WEIRDLAND

Monday, October 06, 2008

The Prince of Persia cut the mustard

*We saw some brief clips and animatics from Mike Newell’s upcoming Prince of Persia, which looked really strong and could be the movie to break the curse of the videogame adaptation. Jake Gyllenhaal, in the title role, is really buffed up, and we saw a couple of cool but brief swordfight sequences which proved he could cut the mustard as an action hero. Gemma Arterton looked stunning, and we also saw some really interesting concept art of the bad guys, some of whom can shoot snakes at people. We also got a brief animatic look at the way Gyllenhaal's character can pause time. This looks like it could be a very nice surprise. * Cars 2 has been moved ahead by a year and will see Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Mater (Larry The Cable Guy) travel the world. In the meantime they are producing a series of short cartoons - "Cars Toons" as John Lasseter put it - called Mater's Tall Tales. We saw the first one, in which Mater makes out he was a fire truck and a doctor back in the day. Later ones will see him as a Stuntman and a Bullfighter. They will premiere on the Disney Channel". Source: www.empireonline.com

Nick & Norah love the city


A musical video featuring some stills from "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist", pictures from the premiere at L.A., etc. Songs "NYC Man" by Lou Reed and "We love the city" by Hefner.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

The Graduate's legacy

"If Michael Cera has a predecessor, it's Dustin Hoffman.Mr. Hoffman burst onto the scene out of nowhere 40 years ago with a striking performance in "The Graduate." Opposite Anne Bancroft, Mr. Hoffman took a role written for a waspy overachiever and imbued it with a mumbling nebbishness; his body language and verbal insecurity were in striking contrast to the typical leading man of the day.
Mr. Cera is a similarly unlikely leading man. Although he has an undeniable boyish charm, one would never confuse him for Paul Newman or Tom Cruise.
But like Dustin Hoffman before him, Michael Cera has tapped into a very real current within the American consciousness.

By choosing his projects wisely, Mr. Cera has developed broad appeal with both hipster tastemakers and the general public alike. His star turns could signal the beginning of a new era of comedy, one in which irony is out and sincerity is in. Perhaps Mr. Cera (and the sincerity he represents) is a sign of the times. Just as "The Graduate" struck a chord with baby boomers because of their shared rejection of the Greatest Generation's values, snark-laden irony might be a mind-set few can afford to indulge in a time of collapsing prosperity. Maybe we all feel a little more comfortable cheering for someone who means what he says". Source: www.washingtontimes.com

Birthday hang-over pics


Listening to "Broken String" album by Bishop Allen.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Jake is back for my birthday!

Jake, on 3rd October, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

I'm so happy of a new sight of Jake shooting, I consider this re-appearance as a birthday gift, because, yes, weirdos, today's my 34th birthday!

Reading below, let's see how Jake continues to be so desired by ardent blogger females worldwide:
"just to clarify, he texts his girly reese like every two seconds (mostly while the crew is setting up the next shot) and has his mobile hidden in his costume. she even flew down to morocco when they were filming there, so no, i'm not gonna have a secret rendez-vous with him. although the lovely gentleman who plays his brother, tobey kebbell...i mean DAY-UM! he totally knows i fancy him, and his makeup artist told me half-jokingly that i was invited back to his trailer after the day's shoot...i refrained this time, but come monday morning, he's mine, bitch".
Source: christineestima.blogspot.com

More pictures courtesy of Iheartjakemedia.com:
October 3 - On The Set of 'Prince of Persia' In London.

October 3 - Leaving Cipriani Restaurant In London.

Unrecognizable Jake - Persian look

"Jake Gyllenhaal has long hair for his part in the silly video game movie Prince of Persia. I wonder what Reese thinks of it. I wonder what Lance thinks of it. Crabbie like". Source: crabbieshollywood.blogspot.com

Kendra doesn't like it so much, I usually prefer short hair for men, but is this really Jake? His look seems dramatically changed, as if it was caused by a Persian syndrome.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (Yeah! New York)


A musical video featuring stills from "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" and pictures from the premiere at L.A. Songs: "Yeah! New York" by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "I wanna be your boyfriend" by The Ramones and "Middle Management" by Bishop Allen.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist L.A. Premiere video:

Matilda Rose in Brooklyn

Michelle Williams & Matilda Rose Ledger take a neighbour’s dog for a a morning walk around Brooklyn, New York City on Tuesday, 16th September.
"Matilda Rose, the 2-year-old daughter of Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger, takes a neighbor’s dog for a morning walk around Brooklyn, New York City on Tuesday.
“I thought a lot about what you look like when you think nobody’s looking at you, when you feel completely invisible,” Ms. Williams said of her character Wendy. “Your entire life happens inside because you don’t think anyone notices you. Which is very different from me. Not that I don’t have any inside life, but I feel watched, all the time.”

