WEIRDLAND

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Jake Gyllenhaal was considered for "Avatar"

"Cameron considered both Jake Gyllenhaal and Matt Damon for the role of Jake Sully in AVATAR.Matt Damon in "Green Zone" (2010). Jake Gyllenhaal - scan from The Telegraph.

Of course, as we all know by now, the role ultimately went to the then little-known Aussie actor Sam Worthington.
MTV News recently sat down with the director and discussed these alternate casting choices. Check out the conversation below.
Source: www.ifmagazine.com

"But Cameron fell hard for Sam Worthington and in the end, let’s be honest, it really didn’t matter who they cast. Avatar is all about spectacle. It’s the massive, epic scale of Pandora and all of Cameron’s whiz-bang 3D effects which have propelled it to the top of the box office. Mostly though, Cameron just loved Worthington’s accent. He says, “You hear Sam talk and he sounds like Crocodile Dundee — but you hear him in the character and he's utterly and completely the guy.” Start practicing your Croc Dundee impression Matt Damon and maybe you’ll get a part in Avatar 2". Source: www.cinemablend.com

"Even Cameron himself has thought about the prospects of further "Avatar" installments. In an interview with Hero Complex, the director revealed that future sequels could involve Pandora's neighboring moons and even the central planet, known as Polyphemus.
"The planet in Pandora's sky is called Polyphemus and it's the primary for a system of moons, just like in our solar system, Jupiter has fifty some moons and they're discovering smaller ones all of the time," said Cameron.Perhaps the fourth and sixth moons will be the subject of the next "Avatar" films. Do these moons contain new sources of unobtanium for Earth's population? Is there yet another indigenous race ready and waiting to protect their land from humanity?" Source: moviesblog.mtv.com

Friday, January 08, 2010

Retail & discount shopping

"The cinema industry expected to reach a tipping point in 2010 for new content due to digital conversion financing placement.

Turning to the second headline, it was fundamentals for the vast majority of our portfolio continue to outperform most retail categories and the economy in general.

Our fourth headline was that the cinema industry is to reach a tipping point in 2010 when new content due to digital conversion and financing placements."
Source: seekingalpha.com

"Amidst the myriad days working at a Texas retail store selling makeup and liquid drain killer, then coming home to a perpetually stoned husband, Justine decides to hunt for some excitement. She finds something new and different in the store's new clerk, Holden (Gyllenhaal, also in "Donnie Darko"). Holden, a moody 22-year-old who has modeled himself after the same-named character from "The Catcher in the Rye", feels nobody understands him. But his feelings suddenly change once he
meets Justine.
So one day Holden asks Justine to meet him in front of Chuck E. Cheese's (let the romance begin), and the two begin an awkward affair". Source: everything2.com

Target operates more than 1,700 stores in 49 states.Target stores system changed how consumers think about discount shopping.

Women's Wear Daily ranks Target 7th on a list of Ideal Employers, based on a survey of more than 2,000 undergraduates interested in the fashion, retail and apparel sector – 2009

Forbes ranked Target 41st on their list of “America’s Most Reputable Companies” – 2009

DiversityBusiness.com ranked Target 31st on their list of America's Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities – 2008

Michael Cera: Youth in Revolt premiere

Michael Cera and Portia Doubleday at the Premiere of "Youth In Revolt" in Los Angeles on January 6, 2010.

