Chinese New Year In Sydney; Chinatown Gets Dragon, Pandas

Chinese New Year was celebrated with a dragon, pandas and more, in Chinatown earlier this evening.

2900 plus oriental performers from China, Korea, Vietnam and, Sydney participated in the evening parade to welcome the Year of the Dragon.

A massive dragon headed up a parade of dancers, acrobats and fire breathing types from Sydney Town Hall to downtown Chinatown to wish Sydney a Happy Lunar New Year.

For many the float of 20 pandas on unicycles was their favourite part of the night. The panda performers hailed from the National Song and Dance Theatre Company from Chengdu, China.

The freakish sized panda is China's rarest national treasure. Panda follows estimate that only 1500 still inhabit the planet, with 80 per cent of these in the Chengdu region - in the Sichuan province in China's south-west.

“Giant pandas are loved the world over. This puppet performance will thrill the tens of thousands of people who line Sydney's streets for our fabulous parade,” lord mayor Clover Moore said.

Light projections along the parade route helped transform the city into a mini-Hong Kong.

The parade commenced at 8pm finished off at Darling Harbour with a fireworks show.

May the power of the dragon and panda be with you.

Websites

Sydney Chinese New Year Festival

http://www.sydneychinesenewyear.com/

City of Sydney official website

www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Eva Rinaldi Photography

www.evarinaldi.com

Music News Australia

www.musicnewsaustralia.com

Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace 3D Coming To Sydney, Australia

Star Wars fans of all ages and from all parts of the galaxy - especially Sydney, Australia. Out of this world news for you... the Star Wars franchise is coming to the mean streets of Sydney for a red carpet movie premiere this Sunday.

Find your cape, sword, laser gun and camera and be there fellow Storm Troopers.

Official media information...

STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D

20th Century Fox is taking the Star Wars phenomenon to a whole new level and generation when a who’s who of talent from Australian television, radio, sport and entertainment and their families take to the red carpet for the Australian Premiere of STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE for the first time in 3D.

George Lucas takes us back to the beginning of the beloved saga, in which Darth Vader is a hopeful nine-year-old boy named Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi is a determined young Jedi knight. This first chapter, which is rich in art, design, costumes, architecture and technology, follows Anakin’s journey as he pursues his dreams and confronts his fears in the midst of a galaxy in turmoil.

WHAT: STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

WHERE: EVENT CINEMAS, GEORGE STREET, SYDNEY

WHEN: SUNDAY 5th FEBRUARY 2012

RED CARPET ARRIVALS: 11.00AM

FILM COMMENCES: 11.45AM

VIP GUESTS INCLUDE: ROB MILLS, CHARLOTTE DAWSON, GLENN MCGRATH, JASON STEVENS, NASH EDGERTON, CHRIS BATH, RICHARD WILKINS, GARY MEHIGAN, MANU FEILDEL, LARRY EMDUR, DAMIEN LEITH, MATTHEW HAYDEN, CHARLIE BROWN, HARRY COOK, MAEVE O’MEARA, MARK DAVIS, CANDICE DIXON, BARRY DU BOIS, RACHEL FINCH, MIA FREEDMAN, SOPHIE HENSSER, MELISSA HOYER, PETER KURUVITA, GORDANA WILLESSEE, STEVE BISLEY, PJ MADAM, MIGUEL MAESTRE, ROBERT MAMMONE, ERIN MOYLAND, JUSTIN NORTH, TRACY SPICER, LEANNA WALSMAN, MATT MORAN, MATT SHIRVINGTON, ANTHONY FIELD, STEFANO CANTURI among others, plus DARTH MAUL and Star Wars STORM TROOPERS!

STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE 3D is released in cinemas nationally on FEBRUARY 9th 2012

Websites

Star Wars official website

http://www.starwars.com/

Lucas Film

http://www.lucasfilm.com/

Lucas Arts

http://www.lucasarts.com/

Event Cinemas

http://www.eventcinemas.com.au/

The Lantern Group

http://www.lanterngroup.com.au/

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Eva Rinaldi Photography

www.evarinaldi.com

Media Man News

www.mediamannews.com

Music News Australia

www.musicnewsaustralia.com

Chinese New Year Parade - Sydney

Chinese New Year Parade - Sydney

Venue:
Sydney Town Hall 483 George Street, Sydney
Date: Sunday, January 29, 2012
Website: http://www.sydneychinesenewyear.com.au/
Starting at 8:00pm tonight, Sydney's streets will host a stunning night time procession of costumes, giant lanterns, lights and illuminated floats to welcome in the Lunar New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Dragon.

The Chinese New Year Parade is the highlight of Sydney's annual celebrations, offering dynamic live music, amazing floats, flamboyant dragons, dazzling costumes, beautiful illuminated zodiac lanterns and much more. More than 2,900 local and international performers will feature in this street spectacular, including 135 artists from Chengdu showing off their stunning Panda Puppets, Fire Dragons and ethnic dancers.

Sydneysiders will also be wowed by a stunning 18-metre red-and-gold fire dragon, which 20 performers in colourful costumes will steer, twist and turn to the tune of gongs and drums. The dragon has a 4,000 year-old history in the town of Huanglongxi, on the outskirts of Chengdu, in central China.

J. Edgar Movie Review: Leonardo DiCaprio brilliant

This is the biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, the founding director of the FBI.

Leonardo DiCaprio was sure brave in taking on this acting challenge. 

At 37, he's already played billionaire Howard Hughes (The Aviator), junkie Jim Carroll (The Basketball Diaries), great impostor Frank Abagnale Jr. (Catch Me If You Can) and Shakespeare's Romeo. 

In J. Edgar, DiCaprio plays Hoover in both his twenties and seventies.

He is America's most feared and hated top law enforcement official ... at the FBI.

DiCaprio is brilliant in this role, and without him the film would be a lot less interesting in my estimation. Leo pretty much saves the film.

Until his death in 1972, J. Edgar Hoover ruled the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Not even eight presidents could stop him getting his way more often than not.

For half a century Hoover nosed into private lives to keep his enemies in check, and he even kept files on some friends also. Hoover was not without his own secrets too - being gay being potentially the most dangerous.

His gayness seems to add an unique warmth to the film that otherwise may not have existed.

Director Clint Eastwood, now 81, and Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, 37, have done a great job with what could have easily been fairly bland material. Those into Leo or political films will love it, but that's not everyone.

The matter of Hoover taking a liking to women's clothing is touched on, but not over-done.

The film spends a lot of time focusing on those closest to J. Edgar Hoover: his mum, Annie Hoover (Judi Dench); his protective secretary, Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts); and FBI associate director Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), the lawyer who became J. Edgar's constant companion.

Hoover's greatest love appeared to be the United States and his need to protect it from commies and radicals. 

Eastwood covers Hoover's rise and sorts out fact from fiction. Hoover did popularize fingerprinting and the collection of forensic evidence, but he also had a penchant for giving himself credit where it wasn't due, for killing gangster John Dillinger, solving the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's baby, and being the ultimate G-man, making arrests and capturing bad guys.

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Josh Lucas, Judi Dench

Websites

J. Edgar official website

http://www.jedgarmovie.warnerbros.com/

Leonardo DiCaprio official website

http://www.leonardodicaprio.com/

Roadshow Films Australia

http://www.roadshowfilms.com.au

Media Man News

www.mediamannews.com

Music News Australia

www.musicnewsaustralia.com