As she spoke over a long lunch at a restaurant near her home in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, Ms. Williams occasionally paused and smiled wryly as if to acknowledge the unspoken connections with her off-screen life. “It’s all so personal, isn’t it?” she said. “It’s hard to talk about work without talking about things that are personal. Work is personal. I don’t want to talk about my personal life, but it’s on my mind, and it’s in my work.”
Source: JustJared.buzznet.com


Sam Mendes remembers Paul Newman

"There was this real sense of grace and dignity. He had nothing left to prove. He knew what a fortunate and wonderful life he had led, and he was very willing to admit that.

He was part of the extraordinary rich history of New York and Method acting and the fifties, and yet he somehow made it through to the end of the twentieth century with his reputation miraculously untarnished. We live in an era where, I’m not naming names, but the fall from grace of a movie star is exactly that. They lose their grace, their dignity, and the moment that happens is often very clear. The transition he managed from actor to icon to philanthropist and great man was absolutely extraordinary. This guy was the biggest box-office [actor] in the world for over a decade. To have that, and still maintain people’s respect for them as an actor, is almost unprecedented. There are very few in our lifetime. As George Clooney said, Paul didn’t just set the bar high for actors. He set the bar high for people. He seems to me to be one of the great twentieth-century lives, and the more I hear others talk about that, the truer it seems. He was resolutely unconventional to the end. This is a tiny drop in the ocean of stories. I mean, imagine what Redford must have! You’re used to editing your thoughts about people—even the nicest ones—but there’s no need with Paul." Source: nymag.com 

David O. Russell is praised

"I have been 'Internet challenged' long enough and am thrilled to join the tech revolution!" she writes as MySpace Celebrity's featured icon, which posted Sunday.

She adds: "Plus, I only have four friends and am in dire need of more. Just kidding, I have six." (Actually, she has three, according to her private profile.)

Currently filming "Nailed" in South Carolina with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tracy Morgan, Biel, 26, admits from her trailer that she's insecure about communicating so publicly but also feels "cooler being an official blogger."
Source: www.people.com

"Nailed" may be called into question, the behavior of Russell can’t be, stars of the flick told MTV News, painting a very different picture of the director than what’s appeared in most recent stories.“He’s wonderful” Catherine Keener said.
“I love him”, co-star Jessica Biel echoed. “He pulled such a bizarre cool interesting performance out of everyone. It was quite an interesting experience. David was amazing.”

What’ll be equally interesting, no doubt, is how the final film, a political satire Keener called “a screwball comedy” about the adventures of a brain damaged waitress in Washington D.C winds up, given the massive delays and stoppages in production.

“That was the only really sh–ty part. The shutdowns were killing us,” Biel said. Source: moviesblog.mtv.com

Thursday, October 02, 2008

"Brothers" Test Screening

"Ok, I went into work and found out that Yesterday Thurs. thay had a test screening of Nats new film BROTHERS. I got a call from work from coworkers cause they know Im a die hard Nat fan and said hey they have a privite early test screening of Nats New film Brothers.

I was fraking out cause it's was shown at the cinema thats 5 min. away from my house and directly across the street from my work at fedexkinkos. It's a station casino. I live in vegas.

I am at work now and came in and the guys who had the test screening came in and had ALL of the test cards from peoples reaction to the film I had to make 2 copies. On top said BROTHERS and on it was How was the film?, How was Nat's performance, ect.

I went through all of them ( Hey i want to know) Alot said Nats performance was excellent. same goes for Toby and Jake".

Source: natalieportman.com/forum

Three Wanderers Video


A musical video featuring some images of three gorgeous actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Cera. Song "The Wanderer" by Dion & The Belmonts.

Pirates and Arabian nights

“Prince of Persia” isn’t just going to be like “Pirates” in terms of scope and tone, the newest Disney/Bruckheimer tag-team is actually going to “do for Arabian Nights movies what ‘Pirates’ did for pirate movies,” screenwriter and series creator Jordon Mechner told MTV News. Slated for 2010, the film will star Jake Gyllenhaal as the iconic video game character character. [...]

