WEIRDLAND

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Young Male Stars

#9: JAKE GYLLENHAAL. "With a talent and instinct beyond his years, Jake Gyllenhaal proves an actor can be both a media celebrity and a critically acclaimed actor. Known for his antics on TV talk shows, Gyllenhaal has charmed his way into the hearts of American audiences. But the guy has international appeal and a following that could rival today’s biggest stars...Coming up: Starring with Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire in the highly-anticipated feature called Brothers.

# 8: BEN FOSTER. He's the star you love to hate. Ben Foster seems to prefer playing the bad guy that Hollywood has began to offer him just that- the evil villain! In his three recent films- 30 Days of Night, 3:10 to Yuma and Alpha Dog, Foster was relentless, vicious...Coming up: A lead role in Birds of America.

# 7: GASPARD ULLIEL. Representing the new wave of French leading men, Gaspard Ulliel has both the looks and the talent to make it big in the world stage. Nominated three times for Most Promising Male Newcomer at the César Awards, the former male model's acting career is just taking off.Coming Up: 4 new productions for 2008, including an important role in Nikki Caro's The Vintner's Luck.

# 6: MICHAEL CERA. Comedy as they say is not for everyone. You need to be an extremely talented actor to make viewers laugh. But Michael Cera certainly can and it seems comedy is his forte. He is so good at it; he’s been cast in a number of upcoming high-profile comedic roles.

From playing George Michael Bluth in the offbeat Fox comedy Arrested Development to his more recent roles in Superbad and Juno (as Ellen Page’s partner, Paulie Bleeker), Cera is looking forward to more comedy, and fame of course.

Cera, along with Clark Duke, wrote and starred in a series of short videos released on their website. In 2007, they signed a deal with CBS Television to write, produce, direct, and act in a short-form comedy series entitled Clark and Michael. Coming up: Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, Scott Pilgrim vs the world.

#5. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT. After a hustling gig that turned violent, we see Neil (Gordon-Levitt) silently licking his wounds as he stared at his bruises and cuts, silently he cries – he must have realized he’s all alone and that there’s no one to help him or even listen to him…Coming Up: Stop Loss, Uncertainty, The Frog King and GI Joe.

# 4: EMILE HIRSCH. He is everybody’s dreamboy- young, gorgeous and handsome. As Sedgewick Bell in The Emperor’s Club he charmed his way into our hearts. But as Duncan in The Mudge Boy he brought in a certain vulnerability into his character that we’re utterly convinced he’s no ordinary young actor. Hirsch continues to amaze and at this moment, he is Hollywood’s most promising young lead actor.
Coming Up: Two upcoming high-profile movies- Milk now in pre-production where he plays Cleve Jones and Speed Racer in the title role.

# 3: JAMES MCAVOY. First ever winner of the Orange Rising star award, James McAvoy is already a big name in British cinema before he received acclaim for his role in The Last King of Scotland, opposite eventual Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker. Playing lead roles in not just 1 but 3 featured films this year- Starter for Ten, Becoming Jane, and Atonement- McAvoy is the star on the rise.Coming up: One of the busiest actors today, he will be seen next with Angelina Jolie in Wanted and opposite Christina Ricci in Penelope.

# 2. DANIEL BRUEHL. A driving force in European cinema, talented German actor Daniel Bruehl can speak fluent Spanish and English too! Perhaps even better than some of his British and American counterparts. Sought-after as a juror in prestigious film festivals, the 29 year old enjoys the advantage of being born in Barcelona and raised in Germany. Mainstream audiences would be surprised to know that Bruehl, who only got a supporting role in The Bourne Ultimatum, is already an award-winning actor, even more applauded than the movie’s lead. Latest Movies: Bruhl will play one of the leads in Julie Delphy’s period drama, The Countess. He is also in the cast of one big German production entitled Krabat.

