Papparazzi Fun

6th December, lunch at Orso's restaurant in L.A.
"Jake Gyllenhaal looked like a hot tamale as he exited Orso restaurant a few minutes after Lindsay Lohan left. Jake was having lunch with a friend and played a prank on the paparazzi on the way out. He pretended he was going to give up pictures by walking out with a smile on his face but soon started walking backwards to his car. He then quickly turned around and dashed in his car. [...] Source: Paparazzidiaries.blogspot.com

Morocco is chic

"At this time of year, Morocco resembles Los Angeles with its pleasant days and cool nights. But when it comes to filming, the country is hotter than ever.

Paramount Vantage's "Babel," New Line Cinema's "The Nativity Story" and MGM's upcoming "Home of the Brave" have shot there in the past year -- as did an episode of CBS' "The Amazing Race." Universal Pictures' "Charlie Wilson's War" just finished shooting there, while New Line's "Rendition" and Warner Independent Pictures' Paul Haggis mystery thriller "In the Valley of Elah" are lining up shoots in the near future. [...]

"It's as safe a place as any," producer Steve Golin says. "It's a kingdom, and there's really really strong security there, and you feel safe."

Golin produced "Babel,"

Brad Pitt in "Babel"
about 60% of which was shot in Morocco, and is in production on "Rendition," a thriller about an extracted Muslim national starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon.

"Rendition" didn't go to Dubai because that Saudi peninsula country doesn't have the look of a typical Middle East country -- instead, it has an aura of blazing white, oil-rich modernity -- and Egypt was considered but eventually was thought of as "too dicey."

"Everybody is concerned about safety" when it comes to filming internationally, Golin says.

"Rendition" will be looking to shoot at a large prison and a university and is working out the logistics for a scene involving a bombing at a roundabout traffic circle.

Irwin Winkler decided to film his Iraqi war drama "Home of the Brave" in the Moroccan town of Ouarzazate after learning that William Friedkin shot "Rules of Engagement" there in 2000.

"It is an Arab and Muslim country. The people and the buildings were exactly what we needed as far as atmosphere and background," Winkler says.

The director's biggest obstacle wasn't the weather, laws or language but rather learning some of the customs. "When we went to somebody's house to put a camera in, they insisted on us having tea first," he says. "And they have very nice customs there, but we were itching to get in and out."

Winkler, like Golin, praised the strong infrastructure, with its seasoned crews and state-of-the-art soundstages, that has grown exponentially since the 1990s, when Ridley Scott shot "Gladiator" there.

Joaquin Phoenix in "Gladiator"
Scott since has come back to Morocco for "Black Hawk Down" and "Kingdom of Heaven."

Eva Green in "The Kingdom of Heaven"
In fact, if anything, there's so much production, particularly in Ouarzazate, that filmmakers are tripping over themselves.

"When we were there with 'Babel,' they were doing 'The Hills Have Eyes 2' and some Moses miniseries with Omar Sharif," Golin says. "So you're at the pool of the hotel and there are four other movie crews there."

He adds: "You get tired of your own crew after awhile, so it wasn't so bad."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter Source: Movies.Yahoo.com

Denying rumours

"Is Kirsten Dunst trying to drum up interest in the upcoming "Marie Antoinette" by unplugging her piehole about former flame Jake Gyllenhaal? Did Scarlett Johansson once try to lure the dreamy-eyed actor away from her?

The tabloid, in what it trumpets as an "exclusive" interview with Dunst, claims she "opened her heart to talk of the secret sadness" over her now off-again romance with Gyllenhaal.

How open is she? The actress is quoted as revealing that not even "wild sex" ("in cars, in the bathroom and even by the sea") was enough to keep them together.

Titillating stuff, right? There's just one teeny, tiny problem: The interview never took place.

"Clearly this is a fabricated story," Dunst's rep, Stephen Huvane, tells MSN Entertainment. "Kirsten has not given an interview to News of the World and for the most [part] the quotes they list are not hers."

In fact, one of the statements attributed to Dunst, in which she laments the loss of Jake while still clinging to "this whole fairy-tale vision in my head, because I was brought up on movies and storybooks that say I'm going to find my soul mate, get married and have a perfect life," is actually from May 2002, several months before they began dating.

Johansson, meanwhile, is defending her reputation against charges of boyfriend stealing. In an interview with the London Sunday Times, the bombshell thespian rebuffs reports that she attempted to seduce Gyllenhaal away from Dunst a couple of years back.

"False," Scarlett asserts to the paper.

Also untrue, she says (for the umpteenth time), is that oft-told tale of an age-inappropriate elevator encounter with Benicio Del Toro.

