Daily Mail Interview

-What is your greatest regret?

-I'm too young for regrets. But there was a situation a few years ago which could have become a regret. I was offered a great role by the legendary film-maker Bernardo Bertolucci which required me to do nudity.

In the end I turned down. I came to the conclusion that I didn't really feel comfortable doing the things that were asked of the character at that point in my life.

It was the hardest decision I've ever made as an actor, to say, I don't want to work with one of the best film-makers on earth. I thought I'd regret it later, but it was the best decision I made because I was honest with myself.

-What were your dreams as a child?

-I remember being in college knowing I didn't want to go anymore. I wanted to try and become an actor. There is a something in me, with a risk of sounding cliché, that I just had to do it. I knew from an early age that acting was my path.

[...]-What turns you on?

-I would really love to direct one day. I think there are certain actors who love the character and the performance and that's all they want to be a part of.

I love being involved in the story and I love being involved in how the story moves. It's like, so hot! It's almost sexual. When it works right, it's such a turn on.

-Is there anything you are trying to quit but can't?

-Thinking so much! No, really. I would like to quit thinking. I tend to over-analyze things and decisions, although I end up going with my gut feeling. I was once told by a director to take a year off from thinking. That made me really laugh - and really think.

[...] I think as an actor you have to be open to your emotions - that's how you tap into other characters. Besides, by being so open I've come to terms with how screwed I am!

[...] I pride myself on making interesting films, as opposed to the type that just draws a huge audience of teenagers, so I think they are pretty smart fans. They always have questions for me, something that hasn't been answered by the movie. They'll scream: 'What's the ending of Donnie Darco? I don't understand it!' That is so nice.

[...]-What do you find attractive in a woman?

-Well, probably just an innate quality of being comfortable. That is sort of the biggest thing. Beauty is not always bad. For me, I think it's the comfortable factor.

How does she feel about herself? Is she happy? That is so powerful and sexy to me". Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

New coupling

Honestly, dear Weirdos, I didn't think this day would come, and now seeing Jake and Reese together it's a satisfactory and a little bizarre sensation at the same time.

An alternative view on Darko

"My personal interpretation of Donnie Darko is not related to the philosophy of time travel or any of the other type of science-fiction schemes that are usually associated with the film.

Donnie is a young man who thinks constantly about girls and experiments frequently with sexual compulsions. About that matter, his parents (especially his mother, Rose) are naïve at best. Her mother is afraid and prefers Donnie attend therapy rather than confront him about his sexual growth. She pays another woman (Dr. Thurman) instead. The therapist is friendly and Donnie reveals to her some of his fantasies. It's possible that Donnie is feeling some incestuous impulses towards his sister, since he hasn't had real experience with girls.

If we flash back to the beginning of the movie, we descend upon the Carpathian Ridge, a crescent-shaped cliff that extrudes from the dense Virginia evergreens above a deep rock canyon where a cliff marks the end of a dirt road that winds down from above. There Donnie got used to sleeping at the edge of the cliff. The close-up shows us a bike collapsed next to him, Donnie shivering, curled up in the fetal position, maybe a sign of weakness and a clue to Donnie's search for a meaning.

In the director's cut, Elizabeth asks him about Gretchen while carving a pumpkin and is curious at the Halloween party when Donnie goes upstairs with Gretchen. This may suggest Elizabeth possesses some type of control over Donnie's sexuality in the same way the mother of the family does. Donnie endures all this family control only in his subconscious, but he isn't capable of admitting it. In the first dinner scene he gets rebellious, throwing disdainful comments to his sisters and insulting his mother afterwards. His search for sexual realization is giddy, leading him to a textbook conflicted teenager scenario which creates an alternate world - in his mind - where Donnie becomes an accidental saviour while fighting against a giant bunny monster whom he calls Frank.

The bunny is the real Elizabeth's boyfriend, becoming Donnie's competitor and sexual rival. However, the external form is devoid of human attachments, only a grotesque suit, masking Donnie's guilt. All his virtual TV fantasies and fights against matriarchal repression are reflected by the artificial evil bunny, who causes him constant dreadful visions. Frank is, by this logic, a mirror of Donnie's psyche. This also would explain his rushed demeanor when he asks Gretchen to go out with him, because his desire is owerwhelmingly intense.

Evidently Gretchen is the perfect girl for Donnie, because she comes from a dysfunctional home and hides herself from a violent male father figure. She is an angel in Donnie's eyes due to her romantic behavior but more definitively because of her sexual freedom, which separates her from the other school girls Donnie has met. Gretchen stops Donnie's advances in one scene, showing him that their future sexual relationship must also have an emotional component. She's wiser in this aspect.

