Flirting and eating

-Scott Lunke, a visitor from Gettysburg, S.D., saw Stanley Tucci in the Nordstrom shoe department last week. Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal were at A16 on Thursday, where a spy says they were "kissing and eating." Source: Sfgate.com

"Guess who is back in town to tempt us with their cuteness? Yes, Jake and Reese are continuing their SF gourmet tours! They had lunch at Zuni last Thursday, where they sat at my favorite table (on the bridge overlooking the oven below), and ordered the house-cured anchovies and a salad, plus a chicken sandwich and grouper. To drink, they walked on the wild side with some lemongrass tea and apple juice. From my source: “Reese seemed a little aloof, but Jake (still looking nice and buff) was trying to warm her up by playing Mr. Flirty-flirt with her—even smooched with her. So effing cute!”
Source: www.Tablehopper.com

I don't want to live on the moon

Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas (movie review)

"In his debut directorial effort, (although he had already co-written a previous horror movie, "Aberration", in 1997) Scott Lew directs "Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas" (2006), defined by himself as "a labor of love" that took almost a decade to bring to the screen. Presented at the SXSW Film Festival, the film's message is "about rediscovering what's most important in life, expressing yourself and having fun". In 2003, Scott Lew was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), which motivated him even more to direct his story, "dedicated to anyone who has ever had a dark night of the soul and figured out a way to come out smiling".The nerdy protagonist is Bickford Schmeckler (Patrick Fugit, "Almost Famous", "White Oleander", "Wristcutters: A Love Story") and he suffers from paranoia in addition to being a science fiend hidden by a typical college freshman façade. He's written down all the theories that have turned up in his intellectually suffocated mind in a notebook with a steel cover called, in the most generic way, "The Book". His geeky existence, slurping lollipops and wearing ironic t-shirts, is occasionally interrupted by college parties, where everyone has great time drinking, smoking pot, and flirting with girls, except him. He's always absorbed in his studies of a new revolutionary cosmic theory about unifiying chaos and find a meaning in everything, although sometimes his confusing thoughts go something like this: "Nothing can ever be truly, fully understood, not even the most simple idea. Not even this."As crazy as his ideas on paper can seem to the other students, Bickford's nature is undeniably stubborn and persevering and he doesn't mind the stares of incredulity that greet him. In fact, almost every secondary character in the story holds an ambiguous attitude towards Bickford's eccentricity; there is admiration mixed with perplexity, due to the recent popularity of quantum mechanics. Max Planck, considerated the father of quantum mechanics, discovered that light was made up of particles, Schrödinger hypothesized that electrons were waves, Max Born took this wave theory to the next level saying that these waves were just probabilities. Heisenberg stated the uncertainty principle widening the classical Newtonian physics precepts.

Of course, the film doesn't rely so heavily on the discipline of physics, but there are a few hints in the script that will offer more fun to the quantum theory enthusiasts. And not only physics — we will find traces of Marshall McLuhan's manifesto: a postmodern man will exist in a multi-sensory state, previously fragmented with the advent of the phonetic alphabet. Also this weird story will make more sense to those viewers who feel some affinity for geeks or social misfits. The beautiful and colourful cinematography by Lowell Peterson helps us to feel sympathetic toward the characters.One of the main elements that make this indie comedy work is the constant sexual tension between Bickford and Sarah Witt (Olivia Wilde, "The Girl Next Door", "Conversations with Other Women", "Alpha Dog") derived from their initial incompatibility. She is a wild sex-addict, a pot-smoking sorority girl who isn't afraid of Bickford's sharp personality and she becomes progressively more attracted to him after stealing his beloved book from his room, ignoring the warning "All you dare enter here be damned".Sarah uses "The Book" as her personal source of inspiration and she starts a new life as an experimental painter, losing her interest in promiscuity, and jealous of this new stimulation, her buddy Trent (Reid Scott) throws Bickford's book into a garbage can in the presence of an angry Bickford who thinks it's the end of his self-controlled world.Resentful of Sarah and prey to his own mental anguish, Bickford establishes a peculiar friendship with a demented homeless guy named Spaceman (Matthew Lillard), who believes in inter-dimensional beings and temporal loops, while Bickford's best friend Ralph (Fran Kranz) comes out of the closet and declares himself gay.

