82nd Academy Awards Nominee Luncheon

The Oscars 2010 - ABC promo. The Oscars air live Sunday March 7th on ABC. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are co-hosting!

Meryl Streep attending 82nd Academy Awards Nominee Luncheon, on 15th February 2010.
Here's a sample of some of the best responses:

Jeff Bridges, nominated for best actor, "Crazy Heart"
(On his character, Bad Blake) "He doesn't mean to be a bad guy, he's just irresponsible. That's just the path life has taken. I just follow the script and didn't set out to make him likable."

Jeremy Renner, nominated for best actor, "The Hurt Locker"(On what he learned about the military from working on the war drama) "I walk up to any military personnel now and shake their hand and thank them for their service...It means so much when they say 'I show it to my wife or to my family to show them what it was like.'"

Colin Firth, nominated for best actor, "A Single Man"
(On why he took the part in designer Tom Ford's directoral debut) "I read the script and thought, 'I hope this is a great big style fest...I wanted be beautiful and lit well...unfortunately, I showed up and had to do alot of acting."(On advice for young actors) "I don't think anyone should ever ask actors for advice on anything. Just look at how we behave at times. We're not exactly a paradigm for a good lifestyle."

Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for best actress, "Precious"
(On who she wanted to meet at the luncheon) "Steve Martin is the person I want to meet. My mom had a crush on Steve Martin and we used to watch 'The Jerk' every day. I'm excited that the show will be hosted by Jack Donaghy and the Jerk."

Sandra Bullock, nominated for best actress, "The Blind Side"
(On her mantra) "If I get up and I'm breathing and I'm happy, then I know it's a good day. I have a post it note by the side of my bed and it says, 'expect as good as you give.'"

(On what she will wear to the Oscars) "If I have to wear a trash bag, I'll belt it with rhinestones and I'll make it work."
Carey Mulligan, nominated for best actress, "An Education"
(On surreal awards show moments) "I've met crazy people, like Quentin Tarantino. I leaned back and we bumped asses."

(On if she uses awards shows for networking) "I'm not great at the mingling side of things, so I stand in the corner. I tend to follow Kathryn Bigelow around a lot, so I'm not sure if she noticed."

Kathryn Bigelow, nominated for best director, "The Hurt Locker"
(On if she noticed Mulligan following her around) "I've been following her around. She's so talented."

Lee Daniels, nominated for best director, "Precious"
(On picking Sidibe for the lead role) "I thought she was this girl. Then when we stopped the audition and she started talking like Gabby, I was on the floor. I thought she was some white girl from the Valley."
(On what being the second African American nominated for best director means) "It gives hope to so many. I've received thousands of emails from young, not just African American, but gay filmmakers, Chinese filmmakers, that see that there's a chance. That the academy is wise."

Woody Harrelson, nominated for best supporting actor, "The Messenger"
(On whether or not he'll be nervous on awards night) "I suppose that would be justified if I thought I was going to win. Someone's going to have an accent when they accept, but it ain't gonna be a southern accent."
Cristoph Waltz, nominated for best supporting actor, "Inglourious Basterds"
(On whether he knew his knowledge of multiple languages would help his career) "It comes in handy when you travel. It comes in handy when you are trying to seduce someone, so why would it not for a movie?"

(On if he's become Americanized by the film's success) "I have to admit that I was totally Americanized already. I moved here for a few years. I was married to an American for a long time. If that doesn't do it, then a movie won't either."
Vera Farmiga, nominated for best supporting actress, "Up in the Air"
Slip ons, not lace ups. I'm the person you don't want to get behind, because I have a baby carrier and all the baby regalia. You should look out for families with strollers."

