"Wendy and Lucy", director Kelly Reichardt’s follow-up to her 2007 indie marvel, "Old Joy", returns to a Pacific Northwest of equal parts natural beauty and desolation. Dressed in androgynous clothes, her hair chopped and boyish, Michelle Williams stars in Wendy and Lucy as a slacker waif adrift in a subculture of neo-hippie train jumpers building bonfires in the woods, bruised blue collars and a collection of vets and disabled hard-luck cases waiting at the corner store to exchange cans for change. As Wendy is hauled away to jail, Lucy remains tied to a bicycle rack, one more tragic loss in a string of escalating disasters.These losses come with a devastation comparable to that in Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 neo-realist masterpiece, "The Bicycle Thief". Unlike Emile Hirsch’s adventuring, Alaska-bound dropout in "Into the Wild", Wendy’s is not a purposeful estrangement from the world. There are foils and fairy godfathers along the way, but the overall impression Reichardt creates is of a cold, hostile world as immune to individual suffering as the Depressionera America of "They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?" or "The Grapes of Wrath".The only comfort Wendy finds is from the drugstore security guard (Wally Dalton) who first rousts Wendy from sleeping in his parking lot and then watches her contend with the ruined car and lost dog. His gestures of kindness are pitiably small, compromised by his own limited means. Reichardt allows us so little access to her interior life that she seems opaque, her comatose demeanor hard to identify: Is it deep depression or soft-headedness? "Old Joy" went deep inside the loneliness and need for connection of its heroes, and Wendy and Lucy’s impact often resides in external events. Wendy can feel more like a symbol of economic despair than the soft and pulpy realer-than-real men of "Old Joy". But thank goodness for Reichardt’s committed focus even on symbols in the escalating miseries of our own hard times. Source: www.nypress.com
Happy belated 23rd Birthday to the talented and lovely actress/singer Amanda Seyfried!This is a musical video dedicated to her. Songs "Honey, Honey" sang by Amanda Seyfried in "Mamma Mia!" and "Pale Blue eyes" by The Velvet Underground.
Amanda's most famous roles have been the Plastic Karen Smith in "Mean Girls" (2004), Samantha in "Nine Lives" (2005), Mouse in "American Gun" (2005), Lilly Kane in "Veronica Mars" series (2004-2006),Julie Beckley in "Alpha Dog" (2006), Rebecca in "Wildfire" series (2006), Sarah Henrickson in the series "Big Love" (2006-2009), and her first lead role as Sophie Sheridan in the film version of the musical "Mamma Mia!".
Amanda joined the cast of the dark horror film "Jennifer's Body" (2009) written by Diablo Cody, playing the title character's best friend Needy Lesnicky. Her upcoming roles are Savannah Lynn Curtis in "Dear John" (2009) and Paige Prideaux in "Boogie Woogie" (2009).
Mark Ruffalo and Jake at "Zodiac" Cannes Film Festival Premiere. Jake with Mark Ruffalo at NYC "Zodiac" Screening.
I hate to communicate these tragic news, because I can't imagine how much Mark Ruffalo must be affected by his brother's loss. I've always been a follower of Mark's career and loved his performance (as usual) in "Zodiac", so here I give my condolences to Mark Ruffalo, my heart goes out to him and his family.
"Scott Ruffalo, a married hairdresser, died late Monday after he was taken off life support, one week after he was found with a gunshot wound to the head in his Beverly Hills condo. He is the kid brother of "You Can Count on Me" star Mark Ruffalo".
"JAKE GYLLENHAAL, all pumped-up and studly, is still shooting Disney's "Prince of Persia" in London. But his 28th birthday is on Dec. 19, and Jake's beloved, Reese Witherspoon, had planned a lavish party for him in LA. Both stars, who are super-professional, know the importance of keeping to schedule, so they didn't hold much hope of being "together" on Jake's natal day - at least not as Reese had planned.
Good work is rewarded, however. The studio said, "Go, have a blast!" The 19th is a Friday, and Jake will probably be back in his prince costume by Monday morning, the 22nd.
SPEAKING OF Jake, his leading lady in "Prince of Persia" is British knockout Gemma Arterton, seen most re cently dallying with Daniel Craig in "Quantum of Solace." (She was the delightfully named Strawberry Fields.) Gemma is only 22, but her romantic life is already colorful.
Gemma was keeping company with handsome Spaniard, Eduardo Munoz, who was hired to train her horseback skills for "Prince of Persia." They discovered other skills in the course of events. Gemma and Eduardo quickly became a couple during the shoot in Morocco. However, when the company moved to London, his job was over. They missed each so much that Eduardo flew to Britain to be with her. It was terribly impulsive and romantic.
Sadly, "Quantum of Solace" had to open. Gemma is suddenly hot, in demand. Between scenes on "Prince . . . ", Gemma now looks glum. Eduardo is back in Spain. Success - it has its price". Source: www.nypost.com
A BIG THANK YOU TO THE AFI FOR HONOURING HEATH LEDGER WITH THIS TREMENDOUS TRIBUTE, which gives him much deserved and overdue recognition. Watch the crowd pay their respect with a standing ovation and Heath's mother, father and sister accept the AFI award on his behalf. Note: The award is being presented by Michael Caton (lead actor in 'The Castle').
"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.
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.
"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?"
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
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.
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?).
"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
"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
"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."
"Wendy and Lucy", director Kelly Reichardt’s follow-up to her 2007 indie marvel, "Old Joy", returns to a Pacific Northwest of equal parts natural beauty and desolation. Dressed in androgynous clothes, her hair chopped and boyish, Michelle Williams stars in Wendy and Lucy as a slacker waif adrift in a subculture of neo-hippie train jumpers building bonfires in the woods, bruised blue collars and a collection of vets and disabled hard-luck cases waiting at the corner store to exchange cans for change.
As Wendy is hauled away to jail, Lucy remains tied to a bicycle rack, one more tragic loss in a string of escalating disasters.These losses come with a devastation comparable to that in Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 neo-realist masterpiece, "The Bicycle Thief".
Unlike Emile Hirsch’s adventuring, Alaska-bound dropout in "Into the Wild", Wendy’s is not a purposeful estrangement from the world. 
There are foils and fairy godfathers along the way, but the overall impression Reichardt creates is of a cold, hostile world as immune to individual suffering as the Depressionera America of "They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?" or "The Grapes of Wrath".The only comfort Wendy finds is from the drugstore security guard (Wally Dalton) who first rousts Wendy from sleeping in his parking lot and then watches her contend with the ruined car and lost dog. His gestures of kindness are pitiably small, compromised by his own limited means.
Reichardt allows us so little access to her interior life that she seems opaque, her comatose demeanor hard to identify: Is it deep depression or soft-headedness? "Old Joy" went deep inside the loneliness and need for connection of its heroes, and Wendy and Lucy’s impact often resides in external events. Wendy can feel more like a symbol of economic despair than the soft and pulpy realer-than-real men of "Old Joy". But thank goodness for Reichardt’s committed focus even on symbols in the escalating miseries of our own hard times.
