WEIRDLAND

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

"Milk" review in Cinematical

"Milk" includes the fight against the Briggs Initiative, a 1978 California ballot initiative that would have stripped gay and lesbian teachers of their jobs, and even taken away the jobs of those teachers who supported them. Black, Van Sant and Penn show us how Milk worked to stop the initiative with persistence, perspective and humor; refuting the idea that gay teachers 'recruit' kids, Milk notes that "If it were true that children mimicked their teachers, you'd sure have a hell of a lot more nuns running around," making a joke and the point. There's been some question if releasing Milk before the November 4th elections might have 'moved the needle' against the vote for the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California; it's hard to say, but what Milk makes clear for any follower of modern activist politics was that Harvey Milk succeeded because he failed, because he knew how to turn every loss into a chance to take what he'd learned and apply it to the next race.

Milk shows us the joy of victory, and the pain of what victory can cost; it shows us the agony of loss, and the opportunities to re-think, re-organize and retrench that loss can give us. Milk repeats one of Harvey Milk's best-known lines: 'You gotta give 'em hope." Milk understands not just what hope can do but also the hate, fear and ignorance that make hope required. It shows the struggle for gay rights in the '70s, but it also makes it clear that there are too many groups -- and too many people -- who are still treated as if there are asterisks and escape clauses hidden in the Bill of Rights denying them the chance to try and attain life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Milk isn't a hollow Hollywood exercise in hero-making, and that makes it all the better: Van Sant's film succeeds so well because of its complexity, its ambiguity, its devastating combination of sorrow and joy; walking out of Milk, you'll be energized and excited, moved to feel and moved to act, amazed at one man doing so much and painfully aware of how much there is left to do".
Source: www.cinematical.com


A video featuring scenes from "Milk" and interviews with James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Gus Van Sant, Victor Garber, Diego Luna, etc.

Emile Hirsch (Falling in love again)


A musical video featuring images and stills of Emile Hirsch, in very good company. Songs "Falling in love again" by Kevin Ayers, "Discretion Grove" by Stephen Malkmus and "I must be high" by Wilco.

BBM's gay sex scenes censored

"Italian gay rights' group Arcigay on Tuesday criticised the censorship of the award-winning cowboy movie, 'Brokeback Mountain', by the country's state television channel. The movie was shown on Rai2 on Monday without controversial gay sex scenes.
"We want to know who decided to show 'Brokeback Mountain' yesterday evening with such blatant, 1950s-style cuts," said Arcigay's president, Aurelio Mancuso.

"The film won the Golden Lion Award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, as well as three Oscars and four Golden Globes," said Mancuso.

"Who had the presumption to think an adult public could not handle the sight of kissing and intimacy between two men?"

Source: www.adnkronos.com

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Old times with Greta Caruso

October 20th, 2006 - Out & About With a lady friend (Greta Caruso) In NYC. New additions courtesy of Iheartjakemedia.com gallery.

"Time" - Top Movies and Performances

Top 10 Movie Performances:

1. Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight

Reviewers evoked Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter — the same mock-ingratiating tone, same sadistic ingenuity — but this Joker is the bigger, gaudier showman, with a sick kid's need to watch the damage he's caused. His ornate facial scars (possibly self-inflicted) suggest a traumatic past, but unlike Lecter the Joker has no backstory; he can't be read as the sum of what his parents, or a girl, or the Iraq War, did to him. He comes out of nowhere, creates chaos, disappears. Ledger thus had the freedom to invent his own nightmare.

5. Ben Burtt as WALL-E in WALL-E

The lonely robo-boy of Andrew Stanton's fabulous fantasy doesn't say much ("WALL-E," "Eva," "Ta-DA!"), but there's a future-world of humor and emotion in each syllable. Those intonations, and nearly every other sound in the movie — the machines, the weapons, the whole aural environment — are the amazing achievement of Ben Burtt [...]
Source: www.time.com

Top 10 Movies:9. Speed Racer

Not every avant-garde FX masterpiece receives instant audience validation. This tale of a family of racers — Racer is the family name — exists simultaneously in the 1950s and today, in a live-action world and its own complementary alternate cyber-universe. Operating a pitch of delirious precision, the movie is a rich, cartoonish dream: non-stop Op art, and a triumph of virtual virtuosity.


