Femme Fatale Feast I

"She's going to break your heart in two, it's true
'Cause everybody knows
She's a femme fatale..."
- The Velvet Underground "Femme Fatale" song.

THE LONG PUSH continuation

50. BRENDAN
(shrugs, steps up to her)
I’m convinced.

JODI
That was close, thought I’d have to sap you or something—

He kisses her, just lips, no tongue no arms.

JODI (cont’d)
(breaking the kiss, flushed) So much for wiles.
When you move it’s straight for the kill, isn’t it?

BRENDAN
Just following your lead.

JODI (tugging his hand)
Well come on then, let’s go—

They head over to her car and climb in.

INT. JODI’S SEDAN MOVING – NIGHT
Jodi drives well, Brendan watches her. She bites her lip, distracted.

JODI (finally)
Would it be too much of a tease if I just dropped you off tonight?

BRENDAN
No. Someplace you need to be?

JODI
What? No, no, I just... don’t want to rush it, you know?

BRENDAN
Yeah, fine.

JODI
Are you sure? I’ve been pretty forward—

BRENDAN
It’s okay, really.

She gives him a grateful look, he smiles at her reassuringly.

51. EXT. BRENDAN’S HOUSE – NIGHT
Jodi’s sedan pulls to the curb, the engine shuts off. Brendan opens the car door to get out, Jodi grabs his hand.

JODI
Hey—
She pulls him close and kisses him, long and hot.

JODI (cont’d)
(coming up for air, breathing hard)
So... is tomorrow too soon to see you again?

BRENDAN (also breathing hard)
No.

JODI
Good. You know what they say about girls on a second date—

BRENDAN
What?

JODI (her sly smile)
Guess you’ll have to wait and find out.
(Brendan grins, climbs out) Bye.

He closes the car door, she starts the engine up and drives off, he waves, she turns the corner and is gone. Brendan’s face changes, like a mask falling away to something grim.

INT. BRENDAN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Brendan enters and shuts the door, agitated. He pulls off his tie, balls it up and tosses it on his desk. It lands near the list of contact numbers Nelly gave him for Steve.

Brendan picks up the list, sits on his bed, thinks. He pulls his phone over, dials, it rings at the other end.

STEVE’S VOICE (a recording)
Hi! You’ve reached Bendix Reality, I’m not here to take your call right now, but if you leave a message—

Brendan hangs up. He dials the second number, it rings.

57. STEVE
Sure, that’s okay, that’s entirely okay, Brendan. It’s hard keeping your feelings inside, sometimes you just need to get it all out, you know what I mean?

BRENDAN
Yeah, I do.

STEVE
Listen, I was thinking...

BRENDAN
Uh-huh—

JIMMY SMITH (O.C.)
Hey—

Brendan turns and Jimmy punches him in the face. Brendan drops to the pavement, the phone receiver swings free, we hear little Steve sounds coming from it. Jimmy has wild eyes, whatever’s cooking him he’s barely keeping a lid on it.

BRENDAN (fingering his lip)
Jimmy Smith.

Brendan notices two other boys standing lookout behind Jimmy, all three wear letterman’s jackets.

BRENDAN (cont’d) And crew. Swell.

JIMMY
Got a message for you, punk. From Brad.

BRENDAN
He couldn’t deliver it himself?

JIMMY
(hunkering down and reaching for Brendan)
You’re gonna be way worse off than him in about two seconds—

The receiver has stopped swinging, just dangling now, Jimmy’s head is right near it and we hear—

STEVE
Brendan? What’s happening, Brendan? Brendan can you hear me—

58.
Jimmy freezes. He stares at the receiver, awestruck. He looks at Brendan, awe and fear and hate swirling together. Jimmy stands abruptly and backs up, his boys look confused, he turns and walks away and his boys trot after him.

Brendan stares at the would-be goon squad, his eyes burn with anger. He stands, grabs the receiver – it’s still making Steve noises. Brendan shakes his head, racks the receiver on its hook, he’s about had it with not knowing the what’s going on. A heavy finger falls on his shoulder, he turns.

TRUEMAN
My office. If you can spare the time.

INT. TRUEMAN’S OFFICE – DAY
Brendan and Trueman sit across from one another, Trueman gets right to it.

TRUEMAN
I want to know what you know, and I want it now.

(Brendan rolls his eyes)
I just witnessed a fight between you and that other boy, and that’s an easy one-week suspension.