# 1: RYAN GOSLING. He is the actor that even his peers talk about. He likes to play dark, disturbed characters, but he can also play romantic leads or be an innocent guy who fell in love with a life-size doll. Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling has come a long way from his Disney stint as one of its mousekeeters. Noted for his role in Lars and the real Girl, Gosling is once again making the list as one of the year’s best actors.After leaving the cast of The Lovely Bones, Gosling is being eyed to play Kurt Cobain in Courtney Love’s production about her former husband, the fallen Nirvana lead singer. Gosling & Kirsten Dunst are also set to star in new film "All Good Things", a period love story/murder mystery. He is also being eyed to play a younger version of Jack Ryan".
Source: Themovie-fanatic.com

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Pair of Sunglasses

Jake with Natalie Portman.Kirsten Dunst with Jake.Natalie Portman going out with Devendra Banhart.

Friday, April 11, 2008

The Fantasy Corner

Jake & Jen Aniston in "The Good Girl" (2002) by Miguel Arteta.Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat in "Arrested Development".John Cusack & Ione Skye in "Say anything" (1989) by C. Crowe.

O: What defines a Cameron Crowe hero?

CC: The battered idealist. It's just my favorite character. I write it no matter what I do. It sort of comes from my upbringing. My mom would always say, "Be positive, be positive. It's rough out there, but don't succumb. Don't succumb to the cynicism in the world." To me, a hero is somebody who's able to accept the environment of the world, deal with the stuff that's thrown in their path—or, in Fast Times, the coffee that's thrown in their face—and somehow keep their heart. And I think there's a way to write a movie like that and a character like that without it being sentimental or Capra-esque in the worst way. Or, as Billy [Wilder] would say, [affects German accent] "Bad sentimentality!" I think sometimes good sentimentality is fun when it's balanced. You can have a bunch of people on a bus singing "Tiny Dancer" if you also have the brutal truth of the world represented. Because the way you battle the brutal truth of the world is to find that corner of the universe where maybe you get lost in a song and you do sing "Tiny Dancer." Which is embarrassing, and you don't want to look to your right or left, but you have that private moment. And when you're allowed to make a movie where you celebrate those private moments, you can't ask for more.
Source: www.avclub.com

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

"Zodiac" on Film Tournament's top

"Zodiac" is on the Simple Minded Entertainment Tournament of 2007 Film's top.
Source: www.simpleindedentertainment.com

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Nerdy glasses, Awkward love


"AWKWARD LOVE" POEM

"Inside the room only an image, her cruor cherry mouth.
Her ardorous heart, undated red daisy, is flying so low,
her ancestors burned all that garbage written by A. Ward,
and all your friends warned you she was a little awkward.
Her ardorous heart, undated red daisy, is flying so low,
Hey [dude], invite her to put her petals off right now,
She longs to do exquisite things to you in the night,
She knows that you dreamed in secret holding her tight.
The classy enemies won’t separate your story,
Since in her arms you’ll find all your glory.
You are on the brink of talking to her,
Don't fear her fierce dancing, look at her shy eyes!
So don't be lazy and decipher her lies!
She’ll need so much love you’ll beg for a rest...
Waking the next morning you’ll feel like a man,
She gave you something nobody else can.
Thereafter, you won't let her leave,
And thereafter you won’t forget taking your meds.
She started to scream 'til your cheeks turned red.
She is so luscious, seraphic and so round the bend
You will soon take up a new awkward blend."

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Nerdy Glasses

Today is Kurt Cobain's goodbye anniversary. I'm listening to "All apologies" and "Heart shaped box".Zooey Deschanel and her heart-shaped glasses.Johnny Depp.Clark Duke and his iconic glasses.Marilyn Monroes and her 50's glasses.Jason Schwarztman and Kirsten Dunst.Amanda Peet.Dana Delaney.Megan Fox.Tina Fey, screenwriter of "Mean Girls".Lindsay Lohan, "Mean Girls" star.Kate Winslet.
Scarlett Johansson.Rachel Bilson.Anne Hathaway.Jake and his Harry Potter's glasses.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Movie Review: "Superbad" (2007)

"We're gonna party and get drunk and rock out, dude."
— Fogell in "Superbad" (2007)

In the spring of 2007, at the age of 84, Norman Mailer, at the Paris Review tribute in his honour, was asked why he was so obsessed with his book "The Deer Park". He replied: "Because it's about the trouble men and women always have, dealing with each other. It's a mystery. I still can't figure it out".

