Each week, The Daily Beast scours the cultural landscape to choose three top picks. This week, the highly-anticipated trailer for The Lovely Bones is unveiled.
First Glimpse of The Lovely Bones
Narrated by 14-year-old Susie Salmon, who was raped and murdered and now watches her grieving family from heaven, The Lovely Bones became an instant bestseller in 2002. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson bought the rights to Alice Sebold’s novel and many wondered how the murder-mystery tale would play out onscreen. Finally, a few answers: The trailer for the film has been released, and luckily, the half-dreamy, half-terrifying snippet—complete with Stanley Tucci in full-on creepy neighbor role—looks as if it will do justice to the much-loved book. Atonement’s young star Saoirse Ronan headlines the dark coming-of-age story, and with the film slated for release in December of this year, she may be gunning for an Oscar nomination. Production of the film was not without its faults—Ryan Gosling dropped out of the role as Salmon’s father, and was replaced by Mark Wahlberg, seen in the trailer with an appropriately ‘70s shaggy haircut. Rachel Weisz (who, in our opinion, can never have enough starring roles) plays Susie’s mother, Abigail, and Susan Sarandon and Michael Imperioli round out the rest of the pedigreed cast.
Watch the trailer for The Lovely Bones >>
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Radiohead Honors Their Elders
Radiohead unexpectedly debuted a new single this week titled “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” after a rather unusual muse. Patch, the last surviving British veteran of World War I, died last weekend at the age of 111, a few weeks after the band decided to record a song in his honor. Lead singer Thom Yorke was inspired after viewing an emotional interview with Patch, writing on his blog, “It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us. I hope we do not forget.” The dark track (lyrics include the lines “I've seen devils coming up from the ground/ I've seen hell upon this earth/ The next will be chemical but they will never learn”) can be purchased on the band’s Web site, with proceeds going to the British legion.
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Joe DiMaggio Bares All
Where has Joe DiMaggio gone? Did someone check the showers? A full-frontal nude photograph of the typically private Joe DiMaggio is currently on display at a San Francisco art gallery (and can also be viewed on Art Beast here). The picture of DiMaggio showering after a game was snapped around 1940 and the Yankee slugger is now soaking wet and grinning happily at the gallery Modernism in San Francisco. When Robert Flynn Johnson, curator emeritus of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, was asked where he got the photo, Johnson joked, “I have friends in low places.”