BRENDAN
What?! That’s a trumped-up charge and you know it, I’d be back in class in a
day, two tops.

TRUEMAN
But it would go down on your permanent record. Last time I checked, it’s not a very admissions-friendly document you have there. (beat) I know you haven’t dropped this... whatever it is that’s going on, it’s not in your nature. Maybe we can help each other out. What have you got?

BRENDAN
Nothing. Yet.

TRUEMAN
That’s it? That’s all I get?

BRENDAN
I’ve got hooks in the water, I’m getting nibbles but no bites.

59. TRUEMAN
Was what I saw today a nibble?

BRENDAN
... maybe.

TRUEMAN (shaking his head)
Yets and maybes, yets and maybes. You’ve done good by this office before, Frye, I’ve let you have your leash and you’ve made your moves. But let’s be clear: there’s no leash now. Nine out of ten doesn’t cut it, not on this one. Not for anybody.

BRENDAN (snapping to it)
Your neck’s on the block, isn’t it?

TRUEMAN
It’s not about that, it’s about two students—

BRENDAN
Yes it is—

TRUEMAN
Two students committing suicide on school grounds, and that’s unacceptable. Look, I’m sorry for your friend—

BRENDAN (rising)
We’re done.

TRUEMAN (also rising)
We’re done when I say so—

Brendan moves to the door.

TRUEMAN (cont’d)
You go out that door and you are done here, the suspension will just be the beginning.

Brendan opens the door, turns back to Trueman.

BRENDAN
Jump it. Harvard wouldn’t know what to do with me anyway.

61. LAURA
I wondered if you’d ever show, your name’s been on the list since day one.

BRENDAN
I need your help.

Laura laughs, then laughs some more. Brendan stays flat affect, she finally stops.

LAURA
You’re serious. Just like that. No greeting, no inquiring after my health. Something must be really pushing you, to come here.

BRENDAN
What’s perfection?

LAURA
A rumor. At least when I heard of it.
(shrugs) Why should I tell you?

BRENDAN
I’ll change my story, give a new deposition. I’ll say what I did.

Laura laughs again, quietly.

LAURA
Wow. You’re really something, you know that?

BRENDAN
They can’t do anything to you if I tell them I planted the brick—

LAURA
They can’t do anything to me now. Why do you think I’m still here and not tried, convicted, and Sing-Singed? Daddy may not be speaking to me, but he buys me the best attorneys. Worst case scenario, I get two years’ probation. And that’s if they don’t toss the case entirely. A jilted lover’s tale, a locker anyone could crack, and little old A-student me. I could get sprung tomorrow –

got any plans? She smiles a wicked smile at him, Brendan’s façade cracks, his brows knit with furious thought.

62. LAURA (cont’d)
You looked shocked. I can’t help it if you don’t read the papers.
Brendan takes out the scrap of paper and holds it to the glass: the complete list of names is written out, Laura glances at it.

LAURA (cont’d)
I read the papers.
You want to know what they have in common, what links them. (studies the names)
Brad and Jimmy are on the football team, the baseball team, etcetera. May is major royalty. Heidi was royalty till she dropped out of school. Pete. (sighs) Pete had a crush on me in fifth grade, I used to walk past his house, make him crazy. His little sister would say, shame on you. Scamp.
(leans back, done) I don’t know about any of the rest.

BRENDAN (pushing)
What else?

LAURA
You want a lot for your nickel. (ponders, shrugs)
Brad has two brothers, both younger. Jimmy has a little brother too, or is it... May is one of four girls, one older, two younger. I don’t know what good family histories will do you, these kids are from all over the map, unless you’ve got something else—

Brendan takes out the rubber ball, holds it up, turns it so she can see. Laura’s eyes glitter like a slot machine coming up cherries.

BRENDAN
What’s perfection? Why is it worth dying for?

LAURA
Perfection is sex, kind of, but it’s not the why. It’s what you have to do—

Laura stands and knocks twice on the door to the cells.

64.
She holds the door open, Brendan enters.

INT. THE BRAIN’S HOUSE – CONTINUOUS
Brendan steps inside the foyer, Chloe closes the door.

BRENDAN
Thanks.

CHLOE
Um, can I get you anything? Coffee—?

BRENDAN
I wanted to ask you a favor.

CHLOE
Yes?

BRENDAN
Could I... could I see his room, please?

A beat, Chloe tries to process this, fails.

CHLOE
Yes. Of course.

Brendan nods, there’s an awkward silence, he finally turns to go up the stairs.

