Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Hollywood Shopping
Jake shopping in Hollywood on 11th December. Pics via IHJ, and the two close shots below "adjusted" by me.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Jake and Lindsay
Monday, December 11, 2006
Cowboys of Free Love
"When straight actors take on gay roles, we can expect to encounter showbiz gossip intended to convey the heterosexual bona fides of any actor cast in a gay role. [...]
The pattern remains unbroken today on the slopes of “Brokeback Mountain.” Publicity about the “gay cowboy” movie has enforced all the rules of this game: The actors’ heterosexual credentials are much rehearsed, and their method-acting skills admired. In an early account of the film, while it was still in pre-production, Salon.com quoted a Hollywood executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity: “Realistically, let’s talk about the giggle factor. I mean, it is a story about gay cowboys! That is the most daring thing you can do.”
Still, as Salon’s Rebecca Traister put it, “If the I’s do get dotted on Gyllenhaal and Ledger’s contracts, it’s worth noting that both will run less of a risk of being ‘taken for gay’ than many of their colleagues; [...]
As it happens, the account in Salon and Us Weekly needs to be updated, because as anyone paying even the slightest attention will know, Ledger and supporting star Michelle Williams, who plays his wife Alma, became romantically involved during the shooting and have recently had a baby.
Their straight cred firmly in place, Ledger and Gyllenhaal can face the inevitable barrage of questions about what it’s like to kiss another man. After all, this is an important demonstration of the acting skills that might win an Oscar. As Guardian critic Philip Hensher put it: “the actors in these films are always at pains to stress the incredible trauma involved in having to pretend to kiss a person of the same sex in front of cameras. To be fair, this is always a subject that unhealthily obsesses interviewers, but actors’ responses are often highly amusing. Jake Gyllenhaal has said: ‘Heath and I were both saying, “Let’s get the love scenes over as fast as we can—all right, cool. Let’s get to the important stuff."
Sometimes the actors evade the dangerous implications of their roles—that their acting might be too real—by trying to widen, or cloud, the lens. In a cover-story interview in the gay-oriented style magazine Details, Gyllenhaal stresses the universality of “Brokeback’s” story: “My character could have been played by a woman and it would have made just as much sense.” Apparently not having read any of the promotional material on the film, the actor says that he doesn’t believe Ennis and Jack are gay: “I approached the story believing that these are actually straight guys who fall in love,” he says. “That’s how I related to the material. These are two straight guys who develop this love, this bond. Love binds you, and you see these guys pulling and pulling and tugging and trying to figure out what they want, and what they will allow themselves to have.”
Ledger played the same card in an interview in Time magazine. “I don’t think Ennis could be labeled as gay. Without Jack Twist, I don’t know that he ever would have come out,” Ledger tells the magazine. “I think the whole point was that it was two souls that fell in love with each other.”
“Brokeback Mountain” producer James Schamus told one reporter that he was not worried about audiences who were troubled by the love story and sex scenes between men. “If you have a problem with the subject matter, that’s your problem, not mine,” Schamus said. “It would be great if you got over your problem, but I’m not sitting here trying to figure out how to help you with it.” But he also knows how important it is that the story be defined as universal. “Once people saw the film, they understood that it was a film about a kind of epic greatness that can exist in anyone, anywhere, no matter who they are, no matter what their sexual orientation or class or historical circumstances.” Source: www.truthdig.com
The pattern remains unbroken today on the slopes of “Brokeback Mountain.” Publicity about the “gay cowboy” movie has enforced all the rules of this game: The actors’ heterosexual credentials are much rehearsed, and their method-acting skills admired. In an early account of the film, while it was still in pre-production, Salon.com quoted a Hollywood executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity: “Realistically, let’s talk about the giggle factor. I mean, it is a story about gay cowboys! That is the most daring thing you can do.”
Still, as Salon’s Rebecca Traister put it, “If the I’s do get dotted on Gyllenhaal and Ledger’s contracts, it’s worth noting that both will run less of a risk of being ‘taken for gay’ than many of their colleagues; [...]
