Madonna - MDNA - (March 26th, 2012)

[MadonnaNation]

I agree floridagrl, i just hope they give this the video and itunes release it deserves...this needs to be a single....if there with GMAYL as the first single..as it seems...then i hope they can release this song as the 2nd single...if..they release a dance sinlge..then another dance single...this album becomes no diffrent then Hard Candy...its time for Madonna to change things up....by the way....Slant Mag gave WE 3 of 4 stars in its review...maybe someone here can post it..i dont know how.

[floridagrl]

^ As requested MadonnaNation. I don't think Masterpiece is going to be a single. It's an end of movie ballad. I could be wrong, however. I do hope she gets nominated for best score @ the GG and Oscars.

W.E. ***
BY DIEGO COSTA ON DECEMBER 11, 2011

The general consensus on Madonna's W.E., perhaps before anyone even watched it, has been that it looks great, but that is has no substance, no soul. This is quite ironic coming from a culture so invested in containing femininity within the boundaries of beautiful objecthood that it would be Frankensteinian for its most legendary female star to produce spectacle out of something other than her own body. The truth is W.E. is a perfectly fine piece of oneiric cinema. It puts forth, in fact, a kind of filmic écriture feminine so unabashedly consumed by "the look" and its world of artifices that we'd have to recognize, if we were to be critically fair and put our own heterosexist anxieties aside, that W.E. makes a mockery out of "man's cinema" (cinema tout court?).

W.E. is all about shameless visual pleasure, but not of the kind Laura Mulvey warned us back in the day, which would cut women's bodies and serve the pretty little pieces up to the voyeuristic "male gaze." W.E.'s is a kind of dynamic pleasure that allows for non-shameful identification with the feminine and a fantasy of becoming what we see. A cathartic embracing of the object that one is and the erotic power of the objects that one isn't, W.E.'s is a world of impossibly rich reds, impeccably coiffed hairdos, mirrored dressers filled with luscious Chanel makeup, irresistibly polished Martini shakers, five-billion-thread count Pratesi bed sheets, and "Justify My Love"-like corridors with ridiculously couture women walking by in, yes, Wong Kar-wai-esque slow motion.

We know the story: Wally (Abbie Cornish, a mix of Katie Holmes obnoxious ennui and Katherine McPhee comeliness), a privileged young woman in New York City, becomes obsessed with the royal drama and romance between King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and Wallis Simpson (the amazing Andrea Riseborough), the American woman for whom he renounced the throne. Wally spends most of her time at Sotheby's getting aroused by the objects on display that once belonged to Simpson (and will soon be auctioned), as a kind of replacement for, or escape from, her own sexless and abusive marriage. Wally's ecstatic bonding with the gloves, jewels, and pillboxes on display, which serve as cues for flashbacks that take us to the dramatization of the royal love story itself, is only ever interrupted by the charming security guard with a hot foreign accent, Evgeni (an excellent Oscar Isaac). The two develop a sexual tension that can be, frankly, much more interesting than the historical drama that fuels the film. It's with Evgeni that we wake up from the overdose of lush and luxury (we need a breather just as long as we get to come back) when he takes Wally to a borough other than Manhattan for the first time and serenades her with some classical music.

The scene recalls the first time James Franco sleeps over at Neve Campbell's apartment and cooks for her in Robert Altman's The Company. But even though the myth of true love is what drives Wally, Madonna never throws a saccharine bone to her main character, as any other film about a poor fashionista looking for love in the urban jungle would. Wally may be seduced by Manhattan's promises of itself as a haven for capital and libidinal fulfillment, but she isn't fooled by them. She inhabits the space between ideality and actuality, from where she quickly learns to refuse men as a means for completeness. Even the bearing of a child becomes a narrative that includes a man but isn't contained by him. Instead of settling for the simple things in life that Brooklyn and a hot Russian guy who plays the piano and reads Rilke have to offer, she flies to Paris to read royal correspondence by the fireplace at a chateau wearing some breathtaking Balenciaga-looking number. Wallis Simpson's impossible-to-gain-access box of letters is her own Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

