"Today, the Sundance Institute has announced their non-competition films; this includes the Premieres section, which is usually full of studio flicks -- stuff that's set to debut in theaters the following month or so, and films that feature big stars; the big guns".
500 Days of Summer/U.S.A. (Director: Marc Webb; Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber)--When an unlucky greeting card copywriter is dumped by his girlfriend, the hopeless romantic shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days 'together' in hopes of figuring out where things went wrong. Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Adventureland/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Greg Mottola)--In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader. Source: www.cinematical.com
"Rachel Getting Married", the film that has announced her arrival as a serious acting contender, was nominated today for 6 Independent Spirit Awards, tied for most this year with Frozen River and Ballast. Needless to say, Anne received a nod for Best Actress and by all accounts, has a very, very, very good chance at securing a nomination at the Oscars as well, joining her movie Devil Meryl Streep whose turn in Doubt is said to be, as usual, outstanding.
Anne also enjoyed commercial success, killing it at the box office with Get Smart. Not bad, right?" Source: laineygossip.com
"The desire to recognize small-scale films could be the reason that Gus Van Sant’s "Milk" failed to earn noms for director or picture, though thesps Sean Penn, James Franco and tyro scribe Dustin Lance Black made the cut.
Nominees for female lead include "Rachel’s" Anne Hathaway and newcomer Summer Bishil for her turn in "Towelhead." Otherwise, the low-budget club earned more esteem with lead actress noms for Melissa Leo ("Frozen River"), Tarra Riggs ("Ballast") and Michelle Williams ("Wendy and Lucy"). Source: www.variety.com
"The clock is reportedly ticking on director David Fincher's long-in-development adaptation of the Brian Michael Bendis graphic novel Torso.
According to the Entertainment Weekly blog Hollywood Insider, Paramount's rights to the project -- which the site refers to as Ness rather than Torso -- are due to expire December 15 and the studio has yet to green-light the movie, despite the involvement of Fincher and stars Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Rachel McAdams.
"A source inside the negotiations says Damon and Affleck are ready to go, and that McAdams has expressed interest, but Paramount has yet to pull the proverbial trigger", the site claims. "At press time, the studio insisted it only recently received a finalized script from Ehren Kruger (The Ring) and would make a decision before the rights ran out."
New additions to the IHJ gallery with this igloo photoshoot of Jake and Zooey Deschanel:
Jake is so hot, who wouldn't want to live with him even inside a snowhouse?Zooey with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "500 days of summer" set. Zooey with another beau actor, Emile Hirsch.
I can't help feeling a bit obsessed with this actress/singer. Miss Deschanel is one of her own kind. Zooey with Reese Witherspoon.Zooey with Mark Wahlberg, with whom she co-starred in "The happening".Zooey and her doppleganger Katie Perry.
"Yet, while Penn receives raves for his performance, some in the gay community wonder aloud why a gay actor could not have played his role or any one of the others cast with straight actors James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna.
"It has almost become a rite of passage for these leading Hollywood actors to take on a gay role," said David Hauslaib, editorial director of the gay and lesbian Web site Queerty.com. "I think Sean Penn's career can only benefit from a role like this. The same was true for Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal [who played gay lovers in 'Brokeback Mountain']."
"I think there's probably less fear of being typecast the way that actors in the last century had fears," said New York casting director Tiffany Little Canfield. "It's not as big of a risk. I've never heard in all my casting of an actor being concerned about playing a homosexual character."
A cultural shift that turned "Will and Grace" into a Top 10 sitcom and 2005 gay romance "Brokeback Mountain" into a mainstream success has also made the American audience more open to gay characters.
But some charge Hollywood has warmed to gay characters but not to gay actors.
"When straight men get these parts, the gay community feels slighted," Hauslaib said. "A whole number of roles could have gone to openly gay actors to give them visibility. Instead they went to well-known straight actors. It's just another notch in a belt for a straight actor. For a gay actor it could have been a breakout role."
Problem is, even in liberal Hollywood, there remains a dearth of openly gay A-list actors who can open a film". "It was hard to find gay actors who were out," the film's openly gay director Gus Van Sant told Reuters. "There really aren't [many]. You could do it, but they would be unknowns and that would be fine with me, but the money [financiers] would start to get nervous."
We have a new affiliate here in Weirdland with Emile Hirsch Web, nicely hosted by Angela. She was so kind of linking my article on Mr. Hirsch: "Alpha Actor" in her site and listing Jake Weird as a regular affiliate.
What else can I add about this sensational young actor without blushing? Emile often reminds me of Jake by his eyes' expressivity and funny temper. EMILE HIRSCH INTERVIEW FOR "MILK" video:
500 Days of Summer/U.S.A. (Director: Marc Webb; Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber)--When an unlucky greeting card copywriter is dumped by his girlfriend, the hopeless romantic shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days 'together' in hopes of figuring out where things went wrong. Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 
Adventureland/U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Greg Mottola)--In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world.