AVC: You have to cut a fair amount to turn a 500-hundred-page book into a film. Was there anything in particular that you were sorry didn’t make it into the film?
MC: So many things, so many characters. There are so many more characters in the book. There’s Apurva, Vijay’s sister, who Trent has a thing with, and then Nick has a thing with. There’s Millie Filbert, who’s this girl. She’s kind of mentioned in the movie, but she’s this girl Lefty’s crazy about. I have the extended version of the book, which you can’t really find. It’s hardbound.
PD: Did [Youth In Revolt author] C.D. give you it?
MC: Yeah, I got it from C.D. Payne.
PD: Yeah, he gave me one, too.
MC: Under the table. You can buy this thing that’s called “Cut To The Twisp,” and it’s all the stuff he cut out of the book. And it’s just the stuff that’s been cut out. You can read along with the one that’s published and fill in the blanks. Like in “Cut To The Twisp”, it tells you where in the book it would have gone. But then you could buy the uncut version, and in the uncut version, Nick has a full-on relationship with this girl Millie, and Lefty has an operation on his penis that makes it four inches shorter.
AVC: C.D. Payne is something of a mysterious figure.
MC: Yeah, he was going to be here, but he’s going to meet up with us in Seattle and San Francisco and do some interviews with us.
AVC: So he’s not going to be such a mysterious figure anymore?
MC: No. He became less mysterious on set. He showed up on set and hung out a bit. But yeah, he was really nice. Really interesting.
PD: Yeah, I was picturing what he looked like, and who he was, but he was super-sweet, and a laid-back, really cool person.
MC: Very funny, too.
AVC: Portia, this is one of your first movies. Was it daunting playing such a large, central part?PD: I don’t think I would have been able to do it without Miguel. I’m just so happy that I’ve met him just as a person, even if I didn’t work with him, because he’s super-talented and so not egotistical about it, and super-intelligent, and kind of collaborative on your level, and hands-on. Just really a warm, amazing person. I remember e-mailing him and sending him “I don’t know how to do this part. What should I do?” Basically I had a few freak-outs. It was intimidating. I mean, this cast is ridiculous.MC: That one freak-out you had—
PD: No, don’t!
MC: I’m kidding. [Laughs.]
PD: He just said to trust your instincts, and honestly, as a rookie, I think that’s the best thing he could have said, because it just put me in a state where I could give it everything I had, without the pressure of feeling like I had to input so much, especially after reading the book. She’s so complex. It was hard being manipulative and nice and likeable at the same time. So he really, really helped me through the process, definitely.
AVC: Juno also had some very writerly dialogue.
MC: Well, it’s very stylized, yeah. But this has its own tone. And we tried to take a lot of the dialogue from the book. A lot of the dialogue was just written in the same spirit as the book. He’s really amazing with language. It’s kind of what makes the book really stand out, because there’s this 14-year-old kid who—you know, it’s his journals, and it’s really clear that he’s just showing off all the words he knows and kind of stretching his legs.
AVC: It seems like they’re also at the age where you want to show off. You want to dazzle the world with your intellect.
MC: Yeah, and that’s really the only thing he has going for him. That he reads a lot and knows a lot of words and is really good with language. And he wants to be a writer.AVC: It’s a form of power when you’re feeling powerless at that age. In this, you play Nick and also his alter ego Francois; which was more fun to play?
MC: I think they were both equally fun to play. What drew me to the movie was the character of Nick, and how much fun he is. It’s a great character in the book, and the Francois stuff was so much fun to do, too. There was a lot of fun stuff to do.
AVC: Francois is probably the biggest deviation from the parts you’ve played in the past. You got to be a bit of a badass.
MC: Yeah. Definitely. Yeah.
AVC: Did the moustache help?
MC: It did. Yeah, definitely, because it’s glued on, and it tightens your mouth up, and it really changes the way you use your face normally.AVC: How tired are you of answering questions about the Arrested Development movie?
MC: No, I’m not tired. I never give a different answer, though. I don’t know anything different yet. I think it’s just in development.
AVC: It seems like it’s been this whole big drama, because it’s been in development for a while.
MC: I guess so. I mean, not really. It’s all kind of pretend drama, I think. It seems like movies normally take a long time to get made. When you focus on it, and you’re waiting for something, it seems to take longer. But I think most movies go through this really arduous process.
AVC: I guess there was this idea, online at least, that you were the lone holdout, that you were depriving the world of an Arrested Development movie. Was that strange?
MC: A little bit, yeah. I get it, though. People like to do that. It’s fine.
AVC: Is there any basis of truth in that? Is it that everyone else has signed a contract, and you are angrily shaking your fist at the world?
MC: No, no. I was hesitant, but I’m allowed to be hesitant, I think.
AVC: Why do you hate Arrested Development fans? Why do you want to rob them of this movie?
MC: No, I want to be in the movie. I do. I don’t want to rob anyone. But I love the show. It’s difficult to just say yes to something when… I just had a fear of it taking away from the show. But I got past that, and I’m glad I did, because I really do want to be a part of the movie. I was just afraid. I think that’s okay".
Source: www.avclub.com


