WEIRDLAND

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Bale in Heathrow Airport

"Finishing up his Dark Knight publicity tour of Europe, Christian Bale was spotted with his daughter Emmeline flying out of London’s Heathrow International Airport earlier today (July 25).

The Batman stud sported a black t-shirt, cargo pants, and a pair of black Adidas sneakers as he boarded the plane with his little one, headed for Tokyo, Japan.
As previously reported by Gossip Girls, Bale ran into some legal trouble earlier this week when his mother and sister reported to London police that he had assaulted them in the Dorchester Hotel". Source: www.celebrity-gossip.net

Friday, July 25, 2008

Superheroes and Villains

"Heath Ledger is getting a fond tribute from his collaborators on "The Dark Knight."

The end credits of the "Batman Begins" sequel include a farewell note to Ledger, who died in January from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs; and to special-effects technician Conway Wickliffe, who was killed last September in a stunt-car accident.

"In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe," reads the tribute included in the credits, which went up Thursday on the Warner Bros. publicity Web site.

Ledger plays the villainous Joker in "The Dark Knight," who begins a reign of terror on Gotham City that pits him against conflicted hero Batman (Christian Bale).

The movie reteams Bale with director Christopher Nolan and returning co-stars Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman. Joining the cast are Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Beginning months before Ledger's death, his frenetic performance and demented-clown makeup have been a cornerstone of the marketing campaign for the film".
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

"The season began with “Iron Man” back in May, which anticipated “The Dark Knight” in striking many reviewers as a pleasant surprise and hordes of moviegoers as a must-see. The July Fourth weekend belonged to “Hancock,” which played with the superhero archetype by making him a grouchy, slovenly drunk rather than a brilliant scientist, a dashing billionaire or some combination of the two. In that case, the reviews were mixed, but the money flowed in anyway. Even the lackluster “Incredible Hulk,” back in June, managed a reasonably robust opening, as did “Hellboy II,” a somewhat more esoteric comic-book movie.The commercial strength of the superhero genre is hardly news of course. Ever since Tobey Maguire was bitten by a spider back in 2002, this decade has been something of a golden age for large-scale action movies featuring guys in high-tech bodysuits battling garishly costumed, ruthless criminal masterminds. I don’t want to start any fights with devout fans or besotted critics. I’m willing to grant that “The Dark Knight” is as good as a movie of its kind can be. But that may be damning with faint praise. There is no doubt that Batman, a staple of American popular culture for nearly 70 years, provided Mr. Nolan (and his brother and screenwriting partner Jonathan), with a platform for his artistic ambitions. You can’t set out to make a psychological thriller, or even an urban crime melodrama, and expect to command anything like the $185 million budget Mr. Nolan had at his disposal in “The Dark Knight.” And that money, in addition to paying for some dazzling set pieces and action sequences, allowed Mr. Nolan and his team to create a seamless and evocative visual atmosphere, a Gotham nightscape often experienced from the air.

But to paraphrase something the Joker says to Batman, “The Dark Knight” has rules, and they are the conventions that no movie of this kind can escape. The climax must be a fight with the villain, during which the symbiosis of good guy and bad guy, implicit throughout, must be articulated. The end must point forward to a sequel, and an aura of moral consequence must be sustained even as the killings, explosions and chases multiply. The allegorical stakes in a superhero are raised — it’s not just good guys fighting bad guys, but Righteousness against Evil, Order against Chaos — precisely to authorize a more intense level of violence".
Source: www.nytimes.com

"Curious about how he perceived these macabre figures, I asked him to teach me which ones were the heroes and which were the bad guys. Handing him the plastic stack, the six-year-old looked at the first one, paused, and having difficulty deciding, raised his little head and asked, "I don't know. Hero or bad guy?" He repeated this with every guy until we got to good ol' Batman. This time, he confidently informed me, "Batman's a hero, but he's a bad guy too." Those words stuck with me the rest of the day -- We also discussed and were saddened by the "graying" of the superhero from its original black and white parameters as well as its continuing descent from role model to complicated or damaged antihero. Currently, in the world of comics, that image has been embraced thoroughly, with heroes who are beyond corruption practically non-existent -- even Superman killed. And now with The Dark Knight, we get such an incredible, boundary-breaking piece of pulp whose twisted philosophy is so convincing and noir so effective that, en masse, we most likely will see comic books and their relative movie and TV franchises adopt an even darker tone.

