Prince of Persia backstage videos

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) Backstage part 1:


Backstage part 2 of the Disney feature film; Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), shot in Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Agdez Arfoud Morocco:


Backstage part 3 of the Disney feature film; Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), shot in Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Agdez Arfoud Morocco:


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) Backstage, Backstage of the Disney feature film; Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), shot in Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Agdez Arfoud Morocco:

Prince of Persia Sneak Peek

"Disney gave IESB a sneak peek and The Surrogates and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time at the Walt Disney Studios Showcase in Hollywood on Wednesday.
Prince of Persia is massive - the sets are huge, the action sequences are huge and the only thing that comes to mind is that this is another Pirates of the Caribbean in the making. Can you say billion dollar franchise?"
Source: www.iesb.net

A couple of break-ups

Drew Barrymore splits from Justin Long. A source close to the actress says the two ‘are still friends’. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have broken up. Her rep confirmed the news with no other details than that the two "remain friends".
Source: Evan Agostini / AP file
Drew Barrymore kissing Ed Westwick, Chuck Bass in "Gossip Girl". "Kirsten Dunst was looking particularly smiley in NYC on Saturday, but she found herself in a little bit of drama earlier that night. She stopped by SNL to support her Spider-Man costar James Franco, and ran into Drew Barrymore who was there to cheer on her BFF Cameron for her cougar cameo. Apparently Drew wasn't too happy to see her ex Justin Long's rumored new flame and the ladies had to split off with their respective celebrity buddies. The awkwardness continued at the after party at Wildwood Barbeque, as Drew and Kirsten continued to do their best to keep their distance in the crowd of celebs that included Emile Hirsch, Ellen Page, and the kids from Gossip Girl".Source: popsugar.com

"Natalie Portman and her folk-rocker boyfriend Devendra Banhart have broken up, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

Portman, 27, began dating Banhart, also 27, after starring in his "Carmensita" video, which was shot last March. A short time later, they took their romance public when they were spotting kissing on the streets of New York and over a sushi dinner at Jewel Bako.

A fan of Banhart's music, Portman had asked him to donate a track to the charity compilation she curated on iTunes, Big Change: Songs for FINCA. She returned the favor by forgoing her usual fee to appear in the video".

Source: www.people.com

Bryan Lee O'Malley rocks

"Michael Cera is in. Now what about the rock 'n' roll?

Inspired equally by music and video games, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series is a “High Fidelity” for those weaned equally on Nintendo and record stores. The six-part comic series -- Parts 1-4 are out now, and O’Malley hopes to have Book 5 in stores by the end of 2008 -- is being turned into a film by Universal Pictures, with shooting pegged to begin later this year.The books may not come with a soundtrack, but music has a starring role. For instance, the title in Book 3, “Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness,” is a nod to a certain Smashing Pumpkins album, and the main character himself is named after a song from little-known defunct indie rock band Plumtree.

“Juno’s” Cera has been cast as the young Scott Pilgrim, a character who tempers his self-proclaimed awesomeness with a bevy of neurotic ticks.
So how much, if any, of Pilgrim’s mystique comes from being in a rock band?

“None”, said O’Malley. “Zero percent. The girl doesn’t care about the band. I had one girlfriend who was obsessed with the fact that I wrote and recorded songs, which, of course, is great for the ego. But to the woman who became my wife, my musicality is just little bonus on the side, if that, which is probably better in the long run.”"I thought of early Uncle Tupelo, when they were really smushing punk and country into one weird arrhythmic monstrosity," O'Malley continued.The band's Jeff Tweedy went on to form adventurous pop act Wilco, while Jay Farrar, who voiced most of Uncle Tupelo's songs, started Son Volt.One of Uncle Tupelo's early songs, "I Got Drunk," is below, but it probably doesn't provide a full picture of the sound of Sex Bob-omb. O'Malley is quick to add that Bob-omb is "not nearly as good, and 10 years too late, and with Scott and [drummer] Kim singing along and adding ba-ba-bas to everything."

[...] Here's the track list, which O'Malley describes as kind of an "intersection between '70s rock, Canadian Pilgrim_basslineindie stuff and a laid-back country feel."

