WEIRDLAND

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Jake, Tobey, Leo, Emile and Elvis

"Tobey Maguire may star in The Limit for Columbia Pictures.

Columbia is currently in talks to acquire Michael Cannell’s upcoming novel with Maguire playing Grand Prix drive Phil Hill, who went against his good friend and Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the 1961 Drivers Championship. Tony Peckham will adapt the novel for the screen. Maguire will also produce.
Maguire hasn’t been in a big screen movie since the release of Spider-Man 3 in 2007. He returns to theaters later this year in Brothers with Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman". Source: www.empiremovies.com

Now that Jake and Tobey soon will appear together on screen, we could compare them once again (an old tradition in Weirdland!), some of their poses and their similar looks when both started their careers:

"Tetro, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is the story of two estranged siblings, played by Vincent Gallo and newcomer Alden Ehrenreich, trying to come to terms with the legacy of their famous father. It's not screening in the main competition and unfortunately even the return of Coppola, and the resemblance of Ehrenreich to Leonardo DiCaprio, couldn't save the movie from mixed word-of-mouth, with one person leaving the screening mumbling “disaster” and another saying, “I liked it. I know it's strange, but it reminded me of Guy Maddin.” This may mark the first occurrence of that comparison". Source: www.festival-cannes.com

Ehrenreich is like a blurred version of Leonardo DiCaprio, but if nowadays Dicaprio resembles another Hollywood hottie, that's Emile Hirsch, the shape of their faces and eyes, their voices and mostly their shared childish charm:

Leonardo DiCaprio and Emile Hirsch, both have german/italian genes.

Emile Hirsch played Speed Racer, whose cartoon animated version was inspired in Elvis Presley:

"To his credit, Speed Racer himself seems unfazed by all the flash and bother.

He's played by Emile Hirsch, who has previously looked uncannily like Leonardo DiCaprio but who here looks uncannily like Ray Liotta". Source: www.npr.org

"Speed Racer is based on the classic 1960s cartoon series created by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida. Interestingly, Tatsuo modeled the hero in the original series, named Speed Racer in the English version of the series, after Elvis Presley and James Bond". Source: kidstvmovies.about.com

"Speed Racer was the translation of the Japanese anime, or cartoon series, Mach GoGoGo. The cartoons were in turn based on a manga, or Japanese comic strip, developed in the 1960s by artist Tatsuo Yoshida, who was obsessed with American popular culture. They were among the first Japanese cartoons to be shown in the United States.

The Mach 5 car was influenced by two popular movies from 1964: Viva Las Vegas,

starring Elvis Presley as a race car driver

— Speed Racer sports a neckerchief and black Elvis-like pompadour" Source: www.projo.com

Emile Hirsch as an Elvis Presley look-alike in this photoshoot for Vanity Fair magazine:

Ang Lee directing without cynicism

“I knew there were some hippie things going on,” Lee said. “To me it was the innocence of the generation: how you live peacefully with nature. But you have to give those half a million kids credit. They had three days of peace and music. Nothing violent happened. I think that’s something. I don’t know if we can pull that off today.”

Ang Lee, Emile Hirsch and Brianna Domont.

Both Emile Hirsch — who plays Elliot’s friend Billy, a Vietnam War veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder —

and Demetri Martin weren’t even born when the legendary music festival happened. “For me, Woodstock was about hearing stories about not showering,” Hirsch said. “When my mom talked about skinny-dipping, I was like, ‘Stop, Mom. Enough. I don’t want to hear any more.’ I didn’t know people were that trusting back then.” Martin fielded the same question, replying, “Music was my first impression of Woodstock. I got a chance to research it in the context of the Vietnam War, which was rewarding.”

When the subject of the 1960s culture of drugs came up and how the actors handled shooting those scenes, Hirsch, without missing a beat, said, “We smoked a whole bunch of banana peels.” Martin chimed in, “We’re high right now.”

For Lee, Taking Woodstock was a much-needed change of pace. “I made six tragedies in a row,” he said, “I was yearning to do a comedy-slash-drama again without cynicism. I thought after 13 years, I kind of earned the right to do it, just to be relaxed, to be happy and at peace with myself.” But Lee is aware that making a comedy might not be an easy sell to his fans. “With a comedy, if people aren’t laughing, you’ve failed,” he said before adding tongue-in-cheek, “[With a] serious movie, you can blame the audience; they didn’t understand it.” Source: www.movieline.com

Michelle Williams with Heath Ledger and Ang Lee.

Q: You are best known for your role in Brokeback Mountain where you worked with director Ang Lee. What was he like to work with?

MW: "With me he was very compassionate. He was almost like a woman he was just so gentle. He would just literally hold my hand and rub my back and say ‘I know, I know, I know'. He was just so dear to me. I think it's because that's what I needed, I think that's what he saw. I've noticed personally, I'm shy and I work best when I feel like somebody trusts me. When I worked with Todd Haynes and I was trying to do something that I'd never really done before and play this character that was very outward and edicentric creation I was nervous and it was all new to me, every time he would say ‘Great, do it again'. And I just got the sense that even if it wasn't great I blossomed because I felt so free and confident. I could make mistakes and I couldn't see him panic ever and he trusted me enough to make mistakes and not get nervous.

And I think Ang probably saw something similar but with the boys [Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal] he was very tough. He would give more notes to the boys. They would do some big meaty scene and ask ‘How was that? How was that?' and all he would say was ‘Light was good.' And they had just poured their hearts out, so I guess that's what makes a good director too. Knowing what each actor needs."
Source: www.movies.ie

Watching Reese practice Softball

Jake watching Reese Practice Softball in Los Angeles, on 20th May, 2009. Pictures courtesy of Iheartjakemedia.com

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Wiliams in "Blue Valentine"

"Costars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams shoot scenes for their upcoming movie, Blue Valentine, in New York City on Wednesday (May 20).

Ryan and Michelle (both 28) play a couple whose marriage is failing. As their relationship hits the rocks, they recall better days. So far, we’ve seen Ryan’s character get a black eye and carry furniture as a mover.