Thursday, August 31, 2006
A rabbit near him
DONNIE DARKO: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT
PRODUCTION NOTES:
"In a funny, moving and distinctly mind-bending journey through suburban America, one extraordinary but disenchanted teenager is about to take Time's Arrow for a ride.
October 2nd, 1988: just another ordinary day in Donnie Darko's teen-aged existence. He's taken his medication, watched Dukakis and Bush debate, and had dinner with the family. Then an outrageous accident occurs, which just misses claiming Donnie's life. As Donnie begins to explore what it means to still be alive, and in short order to be in love, he uncovers secrets of the universe that give him a tempting power to alter time and destiny. [...]
The question became: what is Donnie Darko? Is it a look back at the underbelly of the Ferris Bueller and Back to the Future era? Or is it a wild journey into multiple realities and multiple outcomes? Is it the story of an increasingly cynical, hypocritical society on a crash-course with apocalypse? Or is it a fairytale about a teen hero who changes the world around him? Is this the cosmic death knell of the Reagan Era, or a portrait of a troubled community redeemed by the hand of God?
The surprising answer is that Donnie Darko is all of these -a deep inquiry into the recent past and the possibilities for the future all wrapped up in the story of a teenager unlike any you've met before. Writer/director Richard Kelly purposefully wanted Donnie Darko to be vast enough to mean different things to different people. But he offers this guidance for the mind-blowing ride ahead:
"Maybe it's the story of Holden Caulfield, resurrected in 1988 by the spirit of Phillip K. Dick, who was always spinning yarns about schizophrenia and drug abuse breaking the barriers of space and time. Or it's a black comedy foreshadowing the impact of the 1988 presidential election, which is really the best way to explain it. But first and foremost, I wanted the film to be a piece of social satire that needs to be experienced and digested several times."
* * *
James Duvall, who plays the mysterious apparition Frank. "Frank is really Donnie Darko's guide," explains Duvall, "the one who helps him find his fate and his destiny. He might be an alter ego, or another person, or a hallucination, but that's really up to people to decide for themselves."
The Daily Cavalier article
"On Oct. 2, 1988, 16-year-old Donnie Darko hears from an evil bunnyman named Frank that the world will end in approximately 28 days. The same night, a 747 jet engine plunges from the sky into Donnie's Middlesex, Va., bedroom, where he would be crushed to death were he not busy sleepwalking through a nearby golf course. Meanwhile, the Dukakis-Bush race heats up, and "Back to the Future" has turned time travel into something feasible.
Pay close attention. You might miss something.
From 26-year-old Virginia native Richard Kelly comes an ambitious and highly imaginative directorial debut. "Donnie Darko" is the story of an emotionally troubled teenager who gets progressively more unsound and destructive as the movie goes on. But its psychological thrills comprise only one of the various elements of "Donnie Darko" - it's got suburban farce, sci-fi futurama, black comedy and coming-of-age dramedy carefully knit into it too.
"Donnie Darko" was released in October of last year and has since gone on to win several esteemed nominations and awards, including a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Although the film takes place in Virginia and was written and directed by a Virginian, it has never been actually screened in Virginia ... until today!
Thanks to the efforts of the Virginia Festival Film Society, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University's OFFScreen, "Donnie Darko" will be shown at 7 p.m. this evening at Vinegar Hill Theatre. As a special treat, Kelly will be in attendance to discuss his film after the screening.
A graduate of Midlothian High School, Kelly grew up in Richmond's southside suburbs in the late '80s. Those of us from that area will recognize in "Donnie Darko" the all-too-familiar characters of high school in central Virginia - the hickish bullies, the small-minded Southern Baptist gym teacher and the disturbingly conservative PTA. Poor Donnie. No wonder he needs therapy.
Played by promising young actor Jake Gyllenhaal ("Goodbye Hello," "October Sky"), Donnie is a sharp, perceptive 16-year-old with a penchant for profanity and somnambulant migrations. He is messed up in the head, but only as messed up as everyone else is in this claustrophobic suburban nightmare.
The film gets weird fast and quickly gets weirder and weirder as Donnie becomes more entrenched in paranoia and delusory visions. But nothing is as it seems, and even the most insignificant of details are worthy of a closer look as the stupefying climax approaches. [...]