“There’ll certainly be a lot of stunts, a lot of special effects. I mean it’s Jerry Bruckheimer!” Mechner insisted. “They’re shooting in the deserts of Morocco. The scope of this is going to be massive. It’s really spectacular.”“Well the movie’s packed with action, so there’ll be swords and horses and all the things that wouldn’t be ‘Prince of Persia’ without. But because it’s a movie, it’s about the characters and character relationships. There’s no fighting for fighting’s sake. In a game, you have a lot of fighting because you’re doing it and it’s fun,” he said. “But in a movie, fighting’s a part of the story but it’s not a movie about swordfighting.”
Source: moviesblog.mtv.com

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

"Brothers" is bumped

"Jim Sheridan's Brothers, which I've been very much looking forward to, being a fan of Jim and Susanne Bier's original 2004 film, is being bumped into '09 -- possibly a late summer release, or possibly one in the fall. MGM had planned it to open it on 12.4.08, but now they'll be taking it to next May's Cannes Film Festival. Draw whatever conclusions you want, but the implication is that it's not a quality issue as much as a concern that it might suffer against the heavy year-end competition.

This despite test-screening responses that seemed (emphasis on the "s" word) to indicate possible Oscar contention. Particular praise has gone to the performances of costars Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.

The MGM team wasn't in the building from 9:15 to 10:45 am (even the receptionists didn't answer) so I called Brothers producer Mike DeLuca, who confirmed the news. The decision to hold was basically due to the "crazy full fall for serious movies" this year, he says. "We love Brothers and want to blitz in Cannes, but it's just too crowded this year for a wide fall release and an Oscar campaign." A key factor in the decision, he says, is that costar Jake Gyllenhaal is unavailable for year-end p.r. due to filming on Prince of Persia and "we can't promote this movie without Jake. So Cannes makes most sense. I'm super proud of the movie and a major unveiling on the Cote d'Azur with all cast present is too good to pass up."

MGM source said that a mid to late summer release could conceivably happen due to next summer looking relatively weak,

As noted three or four times before on HE, Brothers is a remake of Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish-language original about a younger "bad" brother (Gyllenhaal in Sheridan's version) stepping into the familial shoes of his older "good" brother (Maguire) after the latter disappears during an enemy skirmish in Afghanistan.

Natalie Portman plays the wife-mother whose loyalties shift, or at least adapt to new realities. Sam Shepard plays the gruff and disapproving pater familias, the father of Gyllenhaal and Maguire. David Benioff (The Kite Runner, The 25th Hour) adapted the screenplay". Source: hollywood-elsewhere.com

"A further complication had developed when Warner Brothers acquired Mr. Fincher’s “Zodiac” project, leading to a showdown between Warner and Paramount over conflicting claims to the director’s attention. They solved the problem by agreeing to share rights on each, with Warner getting international rights (and sharing costs) on “Button.”

So far the people who made the movie, at least, think it was worth the bother. Mr. Roth, who has an obvious stake in the matter, said he was choosing to believe the audience would follow". Source: www.nytimes.com

Read this interesting article about the road to the Oscars.

Unconventional sex-symbols

-"Young women seem to like you. Are you a sex symbol?
-Jake Gyllenhaal: [Laughs] I don't know what I am. I know I was kind of an It-guy for a long time". Source: www.metro.co.uk
"Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal says he doesn't understand why he's become a bit of a sex symbol. 'I don't think of myself as good-looking,' he admits. 'Not at all. When I was a kid I had these huge glasses. 'I once went to a fancy dress as a Crest toothpaste tube with these huge glasses stuck on".
Source: www.nowmagazine.co.uk

"But against all odds, Michael Cera is a teenage heartthrob, en route to the pantheon with Ricky Nelson, Leonardo DiCaprio and David Cassidy. He became a fixture in teen magazines after his first leading role in "Superbad" and is now the poster boy for producer-director Judd Apatow's dork renaissance. Cera himself has no better idea than puzzled grown-ups as to why he's any teen's idea of a hottie. "A sex symbol?" he asked quizzically at a Canadian press conference earlier this month. "Like, I symbolize sex?"But the difference with "Nick and Norah" is how the film finally capitalizes on its star's unlikely sex appeal. For the first time in his career, Cera's role seems to invite the attention. Sex scenes in his earlier films were either disguised ("Juno") or filled with laugh-out-loud jokes ("Superbad"). In "Nick and Norah," the romantic encounters are almost uncomfortably real. He doesn't fumble; it clearly isn't his first time. In a post-coital embrace, Cera's limpid eyes gaze down at his partner: "You're beautiful", he says, quieting Norah's insecurities.