(On her approach to the character) "In the words of Mo'Nique,'just be it, don't judge it and leave the rest on the floor.' I just tried to do it with grace and dignity and not judge her actions."
Maggie Gyllenhaal, nominated for best supporting actress, "Crazy Heart"
(On advice her brother Jake, an Oscar nominee for "Brokeback Mountain," gave her about the process) "One thing he said even before I was nominated was there isn't anything at the end of the rainbow. It's fun and enjoy it in that spirit."
Source: www.thewrap.com

Jake Gyllenhaal drives with a friend

Jake Gyllenhaal - 'Prince of Persia' Press Junket in Los Angeles.

"Jerry Bruckheimer replied, "Well, he's very handsome. And he's in fantastic shape. He got in great shape for this movie. And he's a brilliant actor, and that's what it is all about. You know, he's young, he's talented, and that's what we rely on — his talent."
Mike Newell filming "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005) with Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory).

Director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), told website, /Film, "You can't know how hard he [Jake] worked to make himself the physical personification of that tiny little video game character. And there he is, he's real and he can ride and he can fight and he can shoot and he's a marvelous action hero as well as being the guy that we know from Brokeback Mountain, who's a fabulous actor.
"I was very, very fortunate with Jake", the director continued. "And so, what I was aiming to do was to not produce a simple copy of what was in the video game, but I wanted him to look like that, I wanted him to be able to fight like hell, and I wanted him to be a great action character. And that's what he gave me. Then, we were very careful about certain kind of key sequences, big sequences in the movie. There's a sequence– there's a pursuit in a market, there are several huge fights, there's the taking of the town..." Source: kotaku.com

Jake Gyllenhaal driving with a friend on 15th February 2010 in Hollywood. Pictures courtesy of Iheartjakemedia.com

New Moon nominated for The Scorecard Review movie awards

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as Edward and Bella in the birthday scene from "New Moon" (2009).

New Moon is nominated in the categories for "Best Blockbuster," "Best Music," "Best Action Hero" (for both "Jacob Black" and "Edward Cullen"), "Best Ending," "Best Visual Special Effects", and "Best Screenplay (Adapted)."Robert Pattinson's ending line in New Moon [*spoiler warning*] - "I have just one condition. If you want me to do it, then marry me Bella" - is nominated for "Quote of the Year."Kristen Stewart is nominated for "Actress of the Year (Multiple Roles)" for her work in New Moon and Adventureland, and Michael Sheen is nominated for "Actor of the Year (Multiple Roles)" for New Moon and The Damned United. Voting for this awards group is available here, and you should note that instead of having to choose one film over the other in the traditional voting sense, TSR utilizes a ranking system. Source: www.examiner.com


A never before seen clip of Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart Flirting on the set of "New Moon".

Nominees attending Oscars Luncheon

"Check the trailer out below this plot synopsis:

Reality intersects with delusion in the mind of Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson), a regular man who adopts a superhero persona known as Defendor, and combs the city streets at night in search of his arch-enemy, Captain Industry.

In his attempts to combat crime and bring down Captain Industry, a drug and weapons dealer who he mistakenly blames for the death of his mother, Defendor ends up befriending a young prostitute, Katerina Debrofkowitz (Kat Dennings).
Kat Dennings as Caroline Wexler on the set of "Daydream Nation".

Armed with unconventional weapons of mass confusion, aided by his new friend, and putting his life on the line, Defendor proves that everyone is capable of making a difference". Source: www.totalfilm.com

Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in "The Messenger" (2009).

"Before "The Messenger", Harrelson said he generally had viewed the war and the troops fighting it in the same light."I always kind of lumped it all together, and it wasn't until I had the opportunity through the shooting of `The Messenger' to spend a lot of time with people in the Army that I started to realize how amazing these people are," Harrelson said. "As much as I have come to love the warrior, I still loathe the war."Woody Harrelson with director Ruben Fleischer shooting a scene in "Zombieland" (2009).

