"Heath Ledger had a miserable time on the Brokeback Mountain set - because director Ang Lee treated the late star like an "alienated prop", according to the film's producer James Schamus.
In an Entertainment Weekly magazine tribute piece - marking the first anniversary of Ledger's death - Schamus and British filmmaker Terry Gilliam both recall how difficult the acclaimed film was for the Aussie, who played gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar.
Gilliam recalls his The Brothers Grimm star calling him from the set and revealing he was far from happy.
James Schamus, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
And Schamus explains, "During casting, rehearsals, and pre-production, Ang (Lee) is like the warm, wise, cuddly daddy bear. The minute he yells 'Action' on the first shot, the actors become alienated props he kind of puts up with... It's tough on actors.
"He doesn't yell at people or humiliate them, but it's a very tough space. Heath had very difficult days. You could really feel the pain he was going through". Source: www.imdb.com
Catherine Hardwicke, director, The Lords of Dogtown: "I heard Heath wanted to do Dogtown, and I was shocked. The real Skip was a pretty funky character. I thought I was going to get Philip Seymour Hoffman. Heath came in to meet me and he was extremely shy. He had his cap pulled down and it was like, could this guy look any more like a homeless person? It's a survival mechanism, to become scruffy, to try to hide, to go against everyone's expectations. He talked to me about Australia and surfing and skateboarding, and I thought, I can't say no".
Schamus: It was one of those ''where were you on the day Kennedy was shot'' moments. I called Jake and remember wailing. Source: www.ew.com
A video featuring some images and stills of Emile Hirsch in the films "The girl next door", "Lords of Dogtown", "Speed Racer", "Into the wild", "Milk", etc. Songs "The wanderer" and "Rolling home" by Status Quo.
A video featuring some images and stills of Michael Cera in "Arrested Development", "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist", etc. Song "Higher" by Creed. (I didn't choose the song, I just had to replace my soundtrack of choice because youtube won't allow me sometimes uploading some of my favourite songs, so I have to swap the audio tracks if I want to upload my videos).
Talking about Michael Cera, "Paper Heart" is one of the most talked about films going into Sundance 2009. Charlyne Yi and her real-life boyfriend Michael Cera were able to make the film completely under the radar. I have been able to secure five video clips from the strange meta-love story, in which both of the stars play themselves. Here is the details from the Sundance plot synopsis: “Even though Yi doesn’t believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature — a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.”Watch these five clips from "Paper Hearts"
"Hollywood heavyweights made their pledges to Barack Obama in the video below. Directed and edited by Demi Moore, it features celebrity pledges by Cameron Diaz, Hayden Panetierre, Laura Linney, Dakota Fanning, Jaime Pressley, Ashlee Simpson, Nicole Richie, Ashton Kutcher, Tobey Maguire, Diddy, Alyssa Milano, Marisa Tomei, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, and others.
Reflecting Barack's call for change, the film features over 50 of the biggest stars in Hollywood revealing how they plan to personally participate in keeping America strong, proud and green. The clip will be presented to our new President during his inaugural celebration". Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
"Fincher's résumé charts a dark and fascinating path. From the doomed Alien 3 through surprise blockbuster Se7en to his undervalued masterpieces Fight Club and Zodiac, Fincher has seldom aligned with public taste, but the film world is a more interesting place thanks to him. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, previewed as part of this retrospective with a Fincher Q&A (18 Jan), sees him attempt a proper emotional drama. Whether it works or not is moot; Fincher's failures are more interesting than the successes of most other directors". Source: www.guardian.co.uk
A musical video featuring some images and stills of Emile Hirsch in the films "Imaginary heroes", "The girl next door", "Speed Racer" and "Milk". Songs "Honkin' down the highway" by The Beach Boys and "Something else" by The Sex Pistols and Eddie Cochran.
"Canadian actor Michael Cera, who’s built a career out of playing awkward but lovable teens, is up for a rising star award at Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.
The award recognizes five international actors and actresses that have begun to capture the public’s imagination.
Cera’s rise began with a role as George-Michael Bluth on the celebrated series “Arrested Development”, and soared with starring roles in the films “Juno”, “Superbad” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”The winner will be announced at The Orange British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 8". Source: www.michaelcerasource.net
"Why 500 Days of Summer is the best movie I've screened this year isn't the cast, made up primarily of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, or the tag line ("A Man Who Believes in Love Falls for a Woman Who Very-Much Doesn't") or even the online chatter falsely describing it as a "musical" (which I think we could always use more of anyway). No, why it's the best has more to do with character than with setup; more feeling than exposition. The creators of the movie, first-timer's all around, understand these people (beyond surfaced who-they-are, what-they-want, and how-they-get-it explanations, which dominate the rom-com genre) and, with an assured look at the dating styles of today, created a movie which comments and condemns the current idea of love, sex, and friendship. Oh, and it's really funny". Source: www.firstshowing.net
"Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel co-star in 500 Days of Summer, what he describes as an "ambidextrous" romantic-comedy. That means it's a good date movie, not just a chick flick".
