WEIRDLAND: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Black Swan, Natalie Portman Interview

Natalie Portman, Elle magazine, January 2011
Natalie Portman attending IFP's 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on November 29, 2010


Black Swan, Natalie Portman Interview

Kirsten Dunst attached to star in 'Hick' with Chloe Moretz

"Kirsten definitely had OD’d on Hollywood and needed to get away,” says Ryan Gosling, who, that spring, met with the actress for weeks of rehearsal in New York, where Dunst had relocated. She had accepted just one role in two years, opposite Gosling in the small, independent film All Good Things, opening December 3“Whatever dragons she’d been chasing, she chased them and trapped and slew ’em between action and cut,” says Gosling. “You weren’t watching somebody who was unlocking something in themselves, and then because they’d finally exposed it maybe they could retire. You felt like you were watching somebody unlock something, and now that it had been exposed they could get started.”
Things began to unravel after the critical pasting received by Marie Antoinette, Coppola’s air-kiss to the notorious French queen, reimagined as a sweet-souled shopaholic, self-medicating on macarons. “I loved doing it, but it came with weird, hurtful criticism as well,” says Dunst, “and I took it to heart.” Dunst seems happy to take her reemergence into the limelight slowly, with roles in the new Lars von Trier film, Melancholia, Juan Diego Solanas’s Upside Down, and a small part in the forthcoming adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s "On the Road". “Doing All Good Things really felt like I was acting for myself rather than anyone else,” she says. “It gave me a freedom I’d never had before, or knew I had, to do whatever I want to, and to argue my opinions and not just feel like the cute girl on set or the girl in a boy’s club. I figured out how I could be both. And it’s been different ever since". Source: nymag.com

"Actress Kirsten Dunst is attached to star opposite Chloe Moretz (”Kick-Ass,” “Let Me In”) in the Taylor Lane Productions/Lighthouse Entertainment adaptation of Andrea Portes’ coming of age novel “Hick” according to Taylor Lane owner and founder Christian Taylor who spoke to the Playlist by phone this weekend from his home in California.
Recent rumors suggested that Colin Farrell would be taking the lead male role in the picture and while Taylor confirmed that the Irish star was in discussions for the part, he ultimately had to pass due to a 2011 scheduling conflict with what appears to be Columbia‘s “Total Recall” remake which will apparently start lensing in the spring of 2011.Derick Martini at the Sundance Filmmaker's Lab

”Lymelife” filmmaker and Martin Scorsese protege Derick Martini is already scheduled to direct (Scorsese also executive produced “Lymelife” which was Martini’s feature-length debut and lent his name to 1999’s micro-budgeted “Smiling Fish & Goat on Fire” feature which Martini starred in and co-wrote). Martini received a Breakthrough Director nomination from the 2009 Gotham Awards for his work on “Lymelife” (and coincidentally enough, the 2010 Gotham Awards take place tonight in New York City).
Portes’ debut book—she also wrote the screenplay—- tracks Luli (Moretz), a 13-year-old Nebraskan girl and her hard-going life on the road after she runs away from her neglectful parents and home. Taylor described the film as having a mix of various elements; from the sassy sardonic teenage wit of Diablo Cody to fantasy elements described “as if Danny Boyle directed ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ ”—a picture that seems to have various thematic ties to “Hick.”
Chloe Moretz on the set of Martin Scorsese's film, "Hugo Cabret" in Paris (August 18, 2010)

Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst in "All Good things" (2010)

In the drama with its shades of dark humor, Dunst will play Glenda, the hard-living grifter who takes the young Luli in off the road. The role of Eddie—a menacing and volatile James Dean-like grifter—has not yet been cast, but was the one Farrell was in discussions over. Here’s the Amazon synopsis: Young Luli knows losers — her “aging Brigitte Bardot” mother, Tammy, and her father, Nick, go at each other every night at the Alibi, the watering hole in hometown Palmyra, Neb. Tammy runs away one morning, and Nick soon follows, leaving Luli alone at home with the Smith and Wesson .45 her Uncle Nipper gave her. Pistol in tow, she hitches rides heading west to Vegas. A crooked man named Eddie picks her up briefly before throwing her out of the car. Next comes cocaine-snorting grifter Glenda, who enlists Luli as an accessory to a robbery that goes awry. Glenda takes Luli under her wing. The two cross paths again with Eddie, who rapes Luli and ties her up in a secluded motel. Glenda comes to her rescue, but the confrontation with Eddie ends badly. Luli’s flippant narration makes for a love-it or hate-it read.
Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen as Holly and Kit in "Badlands" (1973)

Taylor said other touchstone influences for the picture are Terrence Malick‘s “Badlands” and Peter Bogdanovich‘s “Paper Moon.” The producer believes the picture could be an awards vehicle for Moretz if all goes well. “Hick” is eyeing a February 2011 shoot in New Mexico and a male lead is actively being sought". Source: blogs.indiewire.com

Monday, November 29, 2010

Anne Hathaway and James Franco to host Oscars 2011

"Actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway have been named co-hosts of the film industry's upcoming Academy Awards, Oscar organizers said on Monday.