"That is what is so crazy about these rumors. Has anyone tried to have sex in an elevator?" the sultry star pragmatically asks. "It would have to be over in 10 seconds."
Source: Msn Entertainment

Blocking phones

"Washington, Dec 02: Reese Witherspoon seems determined not to make her divorce proceedings shape up like Britney-Kevin's or Sir Paul-Heather Mills', as she has taken precautionary measures in advance to forbid her estranged husband from slinging any dirt on her.

The Oscar winner has reportedly banned mobile phones on the set of her new film `Rendition` - to stop pictures of her and co-star Jake Gyllenhaal from being taken.

Reese filed for divorce from her husband of seven years Ryan Phillippe last month, and is determined not to be linked to her dashing, single co-star.

"Reese doesn't want any rumours about her and Jake," The Post Chronicle quoted a source, as saying.

However, the actress has apparently been too late in taking this decision, as rumours of her and Jake's budding friendship have already been circulating after the pair were spotted enjoying a lengthy chat.

30-year-old Walk the Line star has cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for her split from Ryan, and has asked for custody of the couple's two children - seven-year-old Ava and three-year-old Deacon - but with visitation rights granted to her husband.

Reese has also requested "exclusive use of the family residence" and asked that the court terminate its right to grant Ryan spousal support." Source: Zee News.com

With chum Robert

"Nobody’s wearing any underwear at table 23,” joked Robert Downey Jr. from the lobster-shaped podium at the Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Awards Monday night at Cipriani 42nd Street. He was presenting the Young Artist Award for Artistic Excellence to Jake Gyllenhaal, who was sitting along with his friend Lance Armstrong at table 23.

“He’s just the real deal,” Mr. Downey said later of Mr. Gyllenhaal. The two had become close on a recent project. “What I respect about him is his process. The people that I hang out with, the people that I hang with that I’m close with, the people I respect—sometimes it’s an external thing, but largely it’s his character. Are you living by a set of principles that you really adhere to? And I see him doin’ it, and that’s why I got his back forever.”

Ditto for Mr. Gyllenhaal. “I love Robert,” he said, gesturing to the man across the table. “We worked together on a movie and we became really close after that. It’s very rare that you have an experience like that and you keep a real friendship. When you keep that connection and it means something and it’s deep to you, that’s awesome—and that’s what Robert and I have.”

The Brokeback Mountain star was also pleased to have his good buddy Lance Armstrong there for support in the seat next to him. “Our friendship was born out of a mutual appreciation for a lot of things—mostly just staying in shape. But we’ve become good friends, and he’s an awesome guy. He’s the personification of courage for most of the world, and it’s a real honor to be his friend.”

To complete the circle of love, Mr. Downey has also become close with Mr. Armstrong. “He’s an awesome guy. He’s been giving me guff ’cause I still smoke. He’s inspired me to quit—I mean, if he can beat cancer, I think I can beat cigarettes.” Pics via IHJ. Source: Observer.com

The Zodiac Case

"Decades after serial killer's unsolved spree, Hollywood follows Zodiac's trail to Napa. Thursday, July 28, 2005

By PAT STANLEY
Register Staff Writer

Retired Napa County Sheriff's Capt. Ken Narlow is no longer obliged to track the case of the Zodiac killer, who terrorized the Bay Area with a string of killings in the 1960s and '70s who and taunted law enforcement officers with his calls and letters.

But Narlow said he still receives phone calls and e-mails about the case. "It's followed me around more than I've followed it," he said.

Now, the unsolved case is headed for the big screen. [...]

Executive producer Brad Fischer declined comment on the movie before it is released, but "Variety" and several online publications say it will focus on the investigators, including Narlow, who pursued the elusive killer in the late '60s and early '70s.

Narlow met with Fischer and other executives in January, and last week assisted Warner Brothers researcher Max Daly, who was gathering old photographs and other information to help make the production realistic.

"I do visual research," Daly said. It's his job to make authentic-seeming film props, including badges and clothing.

"It looks like they are going all out to make this as credible as possible," said Narlow.

"Zodiac" the motion picture is reportedly based on "Zodiac Unmasked," one of two books by Robert Graysmith that chronicled the mass murderer's Bay Area killings. Among them was the September 1969 stabbing at Lake Berryessa of Pacific Union College student Cecilia Shepard, 22, who died of her wounds, and her date, 20-year-old Brian Hartnell, who survived. The killer taunted law enforcement by sending cryptic letters boasting of his killings. One said he planned to kill children as they got off a school bus, prompting Napa and other California school districts to put armed guards on many busses. Others were followed by police in marked and unmarked vehicles.

No bus was attacked.

The killing spree began in Riverside on Oct. 30, 1966, when 18-year-old college student Cheri Jo Bates' throat was slashed.