Youth in Revolt Trailer #2

Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Ask Amanda Seyfried & Channing Tatum a question

"John is a handsome solider who meets the charming, young Savannah, a conservative college student, while home on leave. The two fall in love and embark on a seven-year-long relationship wherein they are repeatedly torn apart by John's endless deployments. But it's their letters in between rare reunions that bond them forever.On Saturday, Jan. 9 Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried will be filming an Unscripted interview where they'll be asking each other questions submitted by you. Ask Channing Tatum about his upcoming projects. Or ask Amanda is she's a fan of Nicholas Sparks. Really, you can ask anything you want, just make sure you submit it in the comments section below and that you include your name and location.

Come back
HERE on Monday, Feb. 1 to see if your Channing or Amanda asked one of your questions! Source: insidemovies.moviefone.com

Marley Shelton in Jonathan Parker's Untitled


BUBBLE BOY is a zany and lighthearted but irreverent road comedy from music video director Blair Hayes. Jake Gyllenhaal (OCTOBER SKY, DONNIE DARKO) stars as Jimmy Livingston, a young man born with an immune deficiency, who is forced to spend his life inside a sterile plastic bubble. His overprotective, fanatical right-wing Christian mother (Swoosie Kurtz) doesn't let him have friends, and the only TV show she lets him watch is LAND OF THE LOST.Jake Gyllenhaal with Marley Shelton in "Bubble Boy" (2001).

The pretty girl next door, Chloe (Marley Shelton - VALENTINE, SUGAR & SPICE, NEVER BEEN KISSED, PLEASANTVILLE) visits him, and the two become friends. Because they can't touch each other through his bubble, they keep their passions in check, but when Chloe goes to Niagara Falls to marry her creepy boyfriend, Jimmy builds a portable bubble and leaves home for the first time to stop her.

"In (Untitled) we meet two sparring artist brothers, Adrian (Adam Goldberg) and Josh (Eion Bailey), as well as the dominatrix-gallerist (Marley Shelton) who comes between them as they get caught up in the same dilemma: is contemporary art for the self, or for the masses? Offscreen, the actor, director, and music-maker Adam Goldberg playfully struggles with a similar catch-22. “There’s something about boldly selling out, which is to me much cleaner than just kind of half-assing it,” he explains. Then again, Goldberg, on the outside, doesn’t seem to be concerned about mainstream draw. Well, maybe. From the Kosha’ blaxploitation street hero in The Hebrew Hammer to the lovelorn designer in Two Days in Paris, the idiosyncratic roles Goldberg chooses hardly make him appealing to the masses. LC Although Marley Shelton’s stiletto-wearing, dominatrix-gallerist character Madeleine is a bit over the top, it feels accurate.AG Yeah, I think she’s great. She’s just slick enough that she’s super-believable as someone who’s that girl, but has this whole other thing going on. And I like that she shows who she really is. She’s this mod-feminist Sarah Lawrence girl, sitting in her apartment, with the Sarah Lawrence T-shirt. And when she starts to cry—those are two of my favorite bits. At the end of the day, well, I’m going back to that September Issue kind of thing. Anna Wintour, you know, what is it really like when she’s alone, in the bathroom, by herself? You don’t really get to see that concept in that movie. To me, that movie is just not too revealing". Source: www.vmagazine.com



Emile Hirsch is the funniest of Kilimanjaro group

Jessica Biel and Emile Hirsch at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2009, on 16th February in New York City.