Cera is not the first guy to win admirers with sensitive, "beta" schmaltz. John Cusack, emo man before "emo" was a term of art, is clearly an inspiration. While Cera simpers, reliant on his bushy, raised brows to convey a range of repressed emotions, Cusack fired off zingy mini-monologues. "I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, buy anything sold or processed, process anything sold, bought or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed", Cusack mused in the film, a famous sum-uppance of vague teenage principles.

It's Cera's bashful purity and sense of humor that make him appealing—". Source: www.newsweek.com
"On 'Arrested Development', Cera copped a nicest-kid-in-the-world demeanor, playing a lovably gawky teen who's impossible not to like.

Cera has perfected the persona in film roles, turning self-effacing decency into a surprisingly appealing trait in a business that often looks for glib wisecracking in its stars.

"He's just got a goodness inside him that you can see", co-star Dennings said. "I'm sure there are tons of people with goodness inside them, but you can't see it. With him, you can taste it. When you look at him, you just know that he's a good person".
"Nick and Norah" director Peter Sollett met with Cera before "Superbad" and "Juno" came out, and he had not seen "Arrested Development."

But he took an immediate liking to Cera, saying the actor's demure on-screen presence is much like his real-life persona".Nice as Cera is, Dennings said she would love to see him play a bad guy. Would Cera ever try it?

"Maybe someday. It depends on the script and the director, to be honest", Cera said. "There are no parts that I can think of right now where I go, 'Oh, I'll never play that'. It just depends on what it is and if it feels right." Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
TeenHollywood: Did you and Michael have fun on set? He seems like a super-huggable, cute dork. Is he or is he totally different?

Kat: He's really a good guy and really nice and smart. He's not a dork at all. I wouldn't say he is. I think he's just a decent human being. If a decent human being is a dork then I want only to be friends with dorks! Source: www.teenhollywood.com

Peter Sarsgaard in The Seagull

Jake with Peter Sarsgaard at the 17th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival, 2006.

"The 37-year-old actor is known for playing hard, uncomfortable roles with a weird sort of laconic intensity since making his debut in 1995 as a Sean Penn murder victim in "Dead Man Walking."

He graduated to being a killer in "Boys Don't Cry," a rich guy with a fetish for a prostitute in "The Center of the World," a stoned gravedigger in "Garden State," Liam Neeson's lover in "Kinsey" and a disturbed sharpshooter in "Jarhead."

"I think sometimes I've been told that I play a villain sympathetically. I don't think that's actually what I'm doing," he says. "I'm just trying to get at the undercurrent of something."

Sarsgaard these days is plumbing those undercurrents on stage, making his Broadway debut in an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" alongside Kristin Scott Thomas, Mackenzie Crook and Carey Mulligan. He's a newcomer to the production, which began last year at London's Royal Court Theatre.

He's got a typical Sarsgaard role — Trigorin, a tortured writer who drives a rival to suicide and a young lover to ruin. He's grown a lush beard for the part and radiates both charisma and sleaze.

On the stoop, Sarsgaard is still buzzing about his debut deployment of an English accent the night before. He had previously been using his natural American voice, which made him the odd man out in the show.

The main reason was that it wasn't his turn to act. He and Gyllenhaal like to alternate the times they work, and she was off filming "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges in New Mexico. That yearning for realness has landed Sarsgaard respect and a quirky career. The fact that he traded Manhattan a few years ago for a modest home in a tree-lined, family neighborhood in Brooklyn's Park Slope is another stab at keeping it real.

He's passionately political and does public service announcements to encourage young people to vote. It doesn't take long to identify his own blue-state leanings: On this day he wears an American Civil Liberties Union baseball cap with the slogan "Freedom Can't Protect Itself."

Sarsgaard, who says his favorite performances are in movies that no one saw, seems to relish the fact that he's mostly only recognized in certain demographics. As the coffee bar incident shows, he's usually left unmolested."The type of thing that I love is walking down the street and when someone comes up to me and says, 'I saw one of your movies the other night and it affected me', he says".

Seagull - theplay
Source: omg.yahoo.com