INT. THE BRAIN’S BEDROOM
Brendan pushes the door open, the room is unchanged. He steps inside, his eyes traveling slowly around the small, cluttered space. He moves to the desk, looks over the books and papers scattered across it, opens drawers. Brendan sits on the bed, his gaze still darting all around. Sidney pokes her head in the doorway, her eyes shoot bullets at him. The front door opens and closes, voices carry up the stairs. Sidney doesn’t move but her face changes to pure panic. Slowly, Brendan brings a finger to his lips: quiet. Sidney’s eyes grow big, she nods solemnly and runs off.

STEVE (O.C.)
Brendan?

Footsteps sound in the hallway and Steve appears at the door, Brendan looks up at him with puppy dog eyes. Steve steps into the room.

STEVE (cont’d) (concerned)
How’re you doing?
(IT WILL CONTINUE...)

Jake & Kendra In Scene

"MIFFED: Agents, as I’m sure PG told you. The one on the right is Kendra and on the left is Phoebe. Jake’s about to place his order. Watch and learn, kid.
JAKE walks up to the counter and smiles at KENDRA and PHOEBE. It’s obvious he’s a regular. By now, it is only the agents and JAKE left in the building.
JAKE: I’ll have (pauses dramatically) The Usual.
KENDRA: Coming right up. Phoebe?
PHOEBE: I got it.
KENDRA: Can I help whoever’s next in line?
JAKE looks over his shoulder and frowns seeing as how there is no one behind him in line. He sidles over to the counter and watches while PHOEBE makes his drink. He starts talking to her.
JAKE: So, you work here long?
PHOEBE: A few months.

JAKE: You’ve made my drink everyday this week.
PHOEBE: Yup.
JAKE: You’re really good at your job.
PHOEBE: Yup.
JAKE: Hey, this is kind of off-topic, but do you know where I could buy some decent socks?
PHOEBE: Actually…
At that moment two more HENCHMEN (I’ve lost count by now) come charging into the shop in what must be an attempt to kidnap Jake (as previous scenes with Marrakesh would indicate). PHOEBE hands JAKE his drink and shoves him to the side and out of the way. MIFFED pulls a puggle out of her purse and sends it scampering over to JAKE. JAKE is immediately distracted and notices nothing of the intense fight going on around him.
PHOEBE and KENDRA beat the HENCHMEN up.

As a last resort, KENDRA throws scalding hot coffee on both of the HENCHMEN. They’re incapacitated and fall to the ground in defeat. JAKE, sadly, is in the line of fire and his shirt is ruined. He turns his attention away from the puggle and, not thinking, he takes his shirt off. He suddenly feels self-conscious and throws an awkward look at the sign behind the counter, “No socks, no shirt, no service.” PHOEBE comes over and snatches his coffee cup away from him. The puggle comes trotting back over to MIFFED.
JAKE: I’m sorry! I’ll put my shirt back on!
KENDRA pulls an “Obey the Puggle” shirt from under the counter.
PHOEBE (still holding his drink): It’s OK; I’ll give this back to you when you're dressed.
KENDRA: Try this on for size.
JAKE puts it on and PHOEBE hands him his cup back.
JAKE: Thanks.
JAKE turns to KENDRA and nods.
JAKE: Kendra.
PHOEBE: She’s Kendra.
JAKE: No, I know. Phoebe.
KENDRA: No, she’s Phoebe.
JAKE: Right. That’s what I said. Phoebe.
KENDRA: No, I’m Kendra.
JAKE: No, I know you’re Kendra. And she’s Phoebe. And I’m Jake.
PHOEBE: Oh, is that your name?
JAKE: Thanks, girls. See you tomorrow!

KENDRA walks over and gives the postage shirt to MIFFED. A couple of customers come in, see the HENCHMEN lying on the floor, and simply step over them.
MIFFED: I’d better find a way to get rid of these guys.
KITTY looks thoughtfully out the window but jumps back when JAKE and a bunch of cyclists go whizzing by.
KITTY: Was that Lance Armstrong?
MIFFED rolls her eyes.
MIFFED: That’s the fifth time this week. The agent we put in his spa says you wouldn’t believe how in shape he is. It’s, like, inhuman.
KITTY (off in her own little world): How did he drink all that coffee so quickly? "
This scene belongs to the PART THREE B of JAKE WATCH THE MOVIE : SCRIPT, GALLERIES, SOUNDTRACK...