As it happens, the account in Salon and Us Weekly needs to be updated, because as anyone paying even the slightest attention will know, Ledger and supporting star Michelle Williams, who plays his wife Alma, became romantically involved during the shooting and have recently had a baby.
Their straight cred firmly in place, Ledger and Gyllenhaal can face the inevitable barrage of questions about what it’s like to kiss another man. After all, this is an important demonstration of the acting skills that might win an Oscar. As Guardian critic Philip Hensher put it: “the actors in these films are always at pains to stress the incredible trauma involved in having to pretend to kiss a person of the same sex in front of cameras. To be fair, this is always a subject that unhealthily obsesses interviewers, but actors’ responses are often highly amusing. Jake Gyllenhaal has said: ‘Heath and I were both saying, “Let’s get the love scenes over as fast as we can—all right, cool. Let’s get to the important stuff."
Sometimes the actors evade the dangerous implications of their roles—that their acting might be too real—by trying to widen, or cloud, the lens. In a cover-story interview in the gay-oriented style magazine Details, Gyllenhaal stresses the universality of “Brokeback’s” story: “My character could have been played by a woman and it would have made just as much sense.” Apparently not having read any of the promotional material on the film, the actor says that he doesn’t believe Ennis and Jack are gay: “I approached the story believing that these are actually straight guys who fall in love,” he says. “That’s how I related to the material. These are two straight guys who develop this love, this bond. Love binds you, and you see these guys pulling and pulling and tugging and trying to figure out what they want, and what they will allow themselves to have.”
Ledger played the same card in an interview in Time magazine. “I don’t think Ennis could be labeled as gay. Without Jack Twist, I don’t know that he ever would have come out,” Ledger tells the magazine. “I think the whole point was that it was two souls that fell in love with each other.”
“Brokeback Mountain” producer James Schamus told one reporter that he was not worried about audiences who were troubled by the love story and sex scenes between men. “If you have a problem with the subject matter, that’s your problem, not mine,” Schamus said. “It would be great if you got over your problem, but I’m not sitting here trying to figure out how to help you with it.” But he also knows how important it is that the story be defined as universal. “Once people saw the film, they understood that it was a film about a kind of epic greatness that can exist in anyone, anywhere, no matter who they are, no matter what their sexual orientation or class or historical circumstances.” Source: www.truthdig.com
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Like a rolling stone
"Time fortunately remained on the side of the Rolling Stones at Dodger Stadium the night before Thanksgiving, but given the litany of personal issues (health scares, rehab, deaths in the family) since the start of their "A Bigger Bang" tour in 2005, the band was probably most thankful that this, their fifth SoCal-area appearance, was their last U.S. gig and that the year was winding down.
Fans hoping to catch the Stones for the first time, a final time or simply once more had to be extraordinarily patient and willing to wait for them this time around. Not only had this show, initially skedded for Nov. 18, been pushed back to address throat concerns Mick Jagger encountered earlier this month, but the pre-holiday traffic maelstrom across the city and especially approaching the stadium threw the band yet another curve.
With a start time nearly an hour and a half after opener Bonnie Raitt to accommodate those arriving late, fans already at their seats had plenty of time to kill playing "Spot the Celebrity" ("Look, Alec Baldwin!! ... cool, Jake Gyllenhaal and Lance Armstrong!")
until that eventually reached a point of diminishing returns ("Hey, um, Bob Saget ... yeah, okay, Tom Green ... uh, Joe Don Baker?!").
But when Keith Richards, looking none the worse for wear -- relatively speaking -- walked onstage and began the signature riff to "Jumpin' Jack Flash," all was forgiven and forgotten for the next two hours. Jagger made the point of graciously thanking the crowd for their patience in dealing with all the delays, but the setbacks seemingly had no effect on the subsequent energetic perf and delirious aud response.
"The world's greatest" pulled off yet another stadium show like no one else can, and it's been a lasting, iconic image for many years, with massive videoscreens, flames, fireworks, Macy's Parade-sized inflatables, moveable staging, etc." [...] Source: Variety.com
Friday, December 08, 2006
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
Thursday, December 07, 2006
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
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
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
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
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)