1. Plumtree, "Scott Pilgrim"
2. Joel Plaskett, "When I Have My Vision"
3. The Flying Burrito Brothers, "To Ramona"
4. Thrush Hermit, "Oh Man! (What to Do?)
5. Wilco, "Someday Soon"
6. Big Star, "O My Soul"
7. Sloan, "Can't Face Up"
8. Guster, "Ramona"
9. Old 97s, "Stoned"
10. Super Friendz, "10 lbs"
11. Beachwood Sparks, "By Your Side"
12. Cuff the Duke, "Long Winter"
13. David Bowie, "Let's Spend the Night Together"
14. Mamas and the Papas, "Dedicated to the One I Love"

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

"Eagle eye" - Michelle Monaghan

"After the commercial success of "Transformers" and "Disturbia," "Eagle Eye" reaffirms the status of the likable Shia LaBeouf as one of the prominent thespians of his generation.The screenplay by Alex Kurtzman (also a producer) was proposed by Spielberg, who's credited as exec producer and is instrumental in launching and keeping on track LaBeouf's career (and much publicized life off-screen). Spielberg's concept stipulated that technology was becoming ubiquitous, surrounding us in many ways, and thus can suddenly or not so suddenly turn against us human beings. In 1968, in his seminal sci-fi "2001: A Space Odyssey", Kubrick played with the notion of what if the technology that that we love and depend on, was used on us in harmful ways, beyond our control. Since then, there have been several film about this idea, some by Spielberg himself.While socializing with her peers one night, Rachel receives an odd call on her cell by a strange, anonymous woman, who tells her to follow instructions blindly and implicitly, or else Sam, whose appearance is visible on a wall of TV screens across the streets, will get killed.Back in Chicago, Jerry finds his usually meager bank account inflated to $750,000, and his sparsely furnished apartment crammed with do-it-yourself terrorist supplies. He, too, receives a call from the same mysterious woman, warning him to run away, or risk being arrested.

While still digesting the menacing news, Jerry is apprehended. Tonally, "Eagle Eye" exploits not only our heavy reliance on technology--specifically cell phones and Blackberries--but on the prevailing fear, scare and paranoia in the wake of 9/11, the notions that we are never really alone, that unknown people could observe and control our behavior, that we could be arrested on the slightest suspicion or whim.When Jerry and Rachel first meet, they immediately assume that the other is the source of their troubles. However, they quickly realize they are both victims in a larger scenario over which they have no control, and that if they are to survive, must learn to trust one another.

[...] Rounding out the cast were Ethan Embry as FBI Agent Grant and Anthony Mackie as Major Bowman. Caruso. An underling agent to Morgan, Grant is always nervous around his hothead boss, but he's the guy who provides the vital information and thus propels the plot forward. Once the basic situations and premises are set, the narrative declines in energy, and the second half of the film, which becomes more of an actioner than a paranoia thriller, is rather generic and predictable, containing all the requisite escapes, chase scenes, bombs and explosions".
Source: emanuellevy.com Michelle Monaghan as Rachel Holloman in "Eagle Eye".
Michelle Monaghan and Shia Labeouf at The Los Angeles Premiere of Eagle Eye, 16 September 2008.

Donnie Darko no. 53 greatest movie of all times

Source: www.empireonline.com

"On a shadowy, non-existent street in Weirdsville, USA, first-time writer-director Richard Kelly lives next door to David Lynch and Greg Araki. In order to keep up with the neighbours, he has crafted his own magnificently bizarre hybrid of suburban paranoia and apocalyptic teen angst.

Of course, there could be a 'logical' explanation for the disturbing nightmares and time-travelling episodes that central-character Donnie undergoes. He's a sharply intelligent but world-weary boy, and the fact that he avoids taking his medication hints that what we're seeing – including his imaginary giant rabbit friend – is the by-product of some form of schizophrenia.

But Kelly leaves plenty of room for dark and playful ambiguity, and it's the casting of Jake Gyllenhaal that makes these bold moves succeed. A black sheep triplet to Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood, Gyllenhaal's exquisite comic timing and laidback personality create a wonderful tension with the odd events surrounding Donnie. Cult glory beckons".

Reviewer: Alan Morrison.

Source: www.empireonline.com/reviews

Hollywood leftist messages

“My father-in-law’s mother committed suicide in the great depression. He said to me, ‘Movies saved me, every week I would see heroes winning and I thought I could be that.’ That’s a pretty powerful argument.”

“Why do you think people come to the United States of America? Are people smuggling the constitution under their pillow and reading it at night in Bangladesh? Or are they seeing things in American film?A movie could have a direct message with Maggie Gyllenhaal and the Gyllenhaal triumvirate of hate that says that America is horrible, and yet that message is overwhelmed by the proliferation of excess on the screen. They’re like ‘Did you see there were four different types of orange juice on the table? I’d rather go to that place where those people are complaining about how badly they have it.’ You know it’s like I think that people read between the lines, that America, despite the fact that our Hollywood class says ‘It sucks here. It’s horrible’. People see it on the screen and go, ‘No it doesn’t. Look at all that shit you have! It’s so good there, I want a piece of it.’”