In a chat with his friends Donnie uses an example of Smurfettes as asexual beings who scare him because of their lack of sexuality. In another scene from the director's cut we can infer Donnie's bitterness from this dialogue exchange between him and the teacher Ms. Pomeroy:

Karen Pomeroy: Is the death of one species less tragic than another?

Donnie: Of course. A rabbit is not like us. It has no history books... it has no knowledge of sorrow or regret. I like bunnies and all. They're cute... and they're horny. And if you're cute and horny... then you're probably happy that you don't know who you are... or why you're even alive. But the only thing I've known rabbits to do is have sex as many times as possible before they die.

So to sum up: the female figure is Gretchen and the male figure is Donnie. Donnie's lecture to his friends about Smurfettes reveals to us how important sex is for Donnie; for him life hasn't any real meaning without it. When Donnie and Gretchen establish their intimate bonds, they are happy and isolated from society, so society is now looking for a way to punish them. Donnie’s hysteria makes him run away with Gretchen, but the tragedy will appear when Frank - the evil reflection of American matriarchy and its inherent obscenity (sexual repression) - ends up killing her. Donnie prefers awaking dead to suffering a surrender to the dominant point of view of the society".
Published previously on 21th October in Blogcritics.org

Reese's Rendition

"Rendition" director Gavin Hood, whose South African drama "Tsotsi" won the 2005 foreign-language Oscar, said Witherspoon's casting served as a Trojan horse to draw people into the movie.

"I don't need this movie to play to the choir," he said. "I need this movie to play to the people who are deeply skeptical to what I'm doing, so that they can be engaged in the debate. Well, who better to help take that out there to that world than the all-American girl?
"Reese is a woman of integrity. She is not a flighty, fluffy person. She's an intelligent woman who's done great work, who is also an all-American girl. This is the reality. It can happen to Reese. And it could. The girl next door who happens to marry a nice Egyptian guy who was at NYU."

Co-star Peter Sarsgaard, playing an old friend of Witherspoon's character now working for a U.S. senator, said the actress subtly captures a woman coping with a nightmare scenario without giving in to one-note anguish.

"She was playing a grieving woman in every scene in the movie. It's an incredibly difficult thing to do, just because it's hard to act like you're in grief or be in grief. It's hard to create variety within that," Sarsgaard said.

[...] Starting acting lessons as a child in Tennessee, Witherspoon broke into movies with the 1991 teen drama "The Man in the Moon." She later turned heads with 1996's "Freeway," a Red Riding Hood black comedy in which she plays an illiterate youth who goes toe-to-toe with a real-life big bad wolf (Kiefer Sutherland).

[...] In next year's comedy "Four Christmases," Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play a couple rushing to squeeze in holiday visits to each of their divorced parents all in one day.
Source: www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com
Thanks to Maria for sending me the first and second pictures.

Mint chocolate flavour

"If you’re thinking of seeing Rendition to get a glimpse of the on-screen chemistry between rumored budding young couple Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, don’t bother. She filmed in the U.S., he filmed in North Africa, and the twain never met. But if you want to see a multi-faceted political thriller with extraordinary, mature performances - especially from Gyllenhaal - it’s well worth the price of admission.

[...] I then asked him what kind of wisdom and experience he gained from the very mature-themed Rendition. “Absolutely nothing; it was basically like treading water,” he replies playfully, with that boyish twinkle in his eye. Then Gyllenhaal went on to explain what he really learned from the film.

“For me, being far away from home is a learning experience,” he explains. “This was shot in North Africa, in a different country with a lot of different rules, and I felt very isolated. It was a very good thing for me. You need to ostracize yourself to learn.”

[...] “You look like a nice mint chocolate chip cookie,” he suggests in reaction to the mint green blouse and a dark brown skirt I am wearing. “I do?” I ask, blushing and feeling like a 14-year-old. At my advanced age, it really does take a great actor to make me feel that way. “That’s my favorite flavor, so I’ll take that as a compliment,” I offer. ““You should – that’s my favorite flavor too,” he replies.

Now I’m totally flustered. As a mature professional, I like to think I can handle any curve ball that’s thrown my way, but Gyllenhaal is looking at me with his adorable blue eyes and incredibly long eyelashes. “Okay, where do we go from here?” I say, stalling for time while I try to recollect my next question. “Let’s just talk about ice cream,” he offers, oozing boyish charm.

