"Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal have taken their romance overseas: The couple were spotted stepping out together in Morocco over the weekend.
On Saturday, the pair strolled hand-in-hand, checking out bazaar stalls before stepping into the shade for lunch in Marrakech, according to French Web site purepeople.com. On Sunday, the couple reportedly stayed back in their suites at the fabled 5-star Amanjena Hotel, a spring fed luxury oasis resort with a view of the Atlas Mountains.
Witherspoon's visit to Morocco, where a seriously buffed out Gyllenhaal is filming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, comes less than a month after the couple spent an extended Bastille Day holiday in Paris". Source: www.people.com
"There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.
"The Dark Knight", then, is a conservative movie about the war on terror. And like another such film, last year's "300", "The Dark Knight" is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans.
Conversely, time after time, left-wing films about the war on terror -- films like "In The Valley of Elah", "Rendition" and "Redacted" -- which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe.
Why is it then that left-wingers feel free to make their films direct and realistic, whereas Hollywood conservatives have to put on a mask in order to speak what they know to be the truth? Why is it, indeed, that the conservative values that power our defense -- values like morality, faith, self-sacrifice and the nobility of fighting for the right -- only appear in fantasy or comic-inspired films like "300," "Lord of the Rings," "Narnia," "Spiderman 3" and now "The Dark Knight"?The answers to these questions seem to me to be embedded in the story of "The Dark Knight" itself: Doing what's right is hard, and speaking the truth is dangerous. Many have been abhorred for it, some killed, one crucified.
Leftists frequently complain that right-wing morality is simplistic. Morality is relative, they say; nuanced, complex. They're wrong, of course, even on their own terms.
Left and right, all Americans know that freedom is better than slavery, that love is better than hate, kindness better than cruelty, tolerance better than bigotry. We don't always know how we know these things, and yet mysteriously we know them nonetheless.
The true complexity arises when we must defend these values in a world that does not universally embrace them -- when we reach the place where we must be intolerant in order to defend tolerance, or unkind in order to defend kindness, or hateful in order to defend what we love.We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him."
That's real moral complexity. And when our artistic community is ready to show that sometimes men must kill in order to preserve life; that sometimes they must violate their values in order to maintain those values; and that while movie stars may strut in the bright light of our adulation for pretending to be heroes, true heroes often must slink in the shadows, slump-shouldered and despised -- then and only then will we be able to pay President Bush his due and make good and true films about the war on terror.
Perhaps that's when Hollywood conservatives will be able to take off their masks and speak plainly in the light of day".
Mr. Klavan has won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. His new novel, "Empire of Lies" (An Otto Penzler Book, Harcourt), is about an ordinary man confronting the war on terror. Source: online.wsj.com
"Workers painted, drilled and pieced together a two-story trailer at Lake Leelanau RV Park for the set of "Youth in Revolt", a flick starring Michael Cera, Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta and Jean Smart.
"The people who reside at the park, the snowbirds, they're just all atwitter, like Hollywood has come to our little corner of the world," said Phillip Thies, owner of Jaffe's Resale & Consignment shop in the heart of town. "They've certainly made it known they're available to be an extra."The film is described as a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old boy chasing after a girl. It's set in northern California, but is filmed in Michigan because of the state's new film incentive program.
In April, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a law offering a 40 percent cash rebate on money spent on the production of movies, television shows and video games. Certain limitations apply, such as a minimum $50,000 expenditure and $2 million salary cap per employee for each production.Michigan has been a beautiful, fantastic spot for filming, Flanning said.
A few local people worked on the set, but most came in from out of state.
"We're trying to get more local crews, more people involved," he said. "There are so many productions coming in, the work crews are stretched kind of thin."
The Department of Treasury and Michigan Film Office approved 30 incentive applications since April, said Janet Lockwood, film office director.
That adds up to an expected $233 million of in-state expenditures, not including the extra money cast and crew spend at area businesses. The refundable tax credit likely will end up around $86 million or less, Lockwood said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The United States of Tara is a single-camera comedy starring Toni Collette as Tara, a wife and mother with dissociative identity disorder.
Larson will play Tara's smart, confident 17-year-old daughter Kate, who struggles with her mother's disorder while rebelling against the world with her own issues. The role was played in the pilot by Portia Doubleday.
John Corbett co-stars as Tara's husband and Kate's father.