[...] “These people [the as of yet closeted conservatives] want they want to reconnect Hollywood to its initial successes. Not this sort of dark inverted, moral system, that expresses the darkness of these peoples’ spirits. They’re really dark people. They’re conflicted people and they want us to see how conflicted they are.”

Source: www.observer.com

Holidays in Dubai

"DUBAI (Dobayy), second largest of the seven emirates constituting the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. [...] Almost half the inhabitants of Dubai are from the Indian subcontinent; 100,000-150,000 are of Persian origin. This Persian community, the largest in the U.A.E., has been instrumental in promoting ties between Persia and Dubai.

Relations with Persia before 1357/1979. Toward the end of the 19th century the Persian port of Lenga lost its free-trade status, and nearby Dubai became the leading entrepôt in the area. The liberal policies of the emir of Dubai persuaded many Persian merchants to move there from Lenga. Dubai thus became the major port for trade with Persia. In addition, the growing Persian community provided opportunities for special cultural ties between the two countries. Nevertheless, Dubai, as a member of the Trucial States, was still under British control, and its relations with Persia were governed by the overall relations between Great Britain and Persia.Persia was able to exploit the rivalry between Dubai and Abu Dhabi by developing close ties with the emir of Dubai. A consulate was opened in Dubai in July 1952; it was elevated to consulate general in 1954. On the other hand, the trade-oriented economy of Dubai ensured the emir's greater interest in Persia than in his immediate neighbors. In the early 1970s more than half of about 50,000 trading dhows in Dubai were engaged primarily in re-export trade with Persia. Cultural relations flourished as well, as Persia sponsored educational, health, and other institutions in Dubai. Students from Dubai attended Persian universities, particularly in Shiraz.

[...] The end of the war and subsequent developments in the Persian Gulf area, including the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, only strengthened ties between Persia and Dubai. Many hospitals, schools, banks, recreation clubs, workers' cooperatives, and other institutions in Dubai are run directly by the Persian government or semigovernmental organizations. If no new major crises occur capitalist initiatives adopted recently by the Persian government should strengthen relations with Dubai in the near future". Source: www.iranica.com

Morocco pictures

Source: www.flickr.com/photos/jeromebailly

Chefs Molto Mario and Gyllenhaal

"Closet chef Jake Gyllenhaal is developing a new organic restaurant venture with top cook Chris Fischer.

Sources claim the movie star once promised himself he'd open a top-end eatery if his acting career took off by the time he was 30. He's 27.

And Gyllenhaal, who has made regular appearances on top chef Mario Batali's hit U.S. cookery show Molto Mario, is getting serious about cooking up a restaurant.

A pals tells America's Life + Style magazine that Gyllenhaal and pal Fischer are looking at real estate in Los Angeles - with a view to opening their own place.

The insider says, "Cooking is his (Gyllenhaal) big hobby and his passion."

Reports suggest Gyllenhaal is even planning a summer vacation cycling tour of food-lovers mecca Tuscany, Italy with his girlfriend Reese Witherspoon - to seek inspiration for his new restaurant". Source: www.imdb.com

"So, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mario Batali (of restaurant and Food Network fame), and a Spanish movie star and cook book author Mark Bittman are teaming up to host a documentary-style show in which they travel through Spain eating food. It is random, very random. Gwyneth apparently speaks fluent spanish, Mario and her have amazing chemistry and it all begins and ends with WILLIE NELSON singing. There is no voice over that soothes me saying “yeah, this is really strange and incredible and quite the paella of people and places but it is going to be awesome!”

must say that Mario Batali fascinates me, and I think it is because he carried his girth around so well. The dude is fat but has the attitude of a skinny dude with a fat soul, if that makes any sense. I first got into him NOT through television but rather while reading the book “Heat” by a big time New Yorker writer. I can’t put my finger on what exactly fascinates me so much, but this show opens up a brand new arena. An arena which also features Frank Gehry and Michael Stipe". Source: Jessicatillyer.wordpress.com

Kat Dennings (Wild Child) video

New pic in Morocco and NYC clip

Jake in Morocco, eating icecream on August 24th.

