Heath Ledger as the demented Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008), a character impossible to overlook.
"When people look back on the early years of the new millennium they'll remember it for movies like The Dark Knight and Lord of the Rings. Or they'll geek out with their friends about the cult classics they discovered together, rewatching copies of the original version of Donnie Darko or spreading around copies of Idiocracy and laughing at its accuracy".
Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Roberta Sparrow/Grandma Death in "Donnie Darko" (2001).
The Girl Next Door (2004)Elisha Cuthbert, Luke Greenfield (director of "The Girl Next Door"), Emile Hirsch and Timothy Olyphant.
Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch leave their prom dance victorious after an improvised amateur porn shooting.
The Girl Next Door had the gross misfortune to be released at the height of America's religious fervor back in 2004. The Passion of the Christ was the biggest movie in the world and covering up Janet Jackson's nipples was our new obsession. So it's no surprise that a no holds barred teen raunch-comedy would slip out of theaters with barely a notice. That doesn't make it right. Sure The Girl Next Door is down with nudity and sex as entertainment and sure a lot of it takes place at a porn convention. But Emile Hirsch plays the lead and makes it something special beyond that, with a character that it becomes impossible not to identify with while whatever crazy hijinks ensue. It's legitimately hilarious and beneath the movie's tits and ass veneer is a movie that John Hughes would have been proud to call his own back in 1984. Timothy Olyphant steals scenes as a porn king and the movie's soundtrack kicks ass. Even now it seems like somewhere along the way there should be some sort of cult audience for a movie like this. Maybe it'll find it yet.
25th Hour (2002)Edward Norton as Monty Brogan in "25th Hour" (2002).
In 25th Hour Edward Norton gives what is perhaps the best performance of his career in what is easily one of the best movie's of Spike Lee's filmography. Norton plays a convicted drug dealer headed to prison for seven years. Before he goes Monty Brogan has twenty-four hours to say goodbye, and he spends most of them coming to grips with his father and friends while venting his anger and frustration at the path he's taken. Anyone who's seen it will particularly remember Brogan's massive tirade against New York, America and everyone in it. “Fuck you all,” says Monty Brogan as his anger pours out of the screen. It's Lee's most compelling and thoughtful film, one that puts a new spin on the types of choices we're all faced to make. You'll identify with Monty Brogan, or you would have, if the movie had gotten enough attention to talk people into seeing it. A little movie like this needs support from critics and awards givers and somehow, 25th Hour never really got it.
The Lookout (2007) Joseph Gordon Levitt as the amnesic Chris Pratt in "The Lookout".
Scott Frank's brilliantly written and directed heist movie should have earned, at the least, an Oscar nomination for star Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Instead, in part because it was released too early in the year to stick with Oscar voters and in larger part because it never received any real promotion, almost no one seems to realize it exists. The Lookout stars Levitt as a young man with brain damage. He's not exactly stupid he just has trouble keeping things straight. Through circumstance he finds himself involved in a complicated heist plot and things spiral out of control while Levitt tries to remember brush his teeth. Jeff Daniels co-stars as a blind roommate and delivers one of the best visually impaired characters this side of Scent of a Woman. But Gordon-Levitt is the film's anchor and he's stupendous in his portrayal of a former prom king reduced to disability assistance and a janitorial job at the bank after a reckless accident. The heist plot is just the icing on the cake as Levitt's Chris Pratt gets in over his head.
The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)Gretchen Mol as Bettie Page, 50's pin-up and bondage model.
"In an era of sexual repression Bettie Page got out the whips and chains, but there's more to her biopic than the kink you've seen on posters flaunting the iconic pin-up. Gretchen Mol delivers an epic performance as Page, who, didn't really understand the impact her pictures had in a time when sexual repression and censorship fought with freedom. She challenged the establishment, but almost inadvertently. For Bettie, it was just a good time playing dress up. The story of America's first sex icon is compelling and yeah, of course, also sexy as hell. But mostly it's the story of a beautiful, purely innocent soul and a love for life which made her sometimes dark pinup pictures endure and end up on your bi-sexual girlfriend's t-shirt. Unfortunately awards voters overlooked Mol's performance and, of course, general audiences were scared off by nudity. Oh the irony". Source: www.cinemablend.com
“Brothers” is a story of human characters made by a group of actors that are at the top of their game. Adding to this perception is a stoic but viciously pinpoint turn of Sam Shepard as the father to these two boys who is now remarried to a different woman than their mother who died. Another standout also permeates in the form of Bailee Madison as one of the young daughters of Portman and Maguire. She matches most of the grown up actors toe to toe without being presumptious. Like Jake, in my mind, she deserves an Oscar nomination for their work because it is so purely emotional. Source: insidereel.wordpress.com
Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal at 'Brothers' Q&A At The Arclight Theater, on 3rd December 2009.
"Sam's younger brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), an ice-blue-eyed charmer who's fresh out of prison for bank robbery, but who redeems himself with his sister-in-law -- who never liked him -- by slowly discovering a responsible side.Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan, Sam isn't actually dead, just being tortured in a remote Taliban outpost. When he's finally rescued and returns home months later, a gaunt, catatonic version of his former self, it's to a family he no longer recognizes, and that no longer recognizes him.This is where the real movie begins. Or rather, it begins just before Sam's return, when something bad -- something real bad -- happens to Sam in Afghanistan. Something that turns him into the kind of monster that only war can create, and might leave you wondering if he wouldn't be better off dead. Sam certainly wonders that."Brothers" is the story of that monster, and his struggle to find his humanity.Is it a movie you'll enjoy? Not enjoy, so much as appreciate. Or maybe recognize". Source: www.washingtonpost.com
Interviews with Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Tommy Cahill in Brothers. 1. On his first reaction to the film. 2. On his personal connection to the character. 3. On Tobey Maguire. 4. On Natalie Portman. 5. On the relationship between Tommy and Sam. 6. On Sam Shepard. 7. On the relationship between Tommy and Hank".
"Maguire told Access Hollywood he took on an "intense" process to drop the weight in five weeks to play a kidnapped marine solider alongside sexy actress Natalie Portman and actor Jake Gyllenhaal.“I dropped a bunch of weight," Maguire told Access. "Through shooting and a break, I had five weeks, and I lost about 20 pounds, which is a lot of weight considering where I started out at."
Of his extreme weight loss, he said, "It was very intense. I just didn’t eat a lot and worked out a ton. I got into a real focused mindset. I knew what was necessary, I knew how long it was going to take, and I just had to do it,” he said. Source: www.examiner.com
Brothers video: The cast talk to EPIX about what they would do for their family.
Brothers video: Tobey Maguire opens up to EPIX about his admiration for soldiers.
Jim Sheridan with Daniel Day-Lewis filming "The Boxer" (2002).
"Jim Sheridan has directed seven actors into Oscar nominations: Samantha Morton and Djimon Hounsou for “In America”; Richard Harris for “The Field”; Emma Thompson, Pete Postlethwaite and Daniel Day-Lewis for “In the Name of the Father”; and Day-Lewis again, with Brenda Fricker, who both won Oscars for “My Left Foot.”Portman and Gyllenhaal have a more natural chemistry than Portman and Maguire — Maguire's Sam even says at one point that Tommy and Grace look like high school kids in love.Mourning becomes Portman, which she proved best in her short but memorable role in “Cold Mountain.” Gyllenhaal showed in “Brokeback Mountain” that he is willing to take and commit to roles with emotional risks.But the most is asked of Maguire. He has to morph from a quiet, caring father to a short-fused post-traumatic-stress-riddled veteran who can't fit back into his former life.Sam's gut-wrenching journey takes him to Afghanistan where he is tortured into an unspeakable act before finding his way home … to a family that had already accepted his death.Sam is a good guy, so we watch him try to rationalize away his feelings of resentment and jealousy, before they spill over. “Do you know what I did to get back to you?” he screams at Grace. “Do you know what I DID?”Jim Sheridan is good with kids, as he showed in the very warm and believable family of “In America.”This time, Bailee Madison and Taylor Geare play Sam and Grace's kids, Isabelle and Maggie. They are not the token kids who say something cute and disappear. They have their own personalities and get to show them. Uncle Tommy bonds with Isabelle by recognizing her love for and envy of her more outgoing little sister. Just like Sam loves and envies the effortless ability Tommy has to charm everyone around him". Source: www.seacoastonline.com
"Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo was hospitalized Sunday morning after his bus slipped on an ice patch in New York and crashed.The 40-year-old "Beverly Hills" singer/guitarist complained of rib pain post-accident, but his wife, Kyoko Cuomo, and 2-year-old daughter who were riding with him, were unharmed, E! News has confirmed.
Cuomo and family were on their way back from Toronto, Ontario for a concert at Boston University's Agganis Arena scheduled for Monday night.
The accident happened just after 7:30 a.m., after the bus slid on ice, skidded into a median, crossed back over the highway, and went over a guardrail into a ditch, according to Sgt. Paul M. Swasey of the New York State Police". Source: uk.eonline.com
Mood state in Weirdland: sad but praying for River's recovery, listening to Raditude album - "I don't want to let you go".
Weezer is one of my top favorite bands, as well as Michael Cera's most beloved one:
"NATALIE PORTMAN felt a real brotherly bond with her BROTHERS co-stars TOBEY MAGUIRE and JAKE GYLLENHAAL during filming because they all grew up together in the movie industry.The Star Wars beauty, 28, appears in the drama as Maguire's wife, who falls for his brother, played by Gyllenhaal, after her marine husband is presumed dead while on a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
And the actors felt so close to one another, they turned rehearsal sessions into social get togethers by relocating from the movie studio to one another's houses.