Harrelson had a concise reply when asked if he ever expected to earn an Oscar nomination for a film released the same year he played a gleeful slayer of flesh-eating fiends in "Zombieland.""Short answer, no," Harrelson said.Mulligan, a best-actress nominee for the British drama "An Education", said awards season has been a thrill because of the Hollywood idols with whom she has rubbed elbows, including Bullock and fellow best-actress contenders Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia") and Helen Mirren ("The Last Station")."They've all been so unbelievably kind and not intimidating," Mulligan said. "You have them on such a pedestal and you think they could be a nightmare if they wanted to because they're so good. And they're just lovely."Also among the idols she has met is Tarantino, a directing nominee for best-picture contender "Inglourious Basterds." Moments earlier, Mulligan said, she and Tarantino had accidentally bumped butts while milling about among the luncheon crowd. Though the best-picture field was doubled to 10 films this season, the contest for top prize is considered a two-movie race between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker."Others on hand included acting nominees George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick ("Up in the Air"), Morgan Freeman ("Invictus"), Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Crazy Heart") and Colin Firth ("A Single Man").
Gyllenhaal, a supporting-actress nominee for "Crazy Heart," said she got some valuable advice from brother Jake Gyllenhaal, a past nominee for "Brokeback Mountain", about not letting the Oscars go to her head.Jake Gyllenhaal and sister Maggie Gyllenhaal attending the 77th Annual Academy Awards on 7th February, 2005 in Hollywood, CA.

"He said, `There isn't actually anything at the end of the rainbow', Gyllenhaal said. "He said, `It's a lot of fun and enjoy it in that spirit. If you make it mean too much more than that, you'll probably go astray." Source: www.google.com

Triangle of deep bitterness in "Brothers"

"Lionsgate Home Entertainment have announced the US DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Brothers on 23rd March 2010. Starring Toby Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman, this drama directed by Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father) tells the story of how two brothers come to terms with issues of love, loyalty, and manhood with the woman caught between them". Source: www.dvdtimes.co.uk

"Brothers" is nominated to 2 Golden Globes (Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama - Tobey Maguire, and Best Original Song 'Winter' by U2".

Caps of Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brothers" Extra Interview (Clip).

"Sheridan captures that layering on of years of weariness with war through his extraordinary cast, who carry it like a physical weight. This is a remarkable showcase for Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man 3, Seabiscuit), Jake Gyllenhaal (Rendition, Zodiac), and Natalie Portman (The Other Boleyn Girl, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium), who remind us again that they are three of the most expressive, most compelling young actors working today. It sneaks up on you in this film, how startlingly good they are, how they can hit you with an emotion you didn’t see coming but that feels so perfectly right anyway. One brother -- Gyllenhaal’s Tommy -- is just out of prison (we don’t know for a long while why he was there). The other -- Maguire’s Sam, a Marine captain -- is off to Afghanistan again, and eager for it; once there, he ponders how it “almost feels like home.” Portman’s Grace, Sam’s wife, is the quiet anchor who has been keeping the rest of the family together: her and Sam’s small daughters, Isabelle (Bailee Madison: Bridge to Terabithia) and Maggie (Taylor Geare), the guys’ dad, Hank (Sam Shepard: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Charlotte’s Web), an ex-Marine himself, and his wife, Elsie (Mare Winningham). The roadmap of the story to come is laid bare here, in the things no one can say to one another and the things they can -- there’s a triangle of deep bitterness, disappointment, and resentment between Hank and his sons; and it’s here that the amazing performance that Bailee Madison will give begins to reveal itself. In some ways, the little girl who is Isabelle will be the canvas upon which the family drama will paint itself; the actress, who only just turned 10, is able to express the terrible inner turmoil of a child watching her family fall apart. I’ve never seen a child so young be so effective onscreen -- she is heartbreaking.To say that Sam is lost in Afghanistan and presumed dead, and that his family mourns him and moves on, and then has to readjust again when he is found and returns home is no kind of spoiler. Indeed, the fact that Sam is not dead is not a matter of suspense at all.) Because it is in all the same, eloquent, authentic details of the people, not the plot, that makes this movie work so well as it does". Source: www.flickfilosopher.com