8. Iron Man A tin man who realizes that, if he is to become human, he must build himself a heart — and then a big red metallic airborne suit for buzzing unsuspecting planes and vanquishing his enemies. What a kick it is to see the thing fly. Same with the movie, for, like Tony, Iron Man is the perfect expression of Hollywood's engineering ingenuity.5. Milk

This exceptional docudrama — written by Darren Lance Black, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn — covers the last eight years of Milk's life, which ended when he was shot by fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin). Penn, who’s in nearly every scene, manages the neat trick of merging his star personality with the public figure well known from the 1984 documentary The Life and Times of Harvey Milk.
Source: www.time.com

Jake Gyllenhaal biography part 2


Jake biography part 2, with Interviews about Donnie Darko of Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone and the writer/director Richard Kelly.

Jake Gyllenhaal biography part 1


A biography video about Jake, part 1, with interviews and backstage scenes.
It's about "October Sky" and "Bubble Boy".

Reese Witherspoon Special


Blast from the past Jake Gyllenhaal talking about Reese Witherspoon and his friendship with Ryan Phillippe.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Emile Hirsch (PsychoCandy)


A musical video featuring images and stills of Emile Hirsch in "Lords of Dogtown", "Into the wild", "Speed Racer", "The girl next door", "Alpha Dog", etc.
Songs "Psychocandy" and "Cut Dead" by The Jesus & Mary Chain.

Jake & Reese's fashion styles in OK mag

Friday, December 05, 2008

Happier together

Reese left Ryan Phillippe far behind and she doesn't look back, who would do it if she became Jake's beloved arm candy?Michael Angarano and Kristen Stewart (they've been dating a long time).Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Evan Rachel Wood, Abbie Cornish and Ryan Phillippe at "Behind the Camera Awards".Evan Rachel Wood and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Evan and Joseph would make a striking new couple in the boho Hollywood, although they just seem good friends (maybe with some benefits?).

Sundance 2009 competition

"Today, the Sundance Institute has announced their non-competition films; this includes the Premieres section, which is usually full of studio flicks -- stuff that's set to debut in theaters the following month or so, and films that feature big stars; the big guns".

500 Days of Summer/U.S.A. (Director: Marc Webb; Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber)--When an unlucky greeting card copywriter is dumped by his girlfriend, the hopeless romantic shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days 'together' in hopes of figuring out where things went wrong. Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Adventureland/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Greg Mottola)--In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world.
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader.

Source: www.cinematical.com

Anne Hathaway for Vogue photoshoot

Jake with Anne Hathaway dancing in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005).
Anne Hathaway for Vogue photoshoot, October 2008.

Independent Spirit Awards Nominees

"Rachel Getting Married", the film that has announced her arrival as a serious acting contender, was nominated today for 6 Independent Spirit Awards, tied for most this year with Frozen River and Ballast. Needless to say, Anne received a nod for Best Actress and by all accounts, has a very, very, very good chance at securing a nomination at the Oscars as well, joining her movie Devil Meryl Streep whose turn in Doubt is said to be, as usual, outstanding.

Anne also enjoyed commercial success, killing it at the box office with Get Smart. Not bad, right?"
Source: laineygossip.com

"The desire to recognize small-scale films could be the reason that Gus Van Sant’s "Milk" failed to earn noms for director or picture, though thesps Sean Penn, James Franco and tyro scribe Dustin Lance Black made the cut.

Nominees for female lead include "Rachel’s" Anne Hathaway and newcomer Summer Bishil for her turn in "Towelhead." Otherwise, the low-budget club earned more esteem with lead actress noms for Melissa Leo ("Frozen River"), Tarra Riggs ("Ballast") and Michelle Williams ("Wendy and Lucy").
Source: www.variety.com

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Rights of graphic novel "Torso"

"The clock is reportedly ticking on director David Fincher's long-in-development adaptation of the Brian Michael Bendis graphic novel Torso.

According to the Entertainment Weekly blog Hollywood Insider, Paramount's rights to the project -- which the site refers to as Ness rather than Torso -- are due to expire December 15 and the studio has yet to green-light the movie, despite the involvement of Fincher and stars Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Rachel McAdams.

"A source inside the negotiations says Damon and Affleck are ready to go, and that McAdams has expressed interest, but Paramount has yet to pull the proverbial trigger", the site claims. "At press time, the studio insisted it only recently received a finalized script from Ehren Kruger (The Ring) and would make a decision before the rights ran out."

Source: uk.movies.ign.com

Zooey: cool, not cold

New additions to the IHJ gallery with this igloo photoshoot of Jake and Zooey Deschanel:

Jake is so hot, who wouldn't want to live with him even inside a snowhouse?Zooey with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "500 days of summer" set.
Zooey with another beau actor, Emile Hirsch.

I can't help feeling a bit obsessed with this actress/singer. Miss Deschanel is one of her own kind.
Zooey with Reese Witherspoon.Zooey with Mark Wahlberg, with whom she co-starred in "The happening".Zooey and her doppleganger Katie Perry.