Kelly wrote "Donnie Darko" in six weeks, after graduating from the University of Southern California Film School. Although he had few contacts in Hollywood at the time, Kelly had great material and incredible luck. In Drew Barrymore he found an enthusiastic producer for his debut film, as well as a competent actress who could give star power to the vehicle." [...]
complete article here
Pay close attention. You might miss something.
From 26-year-old Virginia native Richard Kelly comes an ambitious and highly imaginative directorial debut. "Donnie Darko" is the story of an emotionally troubled teenager who gets progressively more unsound and destructive as the movie goes on. But its psychological thrills comprise only one of the various elements of "Donnie Darko" - it's got suburban farce, sci-fi futurama, black comedy and coming-of-age dramedy carefully knit into it too.
"Donnie Darko" was released in October of last year and has since gone on to win several esteemed nominations and awards, including a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Although the film takes place in Virginia and was written and directed by a Virginian, it has never been actually screened in Virginia ... until today!
Thanks to the efforts of the Virginia Festival Film Society, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University's OFFScreen, "Donnie Darko" will be shown at 7 p.m. this evening at Vinegar Hill Theatre. As a special treat, Kelly will be in attendance to discuss his film after the screening.
A graduate of Midlothian High School, Kelly grew up in Richmond's southside suburbs in the late '80s. Those of us from that area will recognize in "Donnie Darko" the all-too-familiar characters of high school in central Virginia - the hickish bullies, the small-minded Southern Baptist gym teacher and the disturbingly conservative PTA. Poor Donnie. No wonder he needs therapy.
Played by promising young actor Jake Gyllenhaal ("Goodbye Hello," "October Sky"), Donnie is a sharp, perceptive 16-year-old with a penchant for profanity and somnambulant migrations. He is messed up in the head, but only as messed up as everyone else is in this claustrophobic suburban nightmare.
The film gets weird fast and quickly gets weirder and weirder as Donnie becomes more entrenched in paranoia and delusory visions. But nothing is as it seems, and even the most insignificant of details are worthy of a closer look as the stupefying climax approaches. [...]
Kelly wrote "Donnie Darko" in six weeks, after graduating from the University of Southern California Film School. Although he had few contacts in Hollywood at the time, Kelly had great material and incredible luck. In Drew Barrymore he found an enthusiastic producer for his debut film, as well as a competent actress who could give star power to the vehicle." [...]
complete article here
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The Decisive Aura of Maggie
"Secretary" by Steven Shainberg, is one of those films I can't live without. I am sure that the wedding dress model she'll choose for her desponsory with Peter will fit her like a glove, but this time Peter maybe serves her some tiramisu spoonfuls instead of the milkshake. Lee Holloway is my heroine.
Sherrybaby
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Sherry Swanson) and director Laurie Collyer at Premiere of "Sherrybaby" 29th August, IFC Center, N.Y. -More information here and here, and the last photoshoot in Marie Claire September 2006. Do you notice a vague resemblance to Claudette Colbert, specially the 30/40's retro hairdo?
Last survey I took
I'm reposting the answers to the Film Narrative blog film survey:
1) What film made you angry, either while watching it or in thinking about it afterward?
“Crash“, while watching and hours afterwards, right now typing this.
2) One of your favorite movie lines:
“ Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff” -by Harvey Pekar
3) Describe a perfect moment in a movie: the telephone scene between George Bailey & Mary.
4) Most exotic or otherwise unusual place in which you ever saw a movie:
In my brother’s bedroom, it’s a total inusual exotic place.
5) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on his or her taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Deal-breaker: Rambo movies fan (any of the saga), seal the deal if he loves “Detour”.
6) The scene you most wish you could have witnessed being filmed: the dance scene in the bar of “Moonlight Mile”.
7) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings (or parents and children):
Gena Rowlands and Laura Linney.
8) Your favorite movie poster/one-sheet, or the one you’d most like to own: I own a one-sheet of “Secretary”.
9) With total disregard for whether it would ever actually be considered, even in this age of movie recycling, what film exists that you feel might actually warrant a sequel, or would produce a sequel you’d actually be interested in seeing? I’d like to see a sequel to “Fallen Angels” (Kar Wai Wong)
10) Your favorite political movie: “Arlington Road”
11) Favorite special effects moment: “Matrix”, when Neo is deprogrammed.
12) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other? Possibly “Donnie Darko”
13) Your favorite movie theater: Oscar Cinemas Les Gavarres
14) Your favorite film made for children:
"The nightmare before christmas"
15) Your favorite character name: Betty Etamble
16) Your favorite film of 1970s, -80s, -90s: “Taxi driver“, “Videodrome“, “Fight club”
17) Your favorite movie based on a book you've read: “A clockwork orange”
18) Your favorite book you'd like to see as a movie and who should direct and star:
“The killer inside me” (Jim thompson) translated to screen by Darren Aronofsky, starring Peter Sarsgaard.
19) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep: when Holden commits suicide in “The Good Girl”
20) Describe a transcendent moment in a film (a moment when you realized a film that just seemed routine or merely interesting before had become something much more):
When Leonard in “Memento” talks about his dead wife to Natalie, and flashs of her are shown in slow-motion.
1) What film made you angry, either while watching it or in thinking about it afterward?
“Crash“, while watching and hours afterwards, right now typing this.
2) One of your favorite movie lines:
“ Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff” -by Harvey Pekar
3) Describe a perfect moment in a movie: the telephone scene between George Bailey & Mary.
4) Most exotic or otherwise unusual place in which you ever saw a movie:
In my brother’s bedroom, it’s a total inusual exotic place.
5) Is it possible to know with any certainty if you could like or love someone based partially on his or her taste in movies? If so, what film might be a potential relationship deal-breaker for you, or the one that might just seal that deal?
Deal-breaker: Rambo movies fan (any of the saga), seal the deal if he loves “Detour”.
6) The scene you most wish you could have witnessed being filmed: the dance scene in the bar of “Moonlight Mile”.
7) Ideal pairing of actors/actresses to play on-screen siblings (or parents and children):
Gena Rowlands and Laura Linney.
8) Your favorite movie poster/one-sheet, or the one you’d most like to own: I own a one-sheet of “Secretary”.
9) With total disregard for whether it would ever actually be considered, even in this age of movie recycling, what film exists that you feel might actually warrant a sequel, or would produce a sequel you’d actually be interested in seeing? I’d like to see a sequel to “Fallen Angels” (Kar Wai Wong)
10) Your favorite political movie: “Arlington Road”
11) Favorite special effects moment: “Matrix”, when Neo is deprogrammed.
12) What is the movie you’ve encouraged more people to see than any other? Possibly “Donnie Darko”
13) Your favorite movie theater: Oscar Cinemas Les Gavarres
14) Your favorite film made for children:
"The nightmare before christmas"
15) Your favorite character name: Betty Etamble
16) Your favorite film of 1970s, -80s, -90s: “Taxi driver“, “Videodrome“, “Fight club”
17) Your favorite movie based on a book you've read: “A clockwork orange”
18) Your favorite book you'd like to see as a movie and who should direct and star:
“The killer inside me” (Jim thompson) translated to screen by Darren Aronofsky, starring Peter Sarsgaard.
19) Describe a moment in a movie that made you weep: when Holden commits suicide in “The Good Girl”
20) Describe a transcendent moment in a film (a moment when you realized a film that just seemed routine or merely interesting before had become something much more):
When Leonard in “Memento” talks about his dead wife to Natalie, and flashs of her are shown in slow-motion.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Blonde and Brunette
An Imdb user, I suppose it's a girl who describes some similarities between Natalie Portman and Kirsten Dunst careers, it's a bit excessive connecting random dots, but gathers some curious parallellisms.
by - misses_betty_betty (Tue Jul 25 2006 08:10:57)
"While Kirsten is most often compared with other young actress (or even older ones) she appears to have more in common- personally and career-wise- with Natalie Portman.
Both: **have a foreign-born father; **have been involved with a twenty-something, popular actor- Kirsten with Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie with Gael Garcia Bernal; **were raised in the East Coast; fell for a co-star when a teenager- Kirsten for Ben Foster, Natalie for Lukas Haas; **turned down a role during her teen years because it required some sort of nudity- Kirsten turned down American Beauty, Natalie turned down Lolita; **consistently beat out Christina Ricci for roles during their teens- Ricci once commented that many of the roles she's played were originally offered to Natalie; **started out as a model; **have done comedies with: Dustin Hoffman, Gabby Hoffman; **have done dramas with: Susan Sarandon, Marcia Gay Harden, Julia Roberts; **is friends with a director who's directed them twice in critically acclaimed performances (ya know, is MA is critically acclaimed this October).