Showtime recently picked up The United States of Tara from DreamWorks TV and Steven Spielberg, with a 12-episode order.
Production is slated to begin during the summer in Los Angeles". Source: www.movieweb.com "Justin Long, Fred Willard, Zach Galifinakis, Erik Knudsen and Mary Kay Place are joining Michael Cera in the Dimension Films comedy "Youth in Revolt."
Portia Doubleday will make her feature debut as Cera's love interest in Miguel Arteta's adaptation of C.D. Payne's cult novel, which also stars Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Jean Smart, and M. Emmet Walsh.
Ari Graynor, Adhir Kalyan, Tricia Mara and Jonny Wright also are joining the ensemble.
Gustin Nash, Arteta and Cera wrote the adapted screenplay for Permut Presentations and Shangri-La Entertainment". Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
"A crossover between two of Judd Apatow's most recent comedies might seem like it's jumping the gun a little bit, or that it's the product of a hash session between the stars of Pineapple Express.
Of course, that doesn't change the fact that it sounds like a totally awesome idea. With Pineapple Express out the door, star James Franco is perhaps letting the sweet smoke of success loosen his lips a little bit on what would no doubt be the greatest crossover since The Jetsons meet the Flintstones or at least that time The Critic's Jay Sherman appeared on an episode of The Simpsons. Franco recently revealed in an interview with MTV that a crossover flick between the two movies isn't just a pipe dream; it's actually something that's being kicked around right now: “Even before Superbad came out, I think the studio was trying to get them to write a sequel, but they really didn’t want to write a sequel. I guess the kids would go to college or something like that. And so, an answer to that was to do a Superbad/Pineapple Express crossover, an unprecedented crossover movie with two directors, Greg Motolla and David Gordon Green, each directing half of the movie and somehow these characters get together, which doesn’t make sense at all, but could work."
Sure, nothing is set in stone yet, but tell us the idea of Michael Cera and James Franco sharing a bro moment (broment?) over stolen beer doesn't make you smile a little bit".
"It’s the buzzword of 2008: Cross-pollination. And it’s all the rage these days thanks to Marvel’s ambitious slate, which already included Nick Fury showing up in “Iron Man” and Tony Stark showing up in “The Incredible Hulk.” So if comics can get away with it, why not Judd Apatow?We’re actually not joking. Combining Apatow’s comedies isn’t just a good idea, it’s an idea whose time very well may come soon, “Pineapple Express” star James Franco told MTV News.
When asked about the possibility of a “Pineapple Express” sequel, Franco said that not only has it been discussed, it’s about to get some real McLovin. Rogen himself has stated that he’d be interested in a “Pineapple” sequel. But how would he combine the two universes? Just ask Franco.
“I could sell them [the characters from 'Superbad'] something, but I think we’d want some action, so you know, somehow the kids get in trouble somehow and we have to get them out of it,” Franco mused. “And Seth plays characters in both movies, so somehow we’d have to kill one of them off.”
And Franco’s character Saul? The drug dealing, pot smoking, hippie based at least in part on Brad Pitt’s performance in “True Romance”?
“The thing about Saul is that I don’t really think he goes anywhere,” Franco laughed. “That’s his tragedy.”
"Jake Gyllenhaal channels his inner brute and shows off his newly buff body on the set of his latest movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, in Morocco, North Africa on Monday morning. The 27-year-old actor, who has an entire mane of hair now, held hands with his actress girlfriend Reese Witherspoon. The couple spent the the weekend at the exclusive luxury Moroccan hotel Amanjena. Gyllenspoon grabbed lunch on Saturday at a Moroccan restaurant followed by a tour of the local sights.
In the film, Jake will play Dastan, a young prince in sixth century Persia who must join forces with Tamina (Gemma Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world". Source: JustJared.buzznet.com
"Jake Gyllenhaal is keen to start a family with Reese Witherspoon, according to a new report.
Insiders say that a baby announcement is likely to come before the couple tie the knot.
“Kids are something Jake and Reese discussed very early on,” a source tells Life & Style.
“He made it clear that he definitely wants to have children. He just wanted to make sure Reese would be willing, too, before he allowed himself to get serious with her.
“That's how important it is to him.”
Meanwhile, Jake has been busy getting in some parenting practice with Reese's kids with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4".
"Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal have taken their romance overseas: The couple were spotted stepping out together in Morocco over the weekend.