So did this knight have to be so dark? In order to create such a magnificent film, yes. But I have to say, I was concerned for all the under-ten kids at the two showings I attended. No, my generation wasn't prone to dropping anvils on people's heads after growing up on Looney Tunes. Still, the bat's out of the bag and it will be interesting to see the cultural ramifications of this new level of dark chic".
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Deeply personal Bale

BARCELONA, Spain — Batman star Christian Bale asked for privacy Thursday in his first comments since allegations he assaulted his mother and sister at a London hotel, saying the incident was personal.

The Welsh-born actor brushed off questions about the alleged family dispute, saying he preferred to focus on the blockbuster movie "The Dark Knight," which had its premiere in Spain on Wednesday.

"It's a deeply personal matter," Bale told The Associated Press at a news conference at a luxury hotel in Barcelona. "I would ask you to respect my privacy in the matter."

The 34-year-old actor spent four hours talking to British police Tuesday following allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters in his suite at London's Dorchester Hotel two days earlier. He was released on bail, but not charged.

Bale has said through his lawyers that the assault allegations were false.
British media reported that Bale's mother and sister told police he assaulted them at the hotel a day before attending the European premiere of "The Dark Knight." The Sun newspaper said the complaint was filed by sister Sharon Bale and mother Jenny Bale.

The drama unfolded even as the movie broke records and was met with critical acclaim. It set a box-office record with $158.4 million during its opening weekend in the U.S. last week, and is expected to do well in Europe.

The film, which stars Bale as Batman and the late Heath Ledger as the superhero's nemesis The Joker, opened in Barcelona at a glittery premiere Wednesday night. Thousands of fans lined the red carpet for a peek at the stars.
Bale paid tribute to Ledger, calling his depiction of The Joker one of the film's triumphs.

"It was an iconic portrayal of The Joker," Bale said, adding Ledger's character had embodied "an agent of chaos."

Bale said he tried to add an edge to his portrayal of Batman as well, inspired by the superhero's complex and mysterious character.

"The bat is not an angelic creature," he said, smiling.

The movie is expected to do well in Spain thanks in part to the publicity that Bale's reported arrest and Ledger's untimely death in January had spawned, press reports said.

Bale first made a splash as the child star of Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" in 1987. His screen credits also include "American Psycho," "The Machinist" and "Batman Begins". Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Michael Welch in "Twilight"

MTV: "Had you read Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" books?

Welch: I had not read the books; I was completely unaware of the franchise before auditioning, which is a good thing. If I had known exactly how big this project was, it would have put a lot of pressure on me. ... When I was told I got the job, I started looking into it, and the moment that it was mentioned that they were making the "Twilight" film, there were 50,000 posts on IMDb.com within 48 hours! That was my first taste of how big this could potentially be.

MTV: So you went out and bought the books then?

Welch: I've read the first book, but I haven't read the other books yet. There's a possibility that there's gonna be more movies, depending on if people show up and see this one, so I didn't want to get ahead of myself.

MTV: You've encountered some enthusiastic fanbases before, having worked on "Stargate SG-1," "Joan of Arcadia," "The X-Files" and "Star Trek: Insurrection." How do the Twilighters compare?

Welch: I actually think the Twilighters are very similar to "Stargate" fans, just a very fun group of people. They're very serious about these characters and about this story but still understand that it's a story, and you're supposed to have fun with it. [The Twilighters] are a great group of people. I've been having so much fun with them. I've been keeping in touch with the online community, doing various blogs and things. They're fun to play with.

MTV: IMDb has a thing called "Starmeter" that ranks the career heat of every actor in Hollywood, from Johnny Depp to Tom Hanks. You're currently the 13th most popular actor in Hollywood?