Shepard's stabbing on the western shores of Lake Berryessa, about two-and-a-half miles north of Park Headquarters, was his fourth confirmed killing. His second and third occurred near Vallejo on Dec. 20, 1968 and July 4, 1969. Seventeen-year-old David Faraday and 16-year-old Betty Lou Jensen were shot to death in the December attack off Lake Herman Road, outside of Vallejo. Darlene Ferrin, 22, died of a bullet wound near Blue Rock Springs Golf Club, also outside of Vallejo. Her date, 19-year-old Michael Mageau, was also shot, but survived.

The Zodiac's last known murder occurred on Oct. 11, 1970, in San Francisco, when taxi driver Paul Stine was shot in the head.

The last of half a dozen known Zodiac attacks occurred in March 1970 near Modesto. A mother and her daughter were abducted, but managed to escape.

Narlow said he is most often contacted about the case after the release of various books, films and television programs about the killer. Such programs have included "Unsolved Mysteries," "America's Most Wanted," "Cold Cases" and "Primetime 20/20."

"I hope the movie will resurrect some memories," said Narlow. "Maybe somebody has some memories out there they hadn't decided to give to law enforcement, or don't think are important. But every piece of the puzzle has to fit."

Over the years, there's been a plethora of speculation about the Zodiac's identity. One popular theory was that the Zodiac was Arthur Leigh Allen of Vallejo. Allen died in 1992. Narlow said evidence pointing to Allen, who was never charged, was not strong.

Narlow said he thinks the Zodiac is sill among us.

"After so long, it's hard to tell," Narlow said. "But I have a personal feeling, yeah, he's probably (still) out there. He'd probably be in his mid-to-late 60s."

He said he based his guess on the suspect's age on interviews with Zodiac survivors, including Hartnell, who estimated the Zodiac was 30 to 35 at the time of the killing spree.

Narlow praised the Napa County Sheriff's Department for keeping the Zodiac files open for three decades.

Sheriff Gary Simpson said a Bay Area Zodiac task force has long since been dissolved, but the Sheriff's Department and Napa County Major Crimes Task Force are ready to track down any leads.

"Most have been ruled out," Simpson said of the occasional tips that trickle in. "At this point we don't have any active leads." Source: Zodiackiller.com Message Board

Chasing Zodiac

"The killer who called himself "Zodiac" has never been identified. He is infamous in the Bay Area, not just for his murders but for his taunting letters to The Chronicle and other newspapers, ridiculing police and threatening children's lives.

"Dear Editor," he wrote to The Chronicle on July 31, 1969, "This is the murderer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass at Lake Herman and the girl on the 4th of July near the golf course in Vallejo."

The Bay Area's most notorious unsolved case has become the subject of many books, TV specials and Web sites. In his final letter to The Chronicle, April 24, 1978 -- whose authenticity some have called into question -- he wrote boastfully:

"This is the Zodiac speaking ... I am waiting for a good movie about me. Who will play me."

Now, 26 years later, David Fincher, who made "Fight Club," has taken up the challenge. Due late next year, the Warner Bros. film "Zodiac" will star Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detectives and reporters. The $80 million film was shot on location last month in the Bay Area, and will continue its production for 85 days on Los Angeles sets.

Aiming for historical accuracy, the filmmakers hired witnesses, survivors, detectives and reporters as consultants to the film whenever possible.

"Authenticity is our main goal," said producer Brad Fischer last week on the set. Added scriptwriter James Vanderbilt, "We want to be as thorough as possible." The film crew began researching the case three years ago. Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith, the former Chronicle cartoonist whose interest in the case led him to write a 1976 book, "Zodiac," upon which the film is based. With his help, the filmmakers claim they have discovered new, substantial evidence. "What we've learned from our research," Fischer said, "we want to keep for our film." [...]

Zodiac was keeping score. From then on, he would send a murder tally along with each letter to The Chronicle. In 1974, he wrote, "Me - 37, SFPD - 0."

Napa County Detective Ken Narlow, a tough cop, became the county's lead investigator. Now retired, Narlow struggles with diabetes and in January underwent a hip-replacement surgery.

"I still think he's out there," Narlow said last week, sitting outside his Napa home. [...]

Since his final letter in the 1970s, no one seems to have heard from Zodiac. By his own count, he killed at least 37 people.

"When I became mayor in '88," Art Agnos said last week by phone, "it had been years and years since anyone had heard from him. Frankly it was a dead issue."

Before getting elected mayor, Agnos had been shot twice -- by a member of a group of racial extremists pegged Zebra by the police -- and knows full well the trauma a predator can cause.

If Zodiac is alive, he is in his 60s or 70s, according to police sketches based on witness accounts. The investigation is still active in parts of Northern California."
Zodiac Trailer pictures via IHJ. Source: Sfgate.com