Ready to Kiss

"In a poll taken by its clients, UK's NetFlix-like service LoveFilm.com determined that the thirsty-for-it kiss between Gyllenhaal and Ledger in the gay-cowboy love story Brokeback Mountain, is the number-one favorite on-screen kiss of all time. And it's not the only man-on-man smooch on the list, btw. "

1. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain"

2. Audrey Hepburn & George Peppard in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

3. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in "Mr and Mrs Smith"

4. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in "Gone With the Wind"

5. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair in "Cruel Intentions"

6. Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity"

7. Al Pacino and John Cazale in "The Godfather"

8. Colin Firth and Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones' Diary"

9. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in "Spider-Man"

10. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing".
Source: http://worldofwonder.net

An enthusiastic "Zodiac" review

"David Fincher's Zodiac (Paramount, 3.2) is a knockout. I felt pleasantly drugged (like I'd taken an art-film quaalude) after seeing it. It's my idea of entertaining and then some -- it's absorbing, sharp, edge-of- the-seat stuff -- although it's not really "entertainment." Not in a hoi polloi, whoo-whoo, pass-the-popcorn sense. Which is why certain voices on the Paramount publicity team have been skittish about showing it.

What it is, most definitely, is a commercial art film of the highest order -- an existential police procedural about one of the most notorious "cold" investigations in U.S. history.

Zodiac is based on two best-sellers by Robert Graysmith, "Zodiac" and "Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed," which are first-hand accounts about the hunt for the Zodiac killer who terrified the San Francisco area in 1968 and '69.

Is there such a thing as being too determined to stop evil? At what point do you ease up and say, "I've done all I can." Is it always essential to finish what you've started? Should never-say-die always be the motto, even at great personal cost?

The victims, in other words, aren't just the ones who get shot or stabbed or otherwise killed.

Zodiac isn't just about sleuthing. Deep down I think it's a metaphor piece about obsessions wherever you find them, and how the never-quit theme applies to heavily-driven creative types (novelists, painters, architects, musicians) as much as cops or cartoonists or stamp collectors or baseball-card traders.

It's the most masterly film of Fincher's career. He doesn't seem to be pushing or selling or manipulating anything here -- he's just got a good grip on the material, and is letting it play itself out according to its own rhyme.

All I know is that I couldn't get enough of it -- it ticks like a metronome and sucks you in without really delivering anything stand-out spectacular in the way of mind-blowing finales, pull-out-the-stops performances (which isn't to take anything away from the actors, who are damn near perfect) or shocking plot turns. It scores primarily by just being a great piece of filmmaking.

A critic friend is calling Zodiac's 3.2.07 release "the most ridiculous [call] for a major Hollywood film that I've ever observed -- certainly in our era where, in general, the first four or so months of the year are a dumping ground for crap."

I think that's the key to the film's extraordinary intelligence, and why Fincher jettisons nearly every stylistic device and post-modern inclination he's previously loved (I'm thinking especially of Fight Club, of course, but also Se7en, which this film will be endlessly compared and contrasted to...)

One small beef: Graysmith is a very strongly written guy with a lot of struggle and frustration inside -- the pressure on him just builds and builds. But in a script I read last year, Graysmith had a great "release" scene at the end when he delivers a spellbinding 12-page oratory that ties up all the loose ends about who and what Zodiac is and was. (I was reminded of Simon Oakland's this-is-what-actually- happened speech at the end of Psycho.)

This scene acted as a kind of climax, but Fincher hasn't used it. The finale -- the film itself -- would have been stronger if he had." -by Jeffrey Wells.
Read the full review in Hollywood-elsewhere.com

And a new "Zodiac" Video clip: ZODIAC - BOAR HOUSE,
courtesy by Jake Watch.

Lights, Bogeyman, Action

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
NEW ORLEANS

DAVID FINCHER, impolitic as ever, is ridiculing the notes he’s been getting from the studio executives overseeing his latest film, “Zodiac.”

“‘It’s easy to get lost in all the details,” he intones, reading their critique of one scene from his laptop. “ ‘Are there any trims you could make here to cut down on the information and focus it even more’ ” on two main characters?

“I love this,” Mr. Fincher says, leaving no doubt as to his sarcasm. “It’s this weird shell game where they go, ‘Can you focus it more on the people by making it be less of them?’ And of course what it really gets down to is that they want me to audition their cuts to them.”

But he won’t. Instead, he says, “you just rope-a-dope.”