Welch: Yeah, and I hit #6 at one point, which is ridiculous.

MTV: How do you feel when you walk into an audition and the casting director is thinking, "This guy's hotter than Will Smith!"

Welch: I will say that, at the time, eight of the top 10 were people from "Twilight." [Laughs.] So it's not me, it's this crazy thing that I'm a part of. I'm sure people within the industry, when they look at that, they notice that kind of thing.

MTV: Yeah, Taylor Lautner had a few days where he was #1.

Welch: That's my point. [Laughs.] God, this business is just so crazy. ... If I'm a part of something that makes me in-ish right now, that's great, man".

Source: www.mtv.com
Watch "Twilight" footage in www.moviesonline.ca

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL WELCH!!

Voting on Tuesdays

"My friend Jacob Soboroff is executive director of this nonpartisan organization called WhyTuesday.org. It's a Website. So we're making a documentary together about why we vote on Tuesday."

It's all about America's agrarian roots, see? November is the end of harvest, Dunst explained, and the Tuesday vote allowed Sabbath-observing country folk enough time to horse-and-buggy it to the polling stations before Wednesday market. Worked all right back then, apparently. But today, "it's not a holiday, and we're one of the lowest democratic countries in voter turnout," Dunst explained. Lest her doc turns out to be dutifully evenhanded, we demanded to know Dunst's personal opinion on the matter: "I would keep it the same day, just make it a holiday."
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ILLEANA DOUGLAS!

Maggie Gyllenhaal * Red Carpet * Video

Watch another video-interview to Maggie in showbiz.sky.com

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Teen Choice Awards 2008

Teen Choice Awards 2008 Nominees:

Choice Movie: Action/Adventure

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Speed Racer
The Forbidden Kingdom

Choice Movie: Drama

21
August Rush
Into The Wild
Step Up 2: The Streets
Stop-Loss

Choice Movie: Chick Flick

27 Dresses
Enchanted
Fool’s Gold
P.S. I Love You
Sex and the City

Choice Movie: Bromantic Comedy

Dan in Real Life
Definitely, Maybe
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Made of Honor
What Happens in Vegas

Choice Movie: Comedy

Baby Mama
College Road Trip
Juno
Semi-Pro
Superbad

Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller

30 Days of Night
Cloverfield
I Am Legend
The Strangers
Prom Night

Choice Movie Actor: Drama

Channing Tatum - Stop-Loss
Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild
Jake Gyllenhaal - Rendition
Mark Wahlberg - We Own the Night
Ryan Phillippe - Stop-Loss

Choice Movie Actress: Drama

Kate Bosworth - 21
Keira Knightley - Atonement
Keri Russell - August Rush
Reese Witherspoon - Rendition
Scarlett Johansson - The Other Boleyn Girl

Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure

Emile Hirsch - Speed Racer
Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Jackie Chan - The Forbidden Kingdom
Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man
Shia LaBeouf - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Choice Movie Actress: Action/Adventure

Abigail Breslin - Nim's Island
Christina Ricci - Speed Racer
Diane Kruger - National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Gwyneth Paltrow - Iron Man
Rachel Bilson - Jumper

Choice Movie Actor: Comedy

Ashton Kutcher - What Happens in Vegas
James Marsden - 27 Dresses; Enchanted
Jonah Hill - Superbad
Michael Cera – Superbad; Juno
Will Ferrell - Semi-Pro

Choice Movie Actress: Comedy

Amy Adams - Enchanted
Cameron Diaz - What Happens in Vegas
Ellen Page - Juno
Kristen Bell - Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Sarah Jessica Parker - Sex and the City

Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller

Will Smith - I Am Legend
Edward Burns - One Missed Call
Josh Hartnett - 30 Days of Night
Michael Stahl-David - Cloverfield
Scott Speedman - The Strangers