"TMZ spotted gorgeous Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon out together on a little shopping trip in NYC and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. These two are as about as exciting as a dentist appointment! But did you catch that guttural sound emitted by Jakey as he got in to the car? Either they've got a barn animal in the car, or Jake is learning a new language, and it's called Mule".
Source: www.tmz.com

Diablo Cody responds to her haters

"Since I last blogged at you, life has brought wackness and dopeness in equal measure. Barnabas, my copilot and set buddy, died in July. It was sudden and devastating. I miss my little gentleman terribly.In much happier news, my brilliant friend Lorene Scafaria debuted her first film, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist at the Toronto Film Festival. I've noticed a fistful of assholes on IMDB are accusing this movie of being a Juno copycat. Perhaps the marketing folks at Sony are unlikely Juno-philes (yes, we've all seen that hand-lettered font before) but N&N is based on a popular book and was filmed months before Juno was released. Also, it's nothing like Juno, unless a smart female protagonist is enough of an anomaly to warrant comparison. (Jesus, I hope not.) Anyway, see the movie on October 3. It is like, classic good. I am so proud of Lorene.Bend thine ear:

I am not Charlie Kaufman or Sofia Coppola (much as I supplicate at their Cannes-weary feet.) I'm not Paul Thomas Anderson. I'm not even Paul W.S. Anderson. I am middle-class trash from the Midwest. I'm a competent nonfiction writer, an admittedly green screenwriter, and a product of Hollywood, USA. I am "Diablo Cody" and if you're not a fan, go rent Prospero's Books again and leave me the fuck alone.

I may have won 19 awards that you don't feel I earned, but it's neither original nor relevant to slag on Juno. Really. And you're not some bold, singular voice of dissent, You are exactly like everyone else in your zeitgeisty-demo-lifestyle pod. You are even like me. (I, too, loved Arrested Development! Aren't we a pretty pair of cultural mavericks? Hey, let's go bitch about how Black Kids are overrated!)

I'm sorry that while you were shooting your failed opus at Tisch, I was jamming toxic silicon toys up my ass for money. I get why you're bitter. I took exactly one film class in college and-- with the curious exception of the Douglas Sirk unit—it bored the shit out of me. I also once got busted for loudly crinkling a bag of Jujubes during a classroom screening of Vivre Sa Vie. I don't deserve to be here. We've established that. But I'm here. Five million 12-year-olds think I'm Buck Henry. Accept it.Listen: I've been telling stories my whole life. Even when I was a phone sex operator, I was the Mark Twain of extemporaneous jerk-off fiction. I took every perspiring creep on a fucking journey. I don't know how to do anything else.

I'm going to make more movies and shows. I doubt they'll all be good, but that's the nature of this life. Even though the public only knows me from one book, one movie, and several aborted blogs, I've spent the last few years hustling like Iceberg Slim out here to prove myself professionally. The people I currently work for, and with, are more than pleased with my post-Juno output. My pilot was so good (thanks, Toni Colette!) that it got picked up for series. That is rare, children. That is blue-rare.

In summation: you try it.

This is the last I have to say on the subject, unless I'm provoked by a journalist in which case I'll gladly reload. With relish, as Betty Rizzo might say. That said, I'm a 30-year-old woman with a dwindling interest in blog culture, and I don't have time to address this bullshit every time one of my projects comes out. I'm in love, I just bought a house, and my boss made E.T. I kind of have to focus on reality".
Source: blog.myspace.com

Toby Kebbell interview

"If you don't already know his name, memorise it now, because Newark's Toby Kebbell seems set to become an A-list film star and a household name. Having cut his teeth on Dead Man's Shoes, Alexander and Match Point, he's currently starring in the title role in Guy Ritchie's RockNRolla. Soon to appear in Cheri alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and The Prince of Persia with Jake Gyllenhaal, the former Carlton Television Workshop student speaks exclusively to Jo Roberts about fame, women, family
– and giving Michelle Pfeiffer a rub down.

Where are you living and working at the moment?

In London, working on The Prince of Persia. After RockNRolla I was out of work for 11 months, to shoot down the idea of the glamour. Then I was in Morocco for two and a half months learning to ride on a horse and fight with an axe for the Prince of Persia, but these big projects go on and on, so I'm shooting at Pinewood now. My co-star Jake (Gyllenhaal) is a lovely fella. He's been training hard and pumping iron; he's all about doing his acting right. It's more like doing a marathon than it is like acting, you're delivering these lines that are a bit obscure and you wouldn't normally say like (adopts OTT theatrical voice) 'The mystical dagger of time is going to save us all!' So it's a tricky one, but Jake's got the bull by the horns. We sat around and had a bite to eat a couple of times. He's a typical Yanky chap.
Is there any truth in the rumour that you're dating Gemma Arterton, your co-star in both RockNRolla and The Prince if Persia?

