Hollywood passion for remakes

"In Hollywood, the script goes something like this: a visionary filmmaker in Sweden, France, Japan or Korea creates an original, thought-provoking movie that chills and delights audiences. The film travels the world to festivals, collects awards, is beloved by critics and, along the way, hits the radar of Hollywood studio executives.

Before you can say "remake", a studio buys the rights to make an English-language version.

Hollywood's thirst for remaking foreign gems appears to be growing.
In the early 2000s, Hollywood was infatuated with Asian horror films, with Japan's Ringu snapped up by Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio, rebranded as The Ring and remade with Naomi Watts as a journalist terrorised by a cursed videotape.
Sequels followed and by the time Jennifer Connelly starred in 2005's Dark Water, a remake of another Japanese horror film, audiences were tired of the Asian reboots and Hollywood searched other parts of the globe to make a buck.

The hot territory at the moment is Scandinavia but Hollywood is having mixed success.
Tobey Maguire, his wife Jennifer Meyer and their kids Ruby and Otis out for breakfast at the Brentwood Country Mart in Brentwood, CA.
Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brothers" (2009)

Last year, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman starred in Brothers, a sound remake of the 2004 Danish drama-war thriller Brodre and a film that had been billed as an Oscar chance but which failed to pick up awards traction and failed at the box office.

Los Angeles Times Oscar expert Tom O'Neil says Hollywood studios are addicted to remakes because they are considered a safer bet than trying an untested story.

"Hollywood right now wants some proven success before they'll make a movie," O'Neil said.

Warner Bros snatched Hollywood's holy grail, the Oscar for best picture, in 2007 with the Martin Scorsese-directed Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon crime thriller The Departed, based on the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. Infernal Affairs made $US8 million at the global box office, whereas The Departed took in $US290 million.

While Hollywood manages to get it right every now and then, the remake trend will continue.

Martin Scorsese with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio filming "The Departed" (2006)

"The Departed is a good example of where Hollywood got it right but it was in the hands of a master filmmaker like Scorsese, with a brilliant cast," O'Neil says.

"My advice to audiences is go see the proven hit to appreciate it. Chances are, with the remake, Hollywood is just serving up re-fried beans that aren't very tasty." Source: www.theage.com.au

Joaquin Phoenix and the myth of Self-Reinvention

Reese Witherspoon as June Carter and Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line" (2005)
Joaquin Phoenix attending PETA's 30th Anniversary Gala and Humanitarian Awards at The Hollywood Palladium on September 25, 2010 in Los Angeles


Joaquin Phoenix returns to Dave's guest chair for the first time since his infamous 2009 appearance. Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman 2010 - Hoax revealed about the movie project "I'm Still Here". In 2009 Joaquin visited David Letterman and acted strange but all was a hoax for a movie project togheter with Casey Affleck. David seems a bit pissed off for that and wants payment

"I assumed that you would know the difference between a character and a real person", Joaquin Phoenix told David Letterman on Wednesday night. He was exactly right. Most people can tell the difference, most of the time, which means that most us have built-in limits to the range of our possibilities. Our leashes are only so long. Even if Phoenix wanted to be a hip-hop star, genuinely and truly, he was never going to be one". Source: www.esquire.com

Watch a clip from "I'm still here" documentary on Joaquin Phoenix's transition from the acting world to a career as an aspiring rapper in Imdb.com

Watch The Social Network LIVE Webcast

Watch The Social Network LIVE Webcast TODAY at 6:30pm EST / 3:30pm PST featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake! in www.myspace.com

Kristen Stewart in "Welcome to the Rileys" + soundtrack list

Kristen Stewart in "Welcome to the Rileys" [2009] - Deauville Press Kit


"Welcome to the Rileys" tracklist:
01. Welcome To The Rileys – Marc Streitenfeld
02. Rebirth – Marc Streitenfeld
03. I Am Here – Marc Streitenfeld
04. Walking In New Orleans – Marc Streitenfeld
05. Alive – Marc Streitenfeld
06. Trouble Sleeping – Marc Streitenfeld
07. Private Parts – Marc Streitenfeld
08. Headstone – Marc Streitenfeld
09. Time – Marc Streitenfeld
10. On The Road – Marc Streitenfeld
11. Nobody's Little Girl – Marc Streitenfeld
12. End Title - Walking Reprise – Marc Streitenfeld
13. Going Up The Country - Kitty Daisy And Lewis
14. Go Down, sunshine - Odetta
15. Teenager’s Prayer - Joe Simon
16. Le Disko - Shiny Toy Guns
17. U.R.A. Fever - The Kills
18. Jigglin - Ying Yang Twins

"Welcome to the Rileys" soundtrack is on sale on 9th November in Lakeshore Records.

Security On Campus PSA with Kristen Stewart

This Security On Campus (SOC) Public Service Announcement starring Kristen Stewart, star of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, will be airing in April for Sexual Assault Awareness month and then also in September for National Campus Safety Awareness month. To find out more please click below. In addition to this PSA, there is an educational documentary available on the SOC website.

http://www.securityoncampus.org/

The PSA and documentary were created by Civilian Studios LLC, directed by Diane Paragas and produced & written by Amy Lawday and Liron Reiter of Amy Lawday Productions.

Security On Campus, Inc. (SOC) was founded in 1987 by Jeanne Clery's parents Connie & Howard after she was raped and murdered in her on-campus residence hall at college, by a fellow student whom she didn't know. SOC worked to secure passage of the Jeanne Clery Act, originally known as the Campus Security Act, in 1990 and continues to be the nation's leading voice for the improvement of campus safety. SOC was recently named the most influential security focused not-for-profit by Security Magazine. SOC is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Smoking messages in movies

Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal in "The Good Girl" (2002)

Kristen StewartJason SegelMarilyn MonroeMontgomery CliftJohnny DeppCary GrantTippi HedrenMilla JovovichWinona RyderJulianne MooreMilo VentimigliaJoaquin PhoenixJanuary JonesJessica AlbaBrad Pitt
Alain DelonBruce WillisAudrey HepburnJim CaviezelIngrid BergmanScarlett JohanssonKathleen TurnerEvan Rachel WoodAmber HeardJavier BardemRobert Downey Jr.Lindsay LohanRyan Gosling

Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941).
Humphrey Bogart had smoked cigarettes for many years, and his cumulative exposure to tobacco was estimated to be 60 pack-years.

Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart in "In a lonely Place" (1950)

"Through most of the 20th Century, movies with characters puffing away on cigarettes helped make smoking a popular, and in some circles, necessary status symbol. In the 1940s' and 1950s', Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and scores of other established Hollywood stars always had a smoke in hand at some point in their films.
Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart

Not surprisingly, moviegoers of all ages tended to associate cigarette smoking with glamour, vigorous youth, sexiness, wealth, and occasionally rebelliousness.
Despite efforts to diminish the presence and discredit the allure of smoking in films, 54 percent of movies with parental guidance ratings still have smoking in their narratives.
Jake Gyllenhaal as Tommy Cahill in "Brothers" (2009)

As long as smoking is legal, it is unconstitutional to ban the practice from appearing on the silver screen. Nonetheless, films containing smoking can still be rated "R", be preceded by anti-smoking messages, and be prohibited from displaying actual brands and receiving compensation for such actions". Source: www.huffingtonpost.com