"Guys want to fall in love as much as girls want to fall in love. They just run into different rules and regulations", Gordon-Levitt says. Source: www.usatoday.com
"Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal looked amused checking something out on Reese's Blackberry in LA earlier today. They both seemed dressed and ready for the gym, so maybe Jake exchanged his usual solo morning run for a workout with his girl. Either way, it's always fun to get the day started together with some coffee and conversation". Source: www.popsugar.com Jake and Reese leaving Peet's Coffee & Tea In Santa Monica on 16th January, 2009. Pictures by Iheartjakemedia.com
* THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Ceán Chaffin * FROST/NIXON – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard * MILK – Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen * THE READER – Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris * SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Christian Colson
DIRECTOR
* CHANGELING – Clint Eastwood * THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – David Fincher * FROST/NIXON – Ron Howard * THE READER – Stephen Daldry * SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Danny Boyle
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
* BURN AFTER READING – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen * CHANGELING – J. Michael Straczynski * I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Philippe Claudel * IN BRUGES – Martin McDonagh * MILK – Dustin Lance Black
"Why is he jogging with sleeves now? He was just fine, before. Jake Gyllenhaal is totally reading the blogs, and he's shy. Bashful even! Don't be ashamed of your newly discovered arms of death, Jakey G. You put them out there for the world to admire! Did that bag of bones you're jogging with tell you to cover up? He's just pissed because of his anorexia nervosa - yeah, men can get it, too. Socialite Life watches Dr. Phil. Sometimes.
"You could say he's too sensitive for this industry," Downey Jr. tells GQ. "That's not even the right word. He's clear. But he's also a total badass. He and Steve McQueen would have gotten along amazingly. Guys who will do anything, anywhere." Playing into that "badass" characterization, Gyllenhaal tells GQ that he loves cooking, going to the farmers' market and "sometimes what I actually love to do is go to a farm and get fresh milk or watch a pig get slaughtered." Kirsten Dunst attending The Art Of Elysium 2nd Annual Heaven Gala, Vibiani, Los Angeles, 10th January 2009.
Gyllenhaal's most high-profile relationship to date was his lengthy on-again, off-again relationship with Kirsten Dunst". Source: www.people.com
"While it's probably past due, a biopic focusing on the life of legendary actor Steve McQueen is in the works.
The epitome of old-school Hollywood cool (and a personal idol), McQueen was perhaps as well-known for his wild off-screen proclivities (motorcycles, cars, women, booze, drugs) as his celebrated roles in films like THE GREAT ESCAPE, PAPILLON, THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, BULLITT, THE GETAWAY, THE TOWERING INFERNO and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. The movie will be based on Marshall Terrill's recent book "Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel", and will (obviously) chronicle both his Hollywood career and his notorious behavior. A director is expected to be announced shortly.
Filmmaker McG was recently working with McQueen's son Chad to finally make the actor's legacy project YUCATAN, about a gang of thieves seeking a stash of long-buried Mayan treasure.
(McQueen fans should also track down the documentary STEVE MCQUEEN: THE ESSENCE OF COOL, which was on the special edition DVD of BULLITT)". Source: www.joblo.com
"I know he was just spotted there with Ms. Reese, but while I was sitting at the bar at Mozza at lunch time today I saw JAKE GYLLENHAAL walk in, at first I thought it was Reese standing next to him (there was a blonde head.. there was a bit of a crowd at the door..) but I cannot confirm that. I was too cool to turn my head fully around to scope out the table he sat at. About fifteen minutes later DEBI MAZAR walked in with a gentleman friend and asked loud enough for me to hear (not in an obnoxious way, I think she just has a loud voice...New Yorker loud...) "Is Nancy (Silverton) here today?" Source: defamer.com
A musical video featuring images and stills of Emile Hirsch in the films "The Girl Next Door", "The Emperor's Club", "Alpha Dog", "Speed Racer", "Into the wild", etc.
Songs "Sweet roll me on down" by Flamin' Groovies and "The Last shot" by Lou Reed.
A musical video dedicated to the peculiar fashion-icon Cory Kennedy. Songs "Rave on" performed by Jimmy Page and "How she boogalooed it" by The Beach Boys.
This girl met Jake once and tagged him as "a horny motherf*cker" (hinting Jake was not gay), and she's also a friend of my new crush Emile Hirsch.
Beautiful Carmen Colson (Diane Lane) and her iron worker husband Wayne (Thomas Jane) are placed in the Federal Witness Protection program after witnessing an "incident". Thinking they are at last safe, they are targeted by an experienced hit man (Mickey Rourke) and a psychopathic young upstart killer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
Kate Winslet.Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.Colin Farrell.Tina Fey.Maggie Gyllenhaal. Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal.Anne Hathaway.Anne Hathaway and Leonardo DiCaprio.Drew Barrymore.Olivia Wilde.Evan Rachel Wood.Amanda Seyfried.Megan Fox.Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried.Molly Sims and Emile Hirsch.
James Schamus, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Heath came in to meet me and he was extremely shy. He had his cap pulled down and it was like, could this guy look any more like a homeless person? It's a survival mechanism, to become scruffy, to try to hide, to go against everyone's expectations. He talked to me about Australia and surfing and skateboarding, and I thought, I can't say no".