Oh yes, Jake Gyllenhaal has arrived. The man has definitely arrived". Source: www.filmstew.com

Debbie Harry defends Kirsten

"When Hollywood actress Kirsten Dunst was chosen to play Debbie Harry in a biopic there were howls of protests from Blondie fans.

Now the new-wave singer herself has stepped forward to defend the star following reports that she was unhappy with the casting.

"She's (Dunst) a really sweet person. I've met with her a couple of times and hung out with her socially. She's just a sweetie", the Eighties icon told spinner.com.

"She's probably capable of a lot of things she hasn't been asked to do yet, and doing something that's sort of left of centre would be great for her."

The Spiderman actress had previously insisted she had Debbie Harry's blessing for the role.

"Debbie chose me for this role so anyone who disputes this can take it up with her," Dunst said.

"I'll work hard on this character because she is the coolest woman of all time."

Blondie fans hit the internet message boards after Dunst was rumoured to have landed the Blondie singer role last year.
One fan complained on icydk.com: "She (Dunst) is too young and too goofy. They should get an older and more senual actress."

[...] "I cannot imagine seeing Kirsten Dunst belting "Call me!" or some other classic lyrics. The singing scenes from Spiderman 3 were just so painstakingly bad."

The as yet untitled film will be directed by Michael Gondry of Eternal Sunshine fame and shooting is scheduled for early next year. It will be the first time Harry has been portrayed on the big screen.
Debbie Harry has herself starred in over 30 films. Born in Miami, Florida, she worked as a waitress and Playboy Bunny before achieving international fame as the front singer of punk band Blondie in the seventies. Blondie have released eight albums since 1976, selling over 13 million copies in the US alone.

And it is not the first time Dunst has been required to sing in a film. She sang two songs in Spiderman 3 and lent her voice to the end credits of The Cat's Meow, singing Henry Creamer and Turner Layton's jazz standard "After You've Gone".
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

The Telegraph interviews Jake

"He is talking about how, despite being born there, he is not really a Hollywood person. 'I just don't really buy it. But I do buy London, because there is an appreciation of growth here.'

[...] 'You may be torturing an innocent man,' Gyllenhaal says. 'On the other hand you may be torturing a guilty man and the information you elicit from him could save the lives of 5,000 innocent civilians.

'That is the moral dilemma faced by my character in the film. That said, I think for CIA people in those circumstances, moral imperatives do not come into play. They leave that for the philosophers. All they care about is what is working and what isn't working. Practicality wins over morality. Extraordinary rendition is intended to protect. Sadly, as a policy, it has been over-used and misused.'

[...] Does he feel ashamed to be an American? 'Well, it's complicated, isn't it? There is a lot of fear in America at the moment and some of it is justified. I wouldn't want to lay it all on one political leader.'

Spoken like a politician, or at least a politically engaged Hollywood actor who campaigned for the Democrats in the 2004 American election, appeared in 'Rock the Vote' advertising and is talked about as the next George Clooney, or God forbid, Sean Penn.

[...] So let's get it on the record: is he saying he is open to persuasion? 'No, I am not open to persuasion myself, but the idea of homosexuality is acceptable to me. I grew up in a city where half the people I know are gay. Both of my godfathers are gay.'

[...] OK, having established that he is not bisexual, was he being quite calculating when he allowed people to think he was? 'It was meant as a way of saying it was important for Heath [Ledger, his co-star in Brokeback Mountain] and I to have the movie exist as the movie, but also to have people know it was two straight actors playing those parts.'

[...] What's with this aggression? 'Yeah there is that side. That is a part of me. Part of me would like to know what I would be like in battle. Have my courage tested. Would I be an altruist or a coward? Would I run away or engage? The engaging is what I would want of myself.'

[...] When he experiences genuine emotions in his own life – anger, grief, love – do they feel less authentic because he has had to fake them in films? 'Hmm. Have I devalued the currency? I tell you, when I fall in love in real life it has felt nothing like I have acted it in the movies.'

Recalling the rumours about him and Reese Witherspoon, his co-star in Rendition, I say: just don't fall in love with your co-star on screen, eh? 'Yeah, well?…' He laughs. 'I haven't had many opportunities.'
Fan-Picture in The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

He must find it difficult persuading women to go to bed with him. 'I don't think of myself as good-looking. Not at all. When I was a kid I had these huge glasses. I once went to a fancy dress as a Crest toothpaste tube with these huge glasses stuck on. That is how I see myself most of the time. A Crest toothpaste tube with bad eyesight.' Source: www.telegraph.co.uk