She tells Star magazine, "This is the first time I've worked with actors I knew before! I met Tobey when I was 14 and Jake when I was 18. We rehearsed in each other's houses, so there was familiarity from the first day." Source: www.contactmusic.com
Jake is a fan of ice-creams as Natalie is too!
Let's revise their exchange of favorite food/desserts between Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman in Interview Magazine:
GYLLENHAAL: Okay. What’s your favorite food? PORTMAN: Well, I don’t think you can really improve upon Carvel ice cream cake.
"I couldn't be anorexic because I like food too much, and I couldn't be bulimic because I hate throwing up too much." -Natalie Portman
Clive Owen and Natalie Portman at the Governor's Ball of 77th Annual Academy Awards, on 27th February 2005.
"Avid vegan NATALIE PORTMAN enjoyed gourmet food on the set of her new movie BROTHERS after sweet-talking co-star TOBEY MAGUIRE's personal chef into preparing meals for her, too.
The Star Wars actress, who plays Maguire's onscreen wife in the drama, was delighted when she discovered the Spider-Man star had hired his own cook to cater for his strict vegan diet - and asked him to double up for her.She tells Marie Claire magazine, "Tobey Maguire brought his own vegan chef to the set. I was like, 'Um, could you make two of those?' And I'd make a cute face, and they'd roll their eyes and give me another falafel." Source: www.contactmusic.com
Jake Gyllenhaal with his parents Naomi Foner and Stephen Gyllenhaal, and sister Maggie, at Hollywood Moonlight Mile premiere, on 24th September 2002.
"JAKE GYLLENHAAL’s writer mother NAOMI FONER is campaigning for her son to become the new DANNY KAYE.
Screenwriter Naomi Foner was spotted out in the West Village with her granddaughter Ramona Sarsgaard, May 2007, photo by Humberto Carreno for Startraks.
Mother and son used to watch Kaye’s movies when he was a child and Foner is always trying to convince the actor to revamp the iconic funnyman’s most famous roles.
Danny Kaye plays the trumpet in "Five Pennies".Jake Gyllenhaal playing the trumpet.
He says, “(We’d watch) Five Pennies, The Court Jester and Hans Christian Anderson… My mother was a big Danny Kaye fan and would always play me these movies. She is, in fact, the person who always calls me up and is like, ‘You should redo The Court Jester!’ Source: trak.in/news
More video clips of "Brothers", starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire:
Brothers Clip - "Dead"
Brothers Clip - Keys
Natalie Portman on The Late Show Nov 25 2009: Natalie Portman visiting David Letterman Nov 25 2009. Letterman says to her that "Brothers" is the best movie he has seen in a long time
Heath Ledger as the demented Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008), a character impossible to overlook.
Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Roberta Sparrow/Grandma Death in "Donnie Darko" (2001).
Elisha Cuthbert, Luke Greenfield (director of "The Girl Next Door"), Emile Hirsch and Timothy Olyphant..JPG)
Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch leave their prom dance victorious after an improvised amateur porn shooting.
But Emile Hirsch plays the lead and makes it something special beyond that, with a character that it becomes impossible not to identify with while whatever crazy hijinks ensue. It's legitimately hilarious and beneath the movie's tits and ass veneer is a movie that John Hughes would have been proud to call his own back in 1984. Timothy Olyphant steals scenes as a porn king and the movie's soundtrack kicks ass. Even now it seems like somewhere along the way there should be some sort of cult audience for a movie like this. Maybe it'll find it yet.
Edward Norton as Monty Brogan in "25th Hour" (2002).
Anyone who's seen it will particularly remember Brogan's massive tirade against New York, America and everyone in it. “Fuck you all,” says Monty Brogan as his anger pours out of the screen. It's Lee's most compelling and thoughtful film, one that puts a new spin on the types of choices we're all faced to make. You'll identify with Monty Brogan, or you would have, if the movie had gotten enough attention to talk people into seeing it. A little movie like this needs support from critics and awards givers and somehow, 25th Hour never really got it.
Joseph Gordon Levitt as the amnesic Chris Pratt in "The Lookout".
But Gordon-Levitt is the film's anchor and he's stupendous in his portrayal of a former prom king reduced to disability assistance and a janitorial job at the bank after a reckless accident. The heist plot is just the icing on the cake as Levitt's Chris Pratt gets in over his head.
Gretchen Mol as Bettie Page, 50's pin-up and bondage model..jpg)
For Bettie, it was just a good time playing dress up. The story of America's first sex icon is compelling and yeah, of course, also sexy as hell. But mostly it's the story of a beautiful, purely innocent soul and a love for life which made her sometimes dark pinup pictures endure and end up on your bi-sexual girlfriend's t-shirt. Unfortunately awards voters overlooked Mol's performance and, of course, general audiences were scared off by nudity. Oh the irony". Source: www.cinemablend.com
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