"A star-studded group of actors, musicians and activists, including Jessica Biel and Into the Wild star Emile Hirsch, have kicked off 2010 with a lofty mission: summiting the formidable 19,340-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, to raise awareness and funds for the global water crisis. "Meeting the people and community in Tanzania … has been an invaluable and eye-opening experience for me," Biel says after landing there Tuesday. "My hope is that others will be inspired to find ways that they can help; starting simply in their homes and continuing to other parts of the world. We are all in this together."
Source: www.people.com

Isabel Lucas and Emile Hirsch, 1st day of Kilimanjaro climbing.

"Offering his high school superlatives for the first day, Kenna gave Santigold the "Best Dressed" award thanks to her spray-painted boots with gold laces. Lupe earned "Most Likely to Go to Bed Early From Fatigue." Hirsch got props for being the funniest, Biel for being the most focused, Lucas "Most Likely to Succeed Mother Nature" due to her love of the outdoors and himself the "Most Likely to Summit and Jump Up and Down and Scream Success After Failing Once" designation.
"When everyone summits, that's the point where we will be able to speak to the world from the top of the world and say, 'This is the global clean-water crisis. If you're not paying attention, it will happen to you.' Source: www.mtv.com

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Direct Signals

"The Ring" was chosen number 20 on the cable channel Bravo's list of the 100 Scariest Movie Moments, being #1 "Jaws" by Steven Spielberg: 1. Jaws

In 1974, Steven Spielberg filmed the movie "Jaws" on Martha's Vineyard. Later, some scenes from Jaws 2 and Jaws the Revenge were filmed on the island too. In June, 2005 Martha's Vineyard celebrated the 30th anniversary of "Jaws" - the "JawsFest".

Jake Gyllenhaal in Martha's Vineyard beach, on 7th August 2009.

Jake Gyllenhaal worked as a lifeguard on Martha's Vineyard: "Someone got stung by a jellyfish and I peed on their leg to counteract the sting" he told PEOPLE.

"Digital electronic technologies atomize and abstractly schematize the analogic quality of the photographic and cinematic into discrete pixels and bits of information that are transmitted serially, each bit discontinuous, discontiguous, and absolute — each bit “being in itself” even as it is part of a system. As well, unlike the cinema, the electronic is phenomenologically experienced not as a discrete, centered, intentional projection but rather as a simultaneous, dispersive, and neural/ “neutral” transmission. Thus electronic “presence” as it is experienced by the spectator/user is one further remove from previous referential connections made between the body’s signification and the world’s concrete forms." Source: www.ejumpcut.org

The Ring - Movie Spoiler: "The TV at Noah's place turns on to a static signal. Noah turns it off, but it turns back on to the image of a well in the forest. Water starts to come out of the TV set. Suddenly, a girl starts climbing out of the well".
"I also liked how, in the Japanese version, after the heroine turns off the television she sees a reflection in the screen of Sakada standing behind her, which I’ll bet M. Night Shamalayan ripped off for Signs. The climactic scene in both movies shows the audience how Sadako/Samara makes good on her seventh-day death threat. But in The Ring, Samara is still plagued by a poor TV signal as she waltzes across the ex-husband’s studio floor". Source: acurrie.wordpress.com

Jake Gyllenhaal visiting medical center

Jake Gyllenhaal visiting a medical center in Beverly Hills, on 5th January 2010.

Adventureland - Here She Comes Now


A musical video with scenes from "Adventureland" (2009), directed b Greg Mottola and starred by Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg.

Songs "You may be right" by Yo La Tengo and "Here She comes now" demo by The Velvet Underground.