That same uncompromising attitude extended to his relationship with the cast, led by Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal, who endured multiple takes of 70 shots and beyond. Mr. Downey affectionately called him a disciplinarian, while Mr. Gyllenhaal, saying that as a director he “paints with people,” added, “It’s tough to be a color.”

At 44, Mr. Fincher remains Hollywood’s reigning bad-boy auteur, and his impatience with meddling has become as famous as his tendency to test his actors’ patience, stamina and preparation. But not as famous as his films, the most celebrated among them “Se7en,” the 1995 thriller that grossed $350 million worldwide, and “Fight Club,” his over-the-top answer to young male anomie.

“People ask me, ‘When are you going to make your ‘Amarcord?’ ” Mr. Fincher added, with a little laugh at the comparison to Fellini’s autobiographical tour-de-force. For now, he said, “It’ll have to be ‘Zodiac.’ ”

For Jake Gyllenhaal, who stars in the movie as Mr. Graysmith, Mr. Fincher’s attentiveness was a mixed blessing.

Mr. Gyllenhaal said he came from a collaborative filmmaking family: “We share ideas, and we incorporate those ideas.” He added: “David knows what he wants, and he’s very clear about what he wants, and he’s very, very, very smart. But sometimes we’d do a lot of takes, and he’d turn, and he would say, because he had a computer there” — the movie was shot digitally — “ ‘Delete the last 10 takes.’ And as an actor that’s very hard to hear.”

Mr. Gyllenhaal, 26, partly blamed culture shock; he’d just finished “Jarhead” for Sam Mendes, who gave him a much freer rein. Mr. Gyllenhaal stressed that he admired and liked Mr. Fincher personally. And he noted that other members of the “Zodiac” cast had far more experience, adding: “I wish I could’ve had the maturity to be like: ‘I know what he wants. He wants the best out of me.’”

That said, Mr. Gyllenhaal spoke candidly about his frustration with Mr. Fincher’s degree of control over his performance.

Told of Mr. Gyllenhaal’s comments, Mr. Fincher half-jokingly said, “I hate earnestness in performance,” adding, “Usually by Take 17 the earnestness is gone.” But half-joking aside, he said that collaboration “has to come from a place of deep knowledge.” While he had no objections to having fun, he said, “When you go to your job, is it supposed to be fun, or are you supposed to get stuff done?”

He later called back and said he “adored the cast” of “Zodiac” and felt “lucky to have them all,” but was “totally shocked” by Mr. Gyllenhaal’s remark about reshoots.

Robert Downey Jr., impeccably cast as a crime reporter driven to drink, drugs and dissolution, called Mr. Fincher a disciplinarian and agreed that, as is often said, “he’s always the smartest guy in the room.”

Mr. Ruffalo too survived some 70-take shots. He said Mr. Fincher was equally demanding of everyone — executives, actors, himself. “He knows he’s taking a stab at eternity,” Mr. Ruffalo said.”
Read the full article in www.Nytimes.com/

I Became a Blogcritic

If you remember my review of the film "Brick" in January: "Another Matriarchate Theory", I have motives for feeling proud of that it has been considerated and finally published in Blogcritics.org site, under the title: "An Allegorical Interpretation of Brick", so it seems I've given a step forward the film critics territory.

But I don't want to say definitely goodbye to those days (and nights) of pretentious wannabe reviewer, that was fun! Basically, the article stays in essence as the original, but I had to add a more personal insight, and crop out a little of the "Nocturnal Portrait of the femme fatale" extracts.

The added part: "This article sheds some light on an overlooked figure, perhaps the most memorable icon from the noir genre, the femme fatale, whose route of greed and moral breakage is so well captured by Nora Zehetner's performance, the upper-crust high-school doll, exploiter, master of astuteness, who tries to gain the teen shamus' heart at any cost, forcing him in a casual way to turn his back on Emily's (Brendan's junkie "Dulcinea") memoirs, wishing for one moment she had been Miss Kostich, the angelical doomed girlfriend she won't ever be, whom Brendan will likely continue to yearn for ad infinitum.

Both antagonist female characters, Emily and Laura, confront Brendan in the same scenario, the football field, in a perceptible transposition by Rian Johnson of the angel/sinner figures, in a twist of male-centric climax. The suburbanite Johnson proves the new millenium loner is just the same as the gallery of Chandlerian/Hammettian antiheroes — they are saved from the downfall of the peons around them, they somehow escape the matriarchy, hiding in the return journey a broken heart."