IZE OF THE WORLD

Promotional photos for the latest Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” are being used to promote knitting materials sold by Opal, according to Oh No They Didn’t. Promotional pictures of the various cast members are featured on eight different colored balls of yarn.

This is a very interesting way to promote the new Harry Potter movie. It is appealing to a specific sect of Harry Potter fans, and there will no doubt be dedicated Harry Potter fans who also knit that will purchase these products. In some ways I think this is kind of silly, it seems there will never be an end to Harry Potter related products, from t-shirts to school supplies and now yarn. Regardless, there will always be some fans that will buy these things no matter how silly they are. I do not think this will attract new people to Harry Potter, but it will intrigue people that are already fans and also happen to knit. My prediction for what’s next: Harry Potter gardening equipment. Shovels, hoes, flower and plant seed packets with Harry Potter characters on the packaging. It is going to be a hit, I am sure.

This is the first I have heard of it, but apparently Scarlett Johansson is recording an album. The Oh No They Didn’t Livejournal community has posted a picture of her album cover.

I am really interested to see what type of music Johansson will perform. From the looks of this album cover, which in my opinion is pretty poorly designed, it looks like Johansson might be singing folk or indie singer/song writer type music. In some ways actresses who branch out to create music are doing a good thing for themselves, this will create more publicity and more fans for them if their music is good and  everyone will be interested in the album already because Johansson is an established and famous movie actress. This worked well for Zooey Deschanel, she was an actress and she teamed up with music artist M. Ward to create a duo called She and Him. They recorded an album together, and because they were already well known in their respective fields, people were interested in what they sounded like. Fortunately for them, She and Him make great music together. Deschanel has a wonderful silky smooth voice and paired up with M. Ward they make beautiful music that is a little country, a little folk and a little pop.

Johansson has an interesting voice and I am curious as to how well she sings. Let’s hope that she has a decent voice and good song writing skills, because this could very well backfire on her if her music turns out to be terrible.

The new film “American Teen” premiered at Sundance and has been getting comparisons to the 1980s John Hughes film “The Breakfast Club,” according to Slashfilm.com. Paramount Vantage has decided to use this as a marketing tool for the film, and has released a poster which looks exactly like the movie poster for “The Breakfast Club.”

The new film is a documentary based in Warsaw, Indiana. It follows five high school seniors as they cope with school and their lives, according to the Wikipedia article. It is expected to be released for the general public later in 2008.

I think this is a very good way to generate publicity for the film. “The Breakfast Club” is a classic in American cinema and the new poster for “American Teen” will no doubt be intriguing to anyone who has seen “The Breakfast Club.” It will spark everyone’s curiosity as to what this film is about, and this marketing technique will attract more people to the movie theater on opening day to see what this documentary is about and how it compares to “The Breakfast Club.” I personally loved “The Breakfast Club” and am interested in this new film and what it is about, so this marketing campaign definitely worked on me.

A warrant for Shia Labeouf’s arrest was issued on Tuesday, according to TMZ. Shia failed to appear in court regarding charges of unlawful smoking outside a Burbank, Calif. gift shop called Skyblupink. A $1000 bench warrant was issued for Shia’s arrest. E! News then reported that the day after the arrest warrant was issued, Shia sent attorney Michael Norris to plead not guilty to the offense. The judge then retracted the warrant. A pretrial hearing is set for April 24 and the trial is scheduled for July 11.

For mainstream news sources, I looked at E! News, MTV News, UsMagazine.com, Female First, Hollyscoop and TMZ. Most coverage is objective, stating the facts of the situation, although there are some side comments made. Some are positive, some are negative. For example, the last line of Hollyscoop asks, “So does this mean we’re gonna be seeing a new mugshot soon?” MTV News pokes fun at the situation, mentioning how ridiculous it is that someone can get cited for unlawful smoking and poking fun at the name of the gift shop. Most of the articles mention Shia’s previous arrest in November for trespassing at a Walgreens. MTV News’s headline states “Shia Labeouf’s Crime Spree Continues,” basically making fun of his infractions since they are both minor misdemeanors. Female First quotes Shia about the November incident, in which he says, “That was complete and utter insanity. I was a nincompoop, and it was a mistake I’m still completely embarrassed about.” Most of the photos used are him at various events, so they are flattering photos, although one or two sites use unflattering ones. TMZ uses a photo of Shia smoking. Shia’s publicist was unavailable for comment in all of the stories. The actor seems not to be portrayed negatively, because he is quoted as being remorseful for these mistakes that he made and the articles are making fun of these infractions and make it seem like these are silly things to get arrested for.

The blogs I looked at were Daily Blabber, Perez Hilton, I’m Not Obsessed and Hollywood Backwash. The blogs are mostly unfavorable to Shia. They poke fun at him, asking why he is trying to be a “bad boy” and that he is not doing a good job of it, since he is getting arrested for minor things. Daily Blabber says that Shia might be “the poorest excuse for a bad boy – ever.”A quote from Hollywood Backwash says, “We don’t buy the scruffy, bad-boy Colin Ferrell thing he is working now.” The pictures used on the blogs are of him looking more scruffy and less put together, some are of him smoking as well. Most emphasize how minor the infractions are that he has been arrested for. Perez Hilton says that Shia is acting out in silly ways, but at least he is not getting DWI’s.

The blogs are harsher towards Shia than the mainstream media is. They poke fun at him personally more, and the mainstream media mostly poke fun at the situation. One of the mainstream sites have quotes from Shia showing remorse, and none of the blogs do that. The blogs also show more unfavorable pictures. The mainstream media is more objective in its coverage overall, the blogs interject their opinions more often.

The publicist as of now has chosen not to comment on the situation. I think that even though this is another minor situation, some kind of comment should have been released, like the comments made about the November incident. Maybe in the near future Shia will make a statement about this particular infraction.

Postal Service, side project of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello, may not deliver another album. The pair is responsible for the debut hit album “Give Up,” which included hits such as “Such Great Heights” and “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.” According to Spinner.com, working on new Postal Service material is not a priority, since they are both busy with their main musical acts. Death Cab is set to release a new album on May 13.

In my opinion, I think it is a terrible idea to not work on new material for Postal Service. This side project launched the both of them more into the spotlight, and gave both of them more fans. People would listen to this record, they would love it, and then they would probably check out Gibbard’s and Tamborello’s other bands. Postal Service songs were featured on the “Garden State” soundtrack and various television commercials. The music was a little different from Death Cab or Dntel, and showed both artists could make a variety of music. I think they work well together, and even though they are both busy, they should try to work on new material for Postal Service. Doing that would not only get people to listen to this particular project, but it could also get them to check out their other projects as well.

Leighton Meester is an actress on the popular show “Gossip Girls,” about rich bourgeois teenagers in New York City.

Here is a picture of her playing Blair Waldorf, courtesy of tvguide.com.

JustJared.com reported that Meester is thinking about branching out to create a rap album. She told JustJared that she has a huge range of songs.

“”[On] some of them I just talk, I do a little – not rapping – but talking, sort of spoken word. It’s a little Fergie, a little like Gwen Stefani and M.I.A.,” she said.

From the PR standpoint, this could be beneficial for her. If Meester puts out a rap album, it will be another medium for her to use to get more buzz and publicity for herself. She could possibly branch out to other people besides the audience that watches her show, which is mainly teenage girls. She could appeal to music and rap fans. Becoming a double threat is good for her image because it shows that she is multi-talented and versatile. It will be interesting to see what type of music she would produce.