W.E. does have its share of potential camp moments, as when the female doubles (wasn't this what Desperately Seeking Susan was about?), Wally and Wallis, cross time and meet each other in the same space so one can offer the other existential advice (the face is the most important thing, but you make the most with what you got), or when someone delivers a line such as, "Do you think we can change our own destiny?" Yet Madonna handles this film like a masterful aesthetician. The absolutely enthralling soundtrack patches everything together along with the grainy handheld close-ups that tend to follow every establishing shot. This last strategy, which could have easily become a sort of visual tic or editing cop-out, becomes a consistent dream-like motif that helps make W.E. a multi-sensorial frisson.

DIRECTOR(S): Madonna SCREENPLAY: Madonna CAST: Andrea Riseborough, Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy, Oscar Isaac, Richard Coyle, David Harbour DISTRIBUTOR: The Weinstein Company RUNTIME: 119 min. RATING: R YEAR: 2011

www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/w-e/5963

[HolidayGuy]

"Masterpiece" probably will not be promoted at radio, but would be nice if it was made available for individual purchase at iTunes, at the least.

[josh]

I love Masterpiece, if only for the fact that I never thought we would hear M sing like that again

[MadonnaNation]

Thanks for posting the review...i would hope we get an itunes release at least....and as for it being an end of movie ballad..lets keep our fingers crossed..lol...so was "This used to be my Playground."

[bat1990]

The film sounds a lot better than the reviews from the European film festivals. The cross-time parallels remind me of Julia & Julie, only the movie sounds less feel-good.

[HolidayGuy]

Kinda random, but how did I miss this version of "Take a Bow"? The "Trees"-inspired strings are missed, but it's lovely.

[think pink.]

Cannot take Masterpiece off of repeat

[floridagrl]

^ Me 2, Blackout! It's an amazing Madonna track!!

[floridagrl]

Dec 12, 2011 14:10:32 GMT -5 MadonnaNation said:

Thanks for posting the review...i would hope we get an itunes release at least....and as for it being an end of movie ballad..lets keep our fingers crossed..lol...so was "This used to be my Playground."

You're welcome, papa!

[CammyCan]

Madonna and M.I.A. sing Happy Birthday to Nicki: soundcloud.com/madonna/nickibdayfrommadonnamia?123

You can hear the kiss here, so thankfully no kissing in the video. Just the Queen blessing Nicki on her birthday.

[wwr]

Dec 12, 2011 17:46:42 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Kinda random, but how did I miss this version of "Take a Bow"? The "Trees"-inspired strings are missed, but it's lovely.

thats' because its a fake
its a basic midi file with the original acapella audio

[HolidayGuy]

^Ahh- OK. Obviously her vocals are different in spots than what ended up on the record, so that threw me.

[HolidayGuy]

Ask Madonna a Question
abcnews.go.com/Nightline/mailform?id=15140458

Mine's not that surprising- kinda wordy, but oh well. :)

You've done so much in your music, stage performances, videos, etc. to push cultural boundaries- whether it's tackling gender, racial, religious, sexual or social mores. You have famously said that artists should have a point of view and that you have enjoyed being a revolutionary, provoking discussion and getting people to think. Do you feel a kinship and greater respect toward other acts who share that philosophy in one way or another? Or, do you find as much value in acts whose careers prosper on fun, yet ultimately disposable, music?

[floridagrl]

Good question, HG. Hope yours gets picked.

[floridagrl]

Madonna's Santa Baby is currently #39 on Holiday itunes!

[Safado]

Madonna-Masterpiece

On this spare downtempo lullaby that recalls the haunting minimalism of mid 90's experiments like Take A Bow and Frozen, Madonna lets her raw voice luxuriate in vulnerability and subtle sweetness. Her Madgesty's 21-st Century thaw is finally in full swing. B+

From Entertainment Weekly.

[HolidayGuy]

^Very nice comments.