The pair are currently starring in two movies that some experts believe could earn them nominations for one of the world's top movie honors when they are given out on February 27.

Still of James Franco as Aron Ralston in "127 Hours" (2010)

Franco, 32, is starring in the real-life drama "127 Hours", playing a man who cut off his own arm to free himself from being trapped in a canyon with no way to survive, and Hathaway, 28, portrays a free-spirited woman who falls for a drug salesman in "Love and Other Drugs."
Anne Hathaway plays Maggie Murdock in "Love and other drugs" (2010)

"James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons -- fresh, exciting and multi-talented", Oscar producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer said in a joint statement.
The Oscars, or Academy Awards, are given out each year by the Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and are typically the second-most watched TV program in the United States after the Super Bowl football championship. The telecast also is seen in more than 200 countries worldwide". Source: us.mobile.reuters.com

More pics of Jake from 'Love & Other Drugs' Press Conference

Jake Gyllenhaal - More pictures from 'Love & Other Drugs' Press Conference on 6th November 2010 in New York City, courtesy of Source: www.iheartjakemedia.com

Jake Gyllenhaal - this cute slightly "shhh" lips gesture of his has brought to my mind two classic cinema bombshells: the immortal Marilyn Monroe and Jean Harlow (the original platinum goddess)

Taylor Swift, queen of pop & marketing likes having breakfast with Jake Gyllenhaal

Taylor Swift - WebMD magazine (November/December 2010)

"The first photographic evidence has emerged to validate the rumors that singer Taylor Swift and actor Jake Gyllenhaal are an item! the two were spotted and snapped together at the Fido eatery and coffee shop in Nashville, Tennessee earlier today!
The caffeinated romantic weeked in Nashville comes on the heels of eye-witnesses reporting that Jaylor was together at Gorilla Coffee shop in Park Slope (New York City) on Thursday morning (November 25).
Here’s a YouTube video guide to Fido’s from some dude going by “The Wolfe” so you can get a feel for the setting of this historical moment" Source: starcasm.net

"Weekend breakfast in Nashville? How serious is this relationsip? They certainly like having breakfast together. People magazine reveals Swift and Gyllenhaal popped up in the singer's hometown of Nashville.
The magazine reports, "On Saturday afternoon, the couple were spotted getting a late breakfast at Fido, a coffeehouse and café near Vanderbilt University and Music Row." Source: www.nationalledger.com

Taylor Swift attending American Music Awards 2010

"Is Taylor Swift a Future Marketing Exec?
On the Forbes website, John Dragoon, the chief marketing officer at a major software manufacturer, wrote an interesting blog titled "What Taylor Swift Can Teach CMOs." He begins by stating that Taylor has a future career as a chief marketing officer.
"The music industry's leading lady is on a roll," he wrote. "Her latest release is on fire, and she's leaving her country music competitors, along with every other singer on the market, in the dust."
Dragoon notes that the 20-year-old sold more than 1 million copies of Speak Now during its first week of release in the U.S. and debuted at No. 1. As the New York Times reports, that's 11 times more than what the No. 2 album sold -- and more than the next 61 titles combined.
"But as good as she is as a talent, I'm more impressed with the marketing machine Taylor has become," Dragoon said. "She by no means is the most gifted singer or guitar player, but she knows her audience and she speaks directly to them with her product."
I see in Entertainment Weekly that Taylor was mentioned in the cover story on Jake Gyllenhaal. He's 10 years her senior, but he's a leading man and sooo handsome. Maybe they just went to lunch together. We will see". Source: www.cmt.com

"Above is a supercut collaboration between my friend and co-worker Kate Spencer and me. We were talking about Taylor Swift's shock at being applauded during last week's CMAs, she said, "Someone should do a supercut of her being surprised in public," and I said, "Curse you, because now that you've said that, I have to do it." Source: fourfour.typepad.com

Previous (blonde & svelte) Jake's girlfriends:Jake Gyllenhaal holding Kirsten Dunst in his arms: relationship on/off over 3 yearsJake Gyllenhaal having lunch with Reese Witherspoon: relationship over 2 years