"Super Bad" (2007) directed by Greg Mottola (who directed three episodes of "Arrested Development" tv series) is written by Seth Rogen ("Freaks and Geeks", "Knocked up", "Fanboys") and Evan Goldberg (co-writer in a new film combo with Rogen: "Pineapple Express") and produced by one of the last kings of comedy Judd Apatow ("The 40 Year Old Virgin", "Knocked up", "Forgetting Sarah Marshall") tells us the story of two best school friends, Seth (Jonah Hill, "Accepted", "Knocked up", "Strange Wilderness") and Evan (Michael Cera, "Arrested Development", "Juno", "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist"), who are going to be headed to different colleges due to Evan's acceptance at Darmouth. The plot hides at the beginning of the story that these two socially detached teenagers share in fact a deep fear of their upcoming separation, hence one of the working titles of "Superbad"s production was called "Separation Anxiety".

This separation anxiety is depicted in comical ways throughout the movie, although in the last act it reaches an unexpected level of seriousness and nostalgia from an adult angle not too frequently seen in the teen flick genre.

In fact, the story advances with abrupt emotional changes that have little in common with the hysterical initial moments, see the first two scenes, when Seth is shown as little less than a sexual obsess and Evan like a sort of textbook passive-aggresive sidekick to his overweight pal. Maybe the first verbose exchanges about porn sites sounded very crude but in the second scene the dialogues are masterfully hilarious, raunchy and bizarre: "It's not fair they get to flaunt that stuff... and I have to hide every erection I get", "just imagine if girls weren't weirded out by our boners" -Evan, "I honestly see now why Orson Welles ate his fat ass to death" -Seth. When Evan and Seth go out the convenience store drinking a "Slushie" and a "Red bull", they are abused by some cocky fellow students who spit on Seth and insult them.

Emboldened by his interest in sex ("The point is to be good at sex by the time you get to college..."), Seth flirts with Jules (Emma Stone) in Home Ec class while they make tiramisu. She announces she's going to throw a party and invites these stay-at-home no-lifers, who see her invitation as a golden ticket to their coveted deflowering.Add to the easily excitable duo a self-confident, skinny dweeb called Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, "Little Big Men", "Year One" -written by Harold Ramis, also produced by Apatow and co-starred by Michael Cera), who constantly annoys the hell out of Seth and Evan with his crazy ideas, like adopting the fake identity of "McLovin", a 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor, in order to buy liquor for Jules' party. The trio's purpose in attending the party is to score with some attractive girls with whom they havebeen infatuated for years at school, a smiling cutie Becca (played by Martha MacIsaac, "Emily of New Moon", "Di-Gata Defenders" series, "The Last House on the Left") whose cleavage hasEvan's attention in math class, a popular hottie Jules (played by Emma Stone, "The New Partridge Family", "The Rocker", "The House Bunny")or in McLovin's case one random red-haired chick called Nicola (played by Aviva, "Desperate Hippies", "Forgiving the Franklins") with whom he barely crosses some embarrasing words in the hall.

Aboard a "Vag-tastic Voyage", their plans for enjoying the graduation party thrown by the lovely Jules in her parents' absence start to go downhill almost immediately. Two policemen, Officers Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Slater (Bill Hader, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Saturday Night Live"), take McLovin into custody after a liquor store robbery goes awry while he's trying to illegally purchase alcohol. Seth and Evan accept a lift from a dubious stranger who drives them to a party where Evan is forced to sing surrounded by crack addicts while Seth receives a period blood stain splashed over his slacks. We also witness a heated argument between the pair when Evan begins to be aware of the risk they are courting.

"l've just sat around wasting all my time with you. And now I'm going to college a fucking friendless virgin" -a bitter Evan reproachs to an obstinate Seth in a rather sad scene.

Our trio experiences more maniacally weird encounters (once Fogell is allowed by his friendly "kidnapper" cops to continue his quest for sex) when they come at last to the party, where most of girls are, like Becca, already drunk, and they will try to seduce/get seduced by these young ladies for the first time, although they may not be totally ready for it.

“It’s funny to show people who both want intimacy and are terrified of it” -says Apatow in NY Movies-. “The guy who’s going to put his heart out there, either to be embraced or be crushed”.