Things get weird with: **In Garden State, Natalie starred with Peter Sarsgaard who is involved with Kirsten's former costar Maggie Gyllenhaal, the older sister of Jake Gyllenhaal, who Kirsten was involved with. Jake and Natalie were seen together around NYC during several months in 2002. Kirsten, in Marie Antoinette, is the superior of Jamie Dornan, who is the ex-boyfriend of Keira Knightley, who played Natalie's subordinate in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. In Marie Antoinette, Kirsten is also the superior of Rose Byrne, who played Natalie's subordinate in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. In Star Wars: AOTC, Natalie played opposite Hayden Christiansen, who Kirsten worked with in The Virgin Suicides. **In 2006, both play foreign, high-ranking members of society in historical films. Kirsten plays Marie Antoinette in Marie Antoinette; Natalie plays two characters- Inez and Alicia- in Goya's Ghosts. **At 23, Kirsten played Claire, a quirky woman who falls in love with and cheers up a depressed young man; the filmed is named after a real city, Elizabethtown; music is featured prominently in the film, including a song by The Shins. At 23, Natalie played Sam, a neurotic woman who falls in love with and cheers up a depressed young man; the film is named after a state; music is featured prominently in the film, including a song by The Shins.
Weirder still? **Kirsten is a supporting actor in the major movie franchise Spider-Man; Natalie is a supporting actor in the major movie franchise Star Wars. **Within a year of each other, they each played a young Russian woman in the 1800's, who flirts with and manipulates her older suitors while a young man pines for her. Kirsten in All Forgotten and Natalie in The Seagull. **Both have played young women trying to survive the Holocaust: Kirsten in The Devils Arithmetic (1999); Natalie in The Diary of Anne Frank (1998). **In 1995, both spent most of their screen time in the comedies Jumanji and Mars Attacks! running from either large animals or aliens. **Both have played stuck-up prepsters with Gabby Hoffman as their best friend: Kirsten in Strike!; Natalie in Everyone Says I Love You.**Natalie Portman attempted to audition for the role of Amy in Little Women but was turned away for being too old (some say ethnic). In Little Women, Kirsten plays Amy- a rather shallow young girl who is the opposite of her much more grounded mother in almost every way- and Susan Sarandon plays her mother. Later, in Anywhere but Here, Natalie would play Ann-a very grounded young girl who is the opposite of her rather shallow mother in almost every way- and her mother would be played by Susan Sarandon. **Both had their breakout role at the age of 12: Kirsten, Interview with the Vampire; Natalie, The Professional. Both played orphaned young girls taken in by an older man, who they then formed an intense bond with and whom they wanted to kill someone else. **In most of the cases, they were only a year apart."
L.A. Benefit without Jake
A Benefit reading/concert was programmed on 26th August Sat. at Royce Hall, L.A.
According to the schedule by bookeaters Jake should have appeared there to support this charity event, together Jenny Lewis (child actress and songwriter, whom he dated in 2001), Aimee Mann, Dave Eggers, Mark Kozelek, Sarah Vowell, The Mountain Goats, John Roderick, Fiona Apple, etc. for a 6 concert series to raise money for children's literacy programs in 826 writing centers. The first of them was hosted at Beacon Theater N. Y. on 23th. Anyway, I suppose Jake must have his motives to skip this show hosted by Andy Richter. Aside my beloved Jenny, who played "Happy", "Rise Up with Fists!" and "Rabbit Fur Coat", John Krasinski ("The Office" Jim Halpert and "Jarhead" Corporal Harrigan) replaced Jake's act.
Some pictures of Jenny Lewis with John Krasinski and others participants. I'm a big fan of her group Rilo Kiley, you all know she is a classical flame of mine.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Turn out the light!
TURN OUT THE LIGHT
"Lover, lover, why is there light
In the itchy gitchy evening and its dark outside
And whats the difference between wrong and right
Wrong and right
Isnt it funny how pain goes away
And then comes back another day
The air feels very good today
Good today
Lover, lover, why is there light
Did you forget to turn off that light
Well thats all right but its way too bright
Way too bright
See the eagle above the hill
The lake reflects and is so still
The tension has gone from my will
From my will
Moon on the mountain shining bright
First there is dark and then there is light
And sometimes the light is way too bright
Its way to bright
Why dont you turn out the light
Oh, turn out the light" (by Lou Reed).
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