Choice Movie Actress: Horror/Thriller

Brittany Snow - Prom Night
Jessica Alba - The Eye
Liv Tyler - The Strangers
Odette Yustman - Cloverfield
Shannyn Sossamon - One Missed Call

Choice Movie: Villain

Cate Blanchett - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Jeff Bridges - Iron Man
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Samuel L. Jackson - Jumper
Susan Sarandon – Enchanted

Choice Movie: Female Breakout

Ellen Page - Juno
Briana Evigan - Step Up 2: The Streets
Jurnee Smollett -The Great Debaters
Kristen Bell - Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Mila Kunis - Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Choice Movie: Male Breakout

Jim Sturgess - 21, Across the Universe
Ben Barnes - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Drake Bell - Superhero Movie
Jason Segel - Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Michael Cera – Superbad, Juno
Source: www.teenchoiceawards.com

Michelle, Jennifer, Lindsay, Natalie

Michelle Williams.Jennifer Aniston.Lindsay Lohan.Natalie Portman.

Returning to the hotel in Paris

July 14 - Jake &Reese returning to their Hotel in Paris. Pictures by Iheartjake.com

San Diego Comic-Con

"The San Diego Comic-Con starts in just over 11 more days, which means it's time to yet again gear up and prepare for one hell of an adventure in the world of comics. While the last few years have featured everything from Spider-Man 3 to 300 to Iron Man to Superbad, this year doesn't look as immensely impressive, but is instead spotted with a few highlights. Presentations this year include: The Day The Earth Stood Still, Max Payne, Red Sonja, RocknRolla, Ninja Assassin, Punisher: War Zone, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Watchmen, The Wolfman, The Spirit, Terminator Salvation, Pixar's Up, Pineapple Express, Friday the 13th, Wes Craven's 25/8, and much more!

11:30-1:00 The Day The Earth Stood Still and Max Payne - Stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, plus director Scott Derrickson and producer Erwin Stoff, present an exclusive look at The Day The Earth Stood Still, Fox's contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Max Payne himself—Mark Wahlberg—will be on hand with Mila Kunis, Ludacris, and director John Moore to discuss turning the game's noirish, hard-hitting, and complex world and characters into a movie event. Hall H

2:00-3:00 Red Sonja: One-on-One - Robert Rodriguez (Sin City), Rose McGowan (Grindhouse), Doug Aarniokoski (2nd unit director, Resident Evil 3) and David White (Undisputed 2) are teaming up to bring back the red-headed warrior woman known as Red Sonja. Room 6CDEF

3:00-4:00 Disney: Race to Witch Mountain - What secrets does Witch Mountain hold? Stars Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino and director Andy Fickman talk about the mysterious, paranormal activity around Witch Mountain. Hall H
San Francisco Marriott Hotel.
10:00-12:00 World Premiere! Mutant Chronicles - Special "work-in-progress" feature film screening hosted by stars Thomas Jane (The Mist), Ron Perlman (Hellboy II), and Devon Aoki (Sin City). This is the first public showing in our hemisphere of this steampunk action-adventure. A disparate squad of former enemy soldiers undertakes a suicide mission deep into the seething heart of the otherworldly mutant scourge bent on human extinction. Unrated, uncut, unreal. Q&A with cast, director Simon Hunter (Lighthouse), and producer Edward R. Pressman (The Crow). Room 6CDEF

Sunday, July 27th:

11:30-12:00 Focus Features: Hamlet 2 - Featuring appearances by Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People, Night at the Museum and the upcoming Tropic Thunder), Elisabeth Shue (Adventures in Babysitting, The Karate Kid), writer Pam Brady (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Team America: World Police), and writer/director Andrew Fleming (The Craft, Dick). There will be other surprise appearances, so don't miss it! Ballroom 20

12:00-12:45 Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - Comedy legends Harold, Kumar, and NPH (Kal Penn, John Cho, and Neil Patrick Harris) appear live and in-person ato talk about the creation of their latest masterpiece—Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay—available on DVD on July 29. Ballroom 20

1:00-1:30 Friday the 13th - Sneak a peek at the new movie retelling the original Friday the 13th about teenaged summer camp counselors who are systematically slaughtered by a mysterious killer. Ballroom 20

1:30-2:30 Rogue Pictures - Rogue Pictures presents select footage, key cast members, and filmmakers from its upcoming 2009 slate. Scheduled appearances include writer/director Wes Craven, discussing his suspense thriller 25/8, and writer/director David Goyer, discussing his supernatural thriller The Unborn. Ballroom 20".

