WEIRDLAND

Monday, February 09, 2009

BAFTAs 2009 Winners

Kate Winslet.Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.Penélope Cruz.Gemma Arterton.

"Slumdog Millionaire" continued its winning ways at this year's BAFTA Awards, snagging seven honors including Best Picture and Director.

The underdog-turned-Oscar favorite also won awards for adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing, sound and music, easily trouncing its competition. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which went into the awards ceremony with the same number of nominations as Slumdog (11), but took home only three awards, for production design, make-up/hair and visual effects. Those two films were the only movies to pick up more than one BAFTA award, with all other films winning only one trophy each.
Mickey Rourke received the Best Actor honor for The Wrestler, while Kate Winslet, a Best Actress nominee for both The Reader
and Revolutionary Road, won the award for The Reader. Supporting honors went to Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) and Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and the Outstanding British Film award went, in a bit of a surprise, to the documentary Man on Wire.


Other winners included In Bruges (original screenplay), The Duchess (costumes), WALL-E (animated film), and I've Loved You So Long (film not in the English language). 33 year-old Noel Clarke received the Orange Rising Star Award, the only award voted on by the public, and writer-director Steve McQueen (Hunger) won the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer.
Penélope Cruz, Mickey Rourke and Kate Winslet.

Source: www.imdb.com/news

"The Girl next door" review and videos

The first kiss between Matt and Danielle was shot on March 10, 2003 in the backyard of a house on Capri Drive north of Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades. "The Girl Next Door" belongs squarely within this third category of teen film, and is the best motion picture about teenage life since 2001's "Donnie Darko".At the center of "The Girl Next Door" is the love story between Matthew and Danielle.
Together, they experience one of the most magical screen romances in recent memory. Their first kiss, played to the strings of David Gray's "This Year's Love" is simply breathtaking in its innocent simplicity and beauty. "The Girl Next Door" is an entrancing treasure of a film with the ability to touch you deeply, make you roll with laughter, smile with joy, and feel. It is the first unadulterated masterpiece of 2004. Source: www.themovieboy.com

Eli Roth actually did date "the porn star next door" among others, and Christopher McKenna listened to his stories and turned it into this movie.

McKenna's involvement was at the behest of director Luke Greenfield, who collaborated on the script with him. David Kartch was previously attached to direct, but dropped out and was replaced by Luke Greenfield in 2002.
Producers Charles Gordon and Marc Sternberg, as well as studio executive Peter Cramer, had earlier worked together as the producers of "October Sky", which also featured a teenager's attempts at social mobility.

The girl next door (Sweet Darlin'):


A video featuring some images and stills from "The girl next door" starring Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert. Songs "Sweet Darlin'" by She & him and "Please Rise" by Lambchop.

The girl next door (Lady):

A video featuring some images and stills of "The girl next door", starred by Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert. Song "Lady" by Eugene Kelly.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Jake and Reese in Venice Beach

Jake and Reese out with friends in Venice Beach, California, on 7th February 2009.
Pictures courtesy of
Iheartjakemedia.com
"Reese Witherspoon sports a possible baby bump while hanging out with boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal in Venice Beach, Calif. on (January 7) Saturday.

The 32-year-old Academy Award winning actress went along with Jake and some friends for lunch at AXE Restaurant. She then headed out for some shopping along Abbot Kinney Boulevard.
Reese has two kids, Ava, 9 years old and Deacon, 5 years old".

DO YOU THINK Reese is pregnant again — YAY or NAY?
Source: JustJared.buzznet.com

Maggie and Peter in Chekov's "Uncle Vanya"

"Over lunch at a trattoria near their Park Slope home, Ms. Gyllenhaal and Mr. Sarsgaard come across like a shinier version of That Brooklyn Couple who gave up the hubbub of Manhattan to raise their child in a quieter, tree-lined borough. They paw affectionately at each other’s collars and complete each other’s sentences; juggle their work schedules to accommodate their 2-year-old daughter, Ramona; and grumble about carrying strollers down subway staircases.

On closer inspection, though, that veneer of mundanity starts to unravel: the couple, who have been together since 2001, are not married, live in their own brownstone, refer to each other as lover (at least Mr. Sarsgaard uses the term) and can often arrange their work schedules so that one of them is free to attend their child. Mr. Sarsgaard and Ms. Gyllenhaal said they would work together more often if there were more low-risk opportunities like this, at a small Off Broadway theater with an accommodating director.

“It is only about the experience of doing it, and with your lover; why would we engage in anything any other way than that?” Mr. Sarsgaard said. “Why would we join forces commercially? It would be ——”

“Kind of disgusting” Ms. Gyllenhaal said, finishing his thought.

Their individual résumés explain why the prospect of their acting together is so intriguing. Mr. Sarsgaard, 37, is coming off a widely praised Broadway revival of Chekhov’s “Seagull”, in which he played Trigorin with Kristin Scott Thomas as Arkadina, to add to a repertory of reserved yet sympathetic characters in movies like “Shattered Glass”, “Kinsey” and “Garden State.” Ms. Gyllenhaal, 31, who was last seen on screen in the summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight” (playing a role she inherited from Ms. Holmes), has her own tradition of playing astonishingly raw and unglamorous characters, in films like “Sherrybaby” and “Secretary” and plays like Tony Kushner’s “Homebody/Kabul.”
And it was she who suggested Mr. Sarsgaard for the role of Astrov, a suggestion that took the play’s creative team by surprise. As Mr. Pendleton recalled, “I said, ‘But he’s in “The Seagull.” ’ I didn’t even know Maggie and Peter were together.”It may be satisfying for the audience to see Ms. Gyllenhaal and Mr. Sarsgaard finally confront each other, but the actors said it was a scene they were still struggling with.