Straight actors playing gay

"Yet, while Penn receives raves for his performance, some in the gay community wonder aloud why a gay actor could not have played his role or any one of the others cast with straight actors James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna.

"It has almost become a rite of passage for these leading Hollywood actors to take on a gay role," said David Hauslaib, editorial director of the gay and lesbian Web site Queerty.com. "I think Sean Penn's career can only benefit from a role like this. The same was true for Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal [who played gay lovers in 'Brokeback Mountain']."

"I think there's probably less fear of being typecast the way that actors in the last century had fears," said New York casting director Tiffany Little Canfield. "It's not as big of a risk. I've never heard in all my casting of an actor being concerned about playing a homosexual character."

A cultural shift that turned "Will and Grace" into a Top 10 sitcom and 2005 gay romance "Brokeback Mountain" into a mainstream success has also made the American audience more open to gay characters.

But some charge Hollywood has warmed to gay characters but not to gay actors.

"When straight men get these parts, the gay community feels slighted," Hauslaib said. "A whole number of roles could have gone to openly gay actors to give them visibility. Instead they went to well-known straight actors. It's just another notch in a belt for a straight actor. For a gay actor it could have been a breakout role."

Problem is, even in liberal Hollywood, there remains a dearth of openly gay A-list actors who can open a film".
"It was hard to find gay actors who were out," the film's openly gay director Gus Van Sant told Reuters. "There really aren't [many]. You could do it, but they would be unknowns and that would be fine with me, but the money [financiers] would start to get nervous."

Source: abcnews.go.com
Emile Hirsch talks about playing Cleve Jones in "Milk":

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

New Affiliate: Emile Hirsch Web

We have a new affiliate here in Weirdland with Emile Hirsch Web, nicely hosted by Angela. She was so kind of linking my article on Mr. Hirsch: "Alpha Actor" in her site and listing Jake Weird as a regular affiliate.

What else can I add about this sensational young actor without blushing? Emile often reminds me of Jake by his eyes' expressivity and funny temper.

EMILE HIRSCH INTERVIEW FOR "MILK" video:

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Jena Malone & Emile Hirsch video

Jake with Jena Malone in "Donnie Darko" (2001).Ryan Gosling with Jena Malone in "The United States of Leland" (2003).Emile Hirsch with Jena Malone in "The dangerous lives of Altar boys" (2002).

A musical video featuring some images and stills of Jena Malone and Emile Hirsch, in "The dangerous lives of Altar boys", "Into the wild", etc.
Songs "Forget the flowers" by Wilco and "Misguided Angel" by Cowboy Junkies.

Kirsten got order against stalker

"Kirsten Dunst has obtained a restraining order against alleged stalker Christopher Smith.

The declaration states, “Mr. Smith has repeatedly shown up uninvited at my place of residence in Los Angeles, going so far as to ignore police warnings, bypass my personal security measures, trespass on my property, and attempt to gain entry into my home.”

“Mr. Smith’s sudden, aggressive, and harassing efforts to contact me are extremely frightening. I fear not only for my own personal safety, but also for the safety and well being of my housemate and assistant.”

Source: JustJared.buzznet.com

Monday, December 01, 2008

Jake's sweet make-ups

Let's relax watching some videos that inspired fans have made dedicated to the passionate make-ups between Jake and his fortunate partenaires on screen:

"Kissing you" - Brokeback Mountain

A Jake's music vid with the song Dice by Finley Quaye.

"The Good Girl": A FanVid

Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) & Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone) Kiss Scene:

Jake Gyllenhaal & Emmy Rossum _How to save a life

Ellen Pompeo chosen scenes in "Moonlight Mile".

"Zodiac" poster signed by Jake



BID 2 BEAT AIDS Jake Gyllenhaal Signed Zodiac Poster
Film's Star Autographed One-Sheet

"This one-sheet movie poster for Zodiac was autographed especially for this auction by the film's star Jake Gyllenhaal.

Jake signed in silver Sharpie and added the word "Lifebeat." LIFEbeat is the beneficiary of this auction. The poster measures 27" x 40."

Proceeds from this auction will benefit LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS

LIFEbeat- The Music Industry Fights AIDS, is a national non-profit organization dedicated to reaching America’s youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention. LIFEbeat mobilizes the talents and resources of the music industry to raise awareness and to provide support to the AIDS community. In 2007, LIFEbeat is observing fifteen years in the fight against AIDS". For more information visit: Lifebeat.org
Source: cgi.ebay.com