Source: www.firstshowing.net

Rachel Cohn on "Nick and Norah"

Rachel Cohn on Nick and Norah: The following are questions answered in her myspace blog:

Q: How did you feel when you were told that they were turning N&N into a movie?Is the plot changing a lot? Who the hell is Lethario on IMDB? Can we know some of the songs on the soundtrack? I know Bishop Allen and Project Jenny/Project Jan.
A: ECSTATIC! But I didn't really believe it, until the first day we visited a shoot on Ludlow Street (see: David's awesome "On Ludlow" lyrics on pg. 113 of N&N) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and we saw all the trucks, trailers, seemingly gazillion production crew running around coordinating Yugos and vans and taxis and actors, and freaking lights being brought down from a CRANE. Then, I started to go, WHOA, this is actually happening! Also, meeting supernice Superbad star Michael Cera, and seeing him in the "Salvatore" jacket, in a Yugo, also made clear this dream was real!

The plot is essentially the same as the book (two broken-hearted, straight edge bridge-and-tunnel teens meet at a punk show in Manhattan, and fall in and out of love throughout that same night wandering the city), but the main difference is probably that Nick and Norah's friends have bigger, broader and very, very funny stories in the movie, and the places Nick & Norah go change somewhat (although they did film a scene at the restaurant Veselka – same as the book! – and guess who got two extras sitting at a table behind Michael Cera and Kat Dennings? David and me!)
"Lethario" is not someone from the book. He's in the music club scene that opens the movie, and he becomes part of the group's adventures throughout the night. He's played by the very cool Jonathan B. Wright, one of the stars of one of my personal favorite shows on Broadway, Spring Awakening. (insert fangirl *squee*) I don't know about the soundtrack! I do know it's something all the filmmakers care very much about, so I'm betting it's going to be just as good as all the amazing people working on it.

Q: What will the Nick & Norah movie be rated? Do we know?
A: They're aiming for PG-13. Which seems hard to believe if you remember the language (and certain, ahem, scenes in the book), but I do think the filmmakers have very creatively and subversively figured out how to get that rating without sacrificing the spirit of the book. And I say this as the person who maybe most wanted all those F-bombs to stay in the movie. But they've made it work! No f*!$ing kidding!
Q: Why Kat Dennings?
A: Having met her and watched her film scenes as Norah, I can only answer back with another
Q: How could Norah be played by anyone but Kat Dennings?
I seriously, honestly, truly couldn't be happier that she was cast as Norah. If anything, her only "flaw" is that she's too beautiful! I imagined the Norah in the book to be not so glamorous looking, but hey, this is the movie version we're talking about. And the coolest thing about Kat is that even if she doesn't look exactly the way we imagined Norah in the book, I am telling you for sure for sure that in personality, she is PERFECT. She's got exactly the right attitude, humor and vulnerability. I couldn't love her more as movie Norah. And I feel that way about all the cast; while not all of them looked the way I pictured them in the book, in personality, they were all so well-chosen, but also, each actor made the characters their own. The movie is the movie and the book is the book...and I think each character/actor does and should stand independently on their own in each separate version.

Songs Mentioned in "Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist"

Q: Are you planning on using all or most of the music from Nick and Norah's Playlist in the movie?
A: I'm pretty sure some of David's great Nick song lyrics make it into the movie. And just a reminder that I have playlists for Nick & Norah and Naomi & Ely posted on iTunes. To find them, go to the iTunes Music Store, choose the Music section, then go to the "iMix" link on the side, and type in my name, David's name, or either of the books' titles to find the playlists. Hope you enjoy them!