Hi

The banner contest is now closed. I have no idea how I’m going to pick just a few for you all to vote for because there are so many wonderful entries. That should go up tomorrow.

The essay comp for the V prizes is still open and the response to that hasn’t been nearly as strong as with the banners. So if you want one of those prizes and you have a brain (even half a brain will do), you’ve got a good chance of making the draw if you send something in before monday.

Right, once again I’ve got a lot to get through so here goes…

The London premiere of V was last night so let’s start there.

Amo sent in a little coverage from the Sun Newspaper, which includes some great lines from Stephen Fry.

British star Stephen Fry, who plays a talk show host hired by the Government, says he was very impressed with Natalie’s work ethic.

He said: ?I?m immensely impressed by Natalie. I mean, what is she, 12 and a half years old or something?

?She?s a barely divided embryo and yet she speaks multiple languages, is immensely accomplished and a natural film actress.

?She?s very bright and good natured. She?s quite something. She?s going to be at the top of her profession for a long time.?

Max was there and sent in a little report.

I was there today and managed to get an autograph. She was really beautiful and sweet, saying thank you for waiting. When she arrived the rain had stopped, but I stood there for 8 hours in the rain. There are not many fotos, but it’s the best of the ones I took. Hope you can use them.

Here are the pics…

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Another good friend of mine was there and said “Natalie is even cuter in the flesh” and “V for Vendetta kicks all kinds of ass”.

The Spike TV interview was also last night and here’s a little report from Tamara.

I caught the Spike TV interview and tapped it, though I don’t have the necessary connections/programs to encode it, sorry. Wish I could. Natalie was actually on the set of the gambling in between show that was on during ‘Caddyshack’ commercial breaks, as opposed to a phone interview, which I’ve seen done before on that show and assumed she would be doing.

Her hair was so cute! It was the return of the faux-hawk. Of course, the guy interviewing her asked about her hair…in a sort of indirect manner. Natalie said that she was a bit worried about shaving her head, because, she was, apparently, vacuumed out of her mother and had a cone head when she was born. She also talked about the scenes with the rats, and how they German rat trainer would use “good rat smell” and “bad rat smell” to tell the rat where to go. Nat said that one of the rats didn’t stay away from the “bad rat smell” like it was supposed to, and ended up crawling on her shaved head. She said that the bad thing about the “good” and “bad” smells, aside from the rat crawling on her, was that she was laying on the floor breathing in the “bad rat smell,” which smelt like, as she put it, “poo.” It was a cute interview.

There was also a V clip shown, but it was a repeat of the same clip that’s been shown on various other interviews.

Here are a couple belated reports on Nat’s Columbia appearance. The Superficial and WWTDD. Thanks to Trav and Pandy.

For those of you who were looking forward to the April Vanity Fair, which was said to feature Natalie as a replacement for Sheryl Crowe and Lance Armstrong, will be disappointed. It seems the replacement was replaced. Here is the story. Thanks to Sonoyta.

And now for some V related links.

AICN’s Quint interviews David Lloyd, the illustrator of V, about the film. Be warned, there are huge spoilers.

Newsrama has a fair review but beware some spoilers. Here’s the best bit…

Natalie Portman turns in a terrific performance, probably the best of her career, as Evey Hammond, the audience?s entrance into V?s world. I was almost embarrassed for her when she broke down sobbing in V?s arms after the torture sequence, as the raw emotion that she displayed was simply too much to look on.

And the BBC offer an alternative point of view with their 2 star review.

And finally, Katie and KMN made remixes of the SNL rap, trying to make it sound more like a song.

Oh wait, I keep forgetting to post this little tidbit from Sanjiro.

the lonely island is the group that makes all the SNL digial shorts. and over at their website they credit Natalie as a co-writer of the rap.

Whew, that update took several lifetimes.