So we got at this point plenty of awkward talks:
Seth: You're drunk, Jules.
Jules: Yeah, I'm actually--
I'm not drunk at all. I don't even drink, so it's....
Seth: Jules, you drink. You drink.
But the stellar scene in awkwardness is between Evan and Becca. During this scene, Evan says, "It's a meaningful sweater to me. It's vintage", as he finds himself freaked out and numbed by alcohol as he tries to slow down the drunken advances from an intimate and intimidating Becca. This anticlimactic sex scene works as the reverse of a standard Hollywood resolution. Evan delivers a hazily touching justification for stopping the girl of his dreams: "Becca, this is kind of intense. And I just — I'm so drunk. I can't even, like, process this. And you're really pretty. And I just think this isn't how I pictured it."

Prey to the "bedroom blues", Evan grabs the bottle back while the cops show their goofy authority again, entering the party like two representatives of sexual law and order, blocking Fogell's sexual interlude with the pretty Nicola. Needless to say, the antihero of the show is McLovin; he's really the 'superbad' of "Superbad". As Fogell is getting stagely arrested by the crazy cops Party Teenager #1 (Clark Duke, "Hearts Afire", "Clark and Michael", "Greek" series) bows to him: "Holy shit. Fogell's a badass".

A very poignant scene in the last part of the film focuses on the reconciliation between Evan and Seth, as they confess their love for each other, which isn't supergay, it's just —as all the film celebrates "guyness"— a good feeling that is born by valuing the best friendship.

Seth: "I love my best friend, Evan".

Evan: "It's-- It's the most beautiful thing in the world".

In "Knocked Up" (2007) there is a similar exchange about love by Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd:

Ben: "You can’t accept love?"

Pete: "I don’t know what it is…"

Ben: "Love! The most beautiful, shiny, warmy thing in the world".

What I like of Apatow is recognizing a given pattern, the inevitability that every important filmmaker adopts in their storytelling, as admitted by himself in this interview for The San Francisco Chronicle:

Interviewer: "Maybe this is your Preston Sturges period, your little blast".
Apatow: "Yeah, and then it's over".
Interviewer: "And then there's that trap where they want you to do the same thing over and over".
Apatow: "Yeah. They don't have to worry about that, because I will do the same thing over and over. I don't know anything else".

"Superbad" DVD's Extras and special features:

There are eight minutes of Deleted and Extended Scenes, plus some Previews, Line-o-rama -a collection of improvised lines-, a Gag Reel, cameos in Cop Car Confessions, Making of Superbad (behind the scenes footage), Vag-tastic Voyage segment, Original Table Read (Seth and Evan are read by Seth Rogen and Jason Segel), Michael Cera in the "Dancing Title Sequence", "Everybody hates Michael Cera" featurette, Pineapple Express First Look -the next film from Rogen and Apatow- and a commentary track with Apatow, Mottola, Rogen, Goldberg, Cera, Hill and Mintz-Plasse.
Published today in Blogcritics.org

Friday, April 04, 2008

Patrick Fugit Scenes

PATRICK FUGIT SCENES VIDEO:


From Kirsten to Reese

First Jake romancing with Kirsten.Then romancing with Reese.Kirsten posing for a photoshoot by Mark Baptiste (2002).Reese in a photoshoot by James White for Glamour magazine(UK).60th Annual Golden Globe Awards : After Party (2003).Reese and Ryan Phillips in the Golden Globes 16 January 2006.Photos of Reese's house in US Week magazine.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Fancying Zooey

Jennifer Aniston, Jake and Zooey Deschanel at 'The Good Girl' Sundance Film Festival Premiere.
"Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are in negotiations to play the leads in Fox Searchlight's romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer, sources say. Gordon-Levitt, who will next be seen in Paramount's Iraq-war drama Stop-Loss (out March 28) will play a guy who falls in love with a girl (Deschanel, soon to appear in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening) who doesn't believe in love. Acclaimed music video director Marc Webb will make his feature directorial debut from a script by Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter (The Pink Panther 2). The movie is expected to begin filming this spring".
Sources:
Themovie-fanatic.com

Hollywoodinsider.ew.com
Joseph and Zooey previously shared an off-beat chemistry in "Manic" (2001):