No. I wasn't in any scenes with Gemma and we weren't on set together at any time, but we did spend time learning to horse ride together for The Prince... The press love to whack out a story and that's fair enough, but my girlfriend, Ruzwana, was a bit miffed about it. She's a lovely girl and, of course, she's upset when someone says you're having an affair out in Egypt, but I'd never been to Egypt so she knew it wasn't true. [...]

You've starred in films with Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johanson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jake Gyllenhaal. Do you feel like you've made it now, or do you want to become a household name yourself?

It would be lovely to be a legend of the screen. I don't know if I'll ever get there; you've got to thank your lucky stars and say 'I've been blessed for where I've got to'. I'm at a lovely place now, I'm very happy. I don't have to paint walls or serve tables, I just get to act professionally. But if I go back there, then that's what'll happen. It would be heart breaking. I've not achieved what I want to achieve, I have my own big aspirations. I'd love to be considered a very versatile actor like Alec Guinness, a man who can play many, many parts. I'd love to do a 1920s gangster flick with trenchcoats, trilby hats and tommy guns, but I'd also love to do a Western. I'm doing Prince of Persia at the minute so I'm riding horses and am very lucky to be doing an action film, but I still have lots of dreams".

Source: www.thisisnotthingham.co.uk

NYC Fashion Spring 2009

The latest trends and insider perspectives from New York's Spring 2009 fashion week.

photos courtesy of Don Ashby, Olivier Claisse, Greg Kessler, Marcio Madeira Style.com
Source: video.style.com

Outdoors Water Fountains

"Peter Sarsgaard on the Group Insanity That Settled Over the Cast: Director Sam Mendes says there definitely was a kind of shared insanity that affected the cast during the filming of “Jarhead.” Asked to share a personal example of what Mendes was referring to, Sarsgaard said, “I keep telling them about other people, but Jake reminded me of one that I did. I wasn't drinking for the first half of the movie because I was trying to get fit quickly, because for 'Flightplan,' I kind of didn't care what physical shape I was in. It's not like I gained weight for the movie, but sometimes I'll lose weight for a movie. I had a couple margaritas... Jake started drinking beer at that point and I had some margaritas, maybe only two or three. And there was a thing that was like a fountain in the middle of the courtyard. We're staying at this not-very-nice hotel that had like a fountain and it looked like it could be a pool, but it was not actually a swimming pool. And he says I finished my margarita and I put it down. He said he was in mid-conversation with me and he said I just walked over to the edge of the pool and with all my clothes on, just walked into the pool and went underwater for a little bit and then came up and walked into my room totally wet. And he said he was in the middle of talking to me about something. So that actually happened, I realized, and I sort of blocked it out”. Source: movies.about.com

"Weil's designs have been worn by all kinds of celebrities from Clarke Gable to Matthew McConaughey. The Rockmount pearl snap was even the shirt of choice for Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal on the set of Brokeback Mountain. We figured it was Wrangler.

Apparently, he managed to reach the ripe old age of 107. We wonder if he followed the Ernest Borgnine fountain of youth method? Source: www.stylelist.com

"Brokeback Mountain, before it is any other thing, is essentially a pastoral, a hymm to the outdoors and the outdoor life and living in a tent with the one you love, surrounded by the rugged beauty of the craggy mountains all around.Ledger and Gyllenhall are (after a fashion) the spiritual descendants of Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, mourning a diminished frontier and seeking to leave civilization behind". Source: txreviews.com

Michael Cera (Someday Soon)

A musical video featuring images Michael Cera in "Arrested Development", "Clark & Michael", "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" interview, etc., and the songs "Just a kid" and "Someday Soon" by Wilco.

Reese and Kirsten (best and worst dressed)

Reese has been chosen as one of the Ten Best Dressed of 2007 according to People Magazine.

THE SOPHISTICATE

2007 brought out the best in Reese Witherspoon. From her spectacular Nina Ricci gown at the Oscars to her simple black ensembles on the streets of L.A., this mother of two shows us less is definitely more.
Source: www.people.com

BEST STRAPLESS
Reese Witherspoon showed that single is sexy in her yellow Nina Ricci dress at the Golden Globes. Source: www.people.com

KIRSTEN DUNST
The fashion-forward star took a misguided look back with a vintage gown and flowered headband at the Met Costume Institute Gala in New York City in May.
Source: www.people.com