“We have never, ever done this one scene without one of us dropping a line,” Ms. Gyllenhaal said.

“Usually just one of us, though,” Mr. Sarsgaard said, pointing to Ms. Gyllenhaal, who laughed.

“In some ways,” she said, “that scene is about my completely relinquishing control — giving into him completely. And so I do. And sometimes I can’t remember my lines.”Whether or not the couple perfect that scene by opening night, Mr. Pendleton said, they had already brought a fresh take to “Uncle Vanya” with their “infinitely exploratory” acting process, which he explained: “You don’t make decisions until you absolutely have to. You just try everything, well into previews. Because of that I think they’ve inspired the whole group.”

It remains to be seen if performing “Uncle Vanya” will make them more comfortable with their grade of celebrity status. Ms. Gyllenhaal said she could foresee a time when their desires to protect Ramona’s privacy and lead a more domestic existence would compel them to leave New York. “Both of us crave a quieter lifestyle lately,” she said. “We would probably like to move somewhere greener.”

Then again, Mr. Sarsgaard said, “Maggie thought we were moving to the country when we moved here”, to Park Slope.

Should “Uncle Vanya” merely prove a once-in-a-lifetime, let’s-never-do-that-again occurrence, the two said it had nonetheless been constructive for their relationship.

“I think you call me a genius in the play, right?” Mr. Sarsgaard asked Ms. Gyllenhaal.

“A couple times”, she gamely replied.

“Now that she’s got that straight in her head, we’re cementing it in there,” Mr. Sarsgaard said. “I feel like that will give me another five years of clear sailing.”
Source: www.nytimes.com

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Recasting Batman

"It's a relief to know that few are taking Christian Bale's absurd man-trum sitting down. His gratuitous lobbing of F-bombs at a crew member on the set of Terminator: Salvation has no doubt made a considerable number of us forsake him as our caped crusader of choice. Nolan may be firm in that release date, in which case, he'll need some help recasting Batman. Considering that most of the next film has already been cast, this shouldn't be too difficult.● Jake Gyllenhaal. At some point, Tobey Maguire was talking about leaving the Spider-Man franchise to do serious fare (cue Seabiscuit trailer), and in the slim amount of time between when that statement was issued and retracted, Jake Gyllenhaal had emerged has a favorite to replace him. So clearly, Gyllenhaal, who in the past has played Jennifer Aniston’s stalker, a gay cowboy and some guy in Jarhead who traipsed about in a Santa hat, has a distinguishable superhero mark.
● Ryan Gosling. But Gyllenhaal’s indie appeal—the thread that runs through all of Batman’s principals—could have faded. And if that’s the case, maybe Nolan can bring in Gosling, who also sports the luster of an Oscar nominee.
● Jared Leto. No, seriously. Hot Topic wardrobe choices and raccoon make-up aside, Leto has considerable experience brooding. Also his Brooklyn accent sounds much less contrived than Bale’s. And so long as he doesn’t try to use the film to plug his music, I’d be willing to consider Leto as Batman. For further persuasion, consider these two words: Jordan Catalano.● Gael García Bernal. Sure, he’s diminutive and does a mean Doris Day impression, but there’s still a streak of rebel in Bernal that makes him quite equipped to be a surprise superhero. Additionally, he’s both Oscar-friendly and a friend of the indies. Also, of those listed, he’d probably be the only one to forgo the unfortunate trademark Batman rasp".
Source: www.blackbookmag.com

Emile Hirsch birthday Project


"So here’s the deal: Emile’s birthday is on March 13th, and we all wanted to do something special for him this year. We are going to be creating a fan scrapbook and sending it to him! So we are asking you, if you have any messages, or videos, graphics or photos, to send them in so that we can create the ultimate scrapbook. You have until March 1st, which is when I will be collecting all of the information and submissions to create the scrapbook". To send Emile a message you can click the image above or here.
Source: Emile-hirsch.org

Pics and articles of "Twilight"

"Primarily, though, what has captured the hearts of teenagers is the romance at its bloody heart between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and fellow pupil, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), one of a family of vampires who have learnt to control their bloodlust. "I think at its core, it's very much like Romeo and Juliet", adds Hardwicke. "It's the young lovers, with this super-passionate bond that they have. They'll go against their families. They'll go against everything."Though as Hardwicke notes, Edward has one further problem that Romeo never faced. "If they get too passionate, he'll want to kill her ... we don't even know how much they can kiss or whether he can even stand next to her."

Certainly, when I saw the film on its opening day in LA the teenage girls sitting in my row ("Twi-hards" as they're called) were literally gasping when Bella and Edward head towards that first – possibly fatal – kiss. According to Hardwicke, this is no surprise. "Vampires are the sexiest of creatures – they're not like a gross zombie or mummy. You don't want to be kissed by a mummy!" Source: www.independent.co.uk

"Indeed the young British actor Robert Pattinson, who plays our hunky vampire, recently discussed these themes in an interview with the Telegraph.

He said teenaged girls get hysterical about the film because his character is 'unthreateningly sexual' so they are able to lust after him in the safety of their own homes/cinemas.

And what's wrong with that? Surely it's preferable to a nasty hero that goes around having sex and then sucking the blood out of every girl he finds, and then making it seem cool?
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk