joined a handful of stand-ins and other Oscar workers to watch a rehearsal of "Falling Slowly," the nominated song from the Irish indie film "Once."

Wearing a torn T-shirt topped with a vest and blazer, his shaggy hair tucked under a gray fedora, the Irish actor tapped his toes as the film's stars, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, played their original ballad.

Hansard, cradling the same beat-up acoustic guitar featured in the film, sat on a stool in front of Irglova's grand piano. The two shared a smile as the full sound of the Oscar orchestra rose up behind them.

When the song ended, Farrell bounded onto the stage to greet Hansard with a hug. Academy Awards producer Gil Cates chatted with the two Dubliners, and Farrell joked that he would "do some accent work tonight" so his Irish lilt would be show-ready.

"By Sunday I'll have the accent down," he said.

"I adored Colin [Farrell] from the moment I met him," McGregor says. "I'd read a lot about him over the years and, because I used to be a big drinker, I recognised some of the things he'd said in myself. Because we were both in LA, I got in touch and asked him to our house there one Sunday. We were having lunch with the kids when he arrived in this great big Bronco truck, but he got out in his pyjamas. He was so lovely with my girls, he's such a sweet soul. Colin is a very quiet character now. He focuses on the work and has incredible commitment. He'd never falter on his lines while I was fluffing away." <br/>
~10 Feb 2008 Sunday Herald , "Cassandra's Dream" costar Ewan MacGregor

Focus Features' action comedy "In Bruges," with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as hit men laying low in Belgium, opened solidly in limited release, pulling in $471,200 in 28 theaters to average $16,829.

Stars to come out for film festival
Wednesday January 30 2008

OSCAR nominee Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are among the stars who will attend gala screenings at this year's Dublin International Film Festival.

The packed programme, unveiled by actor Pat Shortt last night, includes award-winning movies like 'There Will Be Blood' -- the film Day-Lewis is nominated for.

ESPN to broadcast Kicking It to 93 million homes
Posted on 21/01/2008

Kicking It, the powerful documentary of 7 players on their journey of a lifetime to the Cape Town 2006 Homeless World Cup, will be broadcast by ESPN to 93 million homes around the world.


The announcement was made on Saturday afternoon, just hours before the film was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Utah, USA.

ESPN is planning an online, on-air and charitable awareness campaign to the film.

Visit the film's official website here: www.kickingitthefilm.com

Become a fan of the film here: www.facebook.com/kickingit