Charlotte Gainsbourg

Grammy winning record producer Emile Haynie makes a career turning point by unleashing his first album as a recording artist, 'We Fall', complete with collaborations with some of the biggest talent in the music industry today. But who exactly is he?

Emile Haynie releases debut album 'We Fall'

His name will be doubtlessly familiar to those fans of the rap world, having began his career in hip hop, but now he's set to make waves as a songwriter, enlisting some of the greatest vocalists and performers to work with him on his first release; an impressive feat for someone who started out working in a home studio in New York before dropping out of school. Luckily, it wasn't long before his work was picked up by Proof from D-12, who introduced him to Eminem, and the rest is history. He won a Grammy after producing Eminem's album 'Recovery', went on to discover Kid Cudi and worked with some of the world's greatest rappers including Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg to name but a few.

Continue reading: Who Is Emile Haynie? New Album 'We Fall' Features Some Impressive Guests

Lars Von Trier’s latest film Nymphomaniac has been getting everyone hot under the collar since before any actual filming even began. Written and directed by the controversial von Trier, who is renowned for his avant-garde approach to filmmaking, the film stars Stellan Skarsgard, Stacy Martin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Shia LeBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman and Willem Dafoe...how’s that for a star-studded cast?

Shia LaBeouf plays one of Joe's lovers in Nymphomaniac

There may be loads of mainstream actors on board, but the concept behind Nymphomaniac is anything but commercial. Charting the sexual history of Joe, a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, the plot sees her recount her erotic experiences to Seligman, a bachelor who took her in after finding her having been beaten up in an alley. Divided into two separate films, or “volumes”, and eight chapters, the first volume of Nymphomaniac tells the story of Joe when she was young (played by Stacy Martin) while volume two is concerned with the older Joe.

Continue reading: The Mythological Production Of Lars Von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac'

If Jamie Bell’s account is anything to go by, working with Lars Von Trier is a truly unforgettable experience. The young British actor has recounted the Danish director’s strange directing techniques with The Guardian in an interview, and they involve meeting him, totally naked (Von Trier, not Bell) and smacking Charlotte Gainsbourg with pleasantries skipped.

Jamie Bell, pictured far right, plays 'K' in Nymphomaniac.

"I'd just got to Copenhagen to begin shooting. Thomas was showing me around: 'We built this set here, this is where the production design room is.' Then we had to walk past this outdoor pool and there was Lars with a towel in his hand,” explained bell. “He dropped the towel, he shook my hand – he was stark bollock-naked – and he said, 'Do you want to come for a swim?' And I said, 'I'm all right man, I just got here, I've still got my suitcase, so I'll wait.'"

Continue reading: Jamie Bell Met A Naked Lars Von Trier, Smacked Gainsbourg Without A Hello. Nymphomaniac Anyone?

This weekend sees the limited release of Lars Von Trier’s latest mindbender: Nymphomaniac. Fans of the enigmatic Danish director will relish the chance to see both volumes back to back with this one-day (Saturday Feb 22) release, but if you need convincing to see 4.5 hours of Lars then read on.

Gainsbourg gets up to some raunchy stuff in Nymphomaniac

The film, like many of Von Trier’s, sees Charlotte Gainsbourg take the lead role. She’s a troubled nymphomaniac who provides the film’s plot by recounting her life after Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) finds her beaten in an alley.

It’s split in to two parts – Volume I and II – and both parts are playing tomorrow in London as a double feature. The reviews, however, seem to focus on individual volumes, with the first achieving 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the second, 83%.

“A provocative, engrossing, often hilarious, frequently tough picture. Not for all sensibilities but it's among von Trier's more playful, purely entertaining films, with insight and humour in even the horrors,” wrote Empire’s Kim Newman in his review.

“By the end of four hours the concept "picaresque" has been serially used and abused, much like the film's heroine. There's a vision here, even so, that shapes the film's prolix, promiscuous ends,” said Nigel Andrews in The Financial Times.

“For the most part Nymphomaniac is compelling and achieves exactly what von Trier set out to do: a multi-faceted exploration of sexuality, in all its bizarre, twisted glory,” writes James Mottram for The List.

And here, at Contact Music, Rich Cline awarded Nymphomaniac (both volumes as one film) 4/5, writing: “For the most part Nymphomaniac is compelling and achieves exactly what von Trier set out to do: a multi-faceted exploration of sexuality, in all its bizarre, twisted glory.”

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Lars Von Trier will take you out of your comfort zone with Nymphomaniac, and it’s something you should experience in its enterity. So what are you waiting for, pick up the phone and start dialing! Oh wait, that’s a different film.

We've been writing about Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac for a couple of years now, reporting on the explicit sex scenes, the madness, the whole circus. Through it all we've been bracing ourselves for a movie that we know is basically a massive practical joke on us, though now it's here, it seems Nymphomaniac: Volume 1 could be one of the cinematic highlights of 2014.

It stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as Joe, a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who is discovered badly beaten in an alley by an older bachelor (Stellan Skarsgard) who takes her home. As he sees to her wounds, Joe recounts the erotic story of her adolescence and young-adulthood, told in flashbacks.

Continue reading: With 96%, Lars Von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac' Could Be 2014's Best Movie