Bob (John Cho, "Solaris", "American Dreamz", "The Air I Breathe") and Sam (Mageina Tovah, "Failure to Launch", "Spider-Man 2", "Spider-Man 3") are members of a "Dungeons and Dragons" group and they work in a comic store, the Golden Apple. When they find the book in the trash, they discover the "braingasms" (mental orgasms) produced by reading it and feel so enlightened they create "The Reality Isn't Club" and make copies of the book to sell on campus. There is a curious connection between comic superheroes and the geeks, because the circus sideshow was the source of the word "geek", and the superheroes as Superman or Spider-Man used amazing acrobatics.A bitter Bickford takes his anger out on the college administration until Sarah recovers the book and gives it back to him. Ralph is living happily now, and advises Bickford to pursue his own happiness, saying, "There is no need to be so intense about everything". It's obvious at this point that Bickford has suffered some type of childhood trauma that makes him feel threatened by the idea of happiness.
Professor Adams (Cheryl Hines, "Along Came Polly", "Our Very Own", "Waitress") shows up in the third act of the film as an opportunistic sycophant who offers Bickford a deal for a commercial release of his book. But Bickford sticks to his guns and rejects the offer because he has already found a new meaning which cannot even be deciphered from the pages of his unfinished book.Thee film comes to a touching conclusion as Bickford explains his refusal to publish the book, he reconciles with the D&D group at the Golden Apple, and enjoys a happy romantic liaison with Sarah, for whom he writes an Epic Sex Poem".
Published on 11th December in Blogcritics.org.

WATCH "BICKFORD SCHMECKLER'S VIDEO":

Jake and Reese spotted

"Last night in the end of a dark dead end street in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks, Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon were snuggling together in a garage. A very cold garage.

Reese is shooting her movie "Four Christmases" in The City. Jake came to visit. Her two kids were hanging as well".

Source: Theradreport.com
"The reportedly very prickly Reese Witherspoon and rubenesque Vince Vaughn -- whatever, we'd hit it. Hit it hard -- are in town filming their new divorce-themed romcom, "Four Christmases". (According to IMBD, it's about a "couple struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day." If you're not in tears already, then clearly you have no soul.) And here they are at a....downtown locale of some sort? We can't wait for the film to open next year at this time. Or not. Anyway: laughter, tears". Source: Sfist.com
View all the pictures in Popsugar.com

Indie Queens and Indie Spirit Awards

"Before Maggie Gyllenhaal, before Parker Posey, there was Adrienne Shelly. Around 1990, when the first wave of the Sundance-era indie-film revolution was cresting, Shelly was the queen of the scene. With the one-two punch of The Unbelievable Truth (pictured) and Trust, she and filmmaker Hal Hartley had made put each other on the map, and those deadpan romantic comedies had made the lush-lipped actress a pin-up among indie film fanboys. She'd go on to specialize in portrayals of waifish, fringe-dwelling women who often seemed to hide a ferocious intelligence behind an offbeat exterior. In recent years, she'd largely given up acting for directing (though she appeared on screen this year in Matt Dillon's Factotum), including a movie she'd recently directed and submitted to the 2007 Sundance Festival called Waitress,starring Keri Russell.

It's worth going back and watching the Hartley movies or Joel Hershman's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, and Deran Serafian's The Road Killers in order to recall what a singular, sharp but sweet presence she was in movies. Meanwhile, let's hope Sundance screens Waitress and finds a way to pay tribute to Shelly; after all, she helped lay the fest's foundation". Source: Popwatch.ew.com

23rd Annual Spirit Awards 2008:

BEST FIRST FEATURE
2 Days in Paris
Director: Julie Delpy

Great World of Sound
Director Craig Zobel

The Lookout
Director: Scott Frank

Rocket Science
Director: Jeffrey Blitz

Vanaja
Director: Rajnesh Domalpalli

BEST SCREENPLAY
Ronald Harwood
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Tamara Jenkins
The Savages

Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner
Starting Out in the Evening

Adrienne Shelly
Waitress

Mike White
Year of the Dog

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Angelina Jolie
A Mighty Heart

Sienna Miller
Interview

Ellen Page
Juno

Parker Posey
Broken English

Wei Tang
Lust Caution
Source: www.Ifc.com

Charity Folks auction

"Actor Jake Gyllenhaal has generously decided to auction a second chance to visit the set of one of his upcoming movies AND have lunch with him, with proceeds benefiting the ACLU of Southern California! The winning bidder may bring one guest to share in this experience!

The winner of this auction lot will visit Gyllenhaal on the set of "Brothers", filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico through mid-January 2008. "Brothers" is about a young man who comforts his older brother's wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan. The film also features Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.

With talent and instinct beyond his years, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal is speeding down the fast track of stardom. Currently, he can be seen in New Line Cinema's "Rendition" along with Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep. Even in the early stages of his career, he starred opposite several of today's most respected actors, such as Dustin Hoffman, Laura Dern, Holly Hunter, John C. Reilly and Susan Sarandon.

[...] Gyllenhaal earned his first Oscar nomination for the role of "Jack" in the highly acclaimed Brokeback Mountain. The film, which chronicled an intense relationship between two Wyoming stockmen, was directed by Ang Lee and co-starred Heath Ledger.

[...] A true testament to his character, Gyllenhaal's official website includes a section on causes he cares about, with links to College Summit, NION and the ACLU. He has even spoken out on the film industry's responsibility to address political issues. Along with his parents Naomi Foner - Gyllenhaal and Stephen Gyllenhaal, and sister Maggie Gyllenhall, Jake received the ACLU Foundation Torch of Liberty Award in 2003".
Source: Charityfolks.com

Reese on Savn Vincente Blvd.

Source: Celebrityfashionwatcher.com