Thanks, floridag. :) RE "Santa Baby"- it debuted on Billboard's Hot 100-like top 50 Holiday Songs chart this week- it brings up the rear at No. 50. :)

[jumpb4uthink]

Dec 12, 2011 17:47:34 GMT -5 think pink. said:

Cannot take Masterpiece off of repeat

I agree this must be a single release and a video to promote the film. I fell in love with masterpiece the very first time I heard it and it is getting so much positive response viral. Everyone seems to miss her ballads. Her vocals shine on this.
I also believe that it will be nominated for a GG this Thurs morning. I mean, hasn't she been nominated like 5 times for original song? Hope Abel's amazing score gets a nom too.

[floridagrl]

Madge’s Interscope deal
Last Updated: 12:12 AM, December 14, 2011
Posted: 12:03 AM, December 14, 2011

So Madonna is back in the studio. After performing for nearly five years without a new record, her Madgesty has a three-album deal with Universal Music Group’s Interscope. Madonna broke off her relationship with Warner Music Group in 2007 following a disagreement with Edgar Bronfman and signed with Live Nation for a megabucks “360 deal” that covers touring and merchandise. She’ll l continue to tour with Live Nation but has the deal with Interscope at a base of $1 million per album. “It’s just about keeping relevance so that she can tour,” a source said, adding, “She is still in the demo phase, but the idea is to get the first album out early next year.” Other artists signed to Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope include 50 Cent, Sean (Diddy) Combs and Lady Gaga. But Fiddy wasn’t sounding that happy about having Madonna as a stable-mate. After working on new single, “Girls Gone Wild,” he tweeted on Monday, “Now Madonna’s single is called Girls GONE WILD. This is some bull[bleep].”

Read more: www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/madge_interscope_deal_HDYDmkfV9gSylicaPonQ1N#ixzz1gVoShJAW

Aside from the obvious "typos", I don't understand this. If she signed the deal with LiveNation to be her new label, how and why is she now considered an Interscope artist? I thought Universal was only in the picture to distribute the album. Hmmmm...

[PDC1987]

Live Nation isn't a record label, they can't distribute albums. They pay her to record them, but then they sell the distribution rights to an actual label. Apparently the UMG has bought the rights to her 3 upcoming LN albums and has given them to their Interscope label. She's considered an Interscope artist because they're releasing the album.

[josh]

I don't understand...why is 50 Cent mad?

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

Dec 14, 2011 12:10:12 GMT -5 josh said:

I don't understand...why is 50 Cent mad?

His single was also called "Girls Gone Wild" and he doesn't like that there would be two singles with the same name out at roughly the same time. Aside from the titles, there's probably no similarity content-wise. Just watch that there will be a remix of one or the other's with both of them on it.

[HolidayGuy]

^He should be used to Madge copping his titles. Course, "Candy Shop" was out a decent amount of time after his track of the same name.

[MountainMan]

I don't think 50 Cent has to worry. He's not relevant anymore.

[ALEX GONE WILD]

Besides 'Girls Gone Wild' is an album track, not the first single anyways. He's not even relevant.

[ALEX GONE WILD]

Interscope/Live Nation is supposedly announcing the album today.

The single is titled 'Give Me All Your Luvin' now, rumor has it.

[slw84]

Dec 14, 2011 12:10:12 GMT -5 josh said:

I don't understand...why is 50 Cent mad?

Um, how could you not understand why he is mad...he is oppressed and depressed...all in all pressed and his time came and went 5 years ago not only is he not relevant...his last album went double linoleum.
So yeah taking shots at the queen to get a buzz. It's been done before...yawn.
I will give him credit his investment in vitamin water was quite.lucrative.

[ALEX GONE WILD]

I love how "pre$$ed' is changed into "moved by weight and force in a certain direction, or into a certain position" lmao.. that's hilarious.. I just now noticed that.

[floridagrl]

Dec 15, 2011 7:26:15 GMT -5 slw84 said:

Um, how could you not understand why he is mad...his last album went double linoleum.

LOL!!! Too f*cking funny!!