"End of Watch": top-selling DVD and Blu-ray in the United States

Jake Gyllenhaal's police drama "End of Watch" is the top-selling DVD and Blu-ray in the United States, Rentrak announced Monday.

Coming in at No. 2 on the DVD and Blu-ray sales chart for the week ending Jan. 27 is "Taken 2," followed by "Death Race 3: Inferno" at No. 3, "Pitch Perfect" at No. 4 and "The Possession" at No. 5. Rounding out the top tier are "Frankenweenie" at No. 6, "Looper" at No. 7, "Ted" at No. 8, "The Dark Knight Rises" at No. 9 and "Dredd" at No. 10.

The No. 1 DVD and Blu-ray rental for the week ended Jan. 26 is "Looper." Source: www.realitytvworld.com

One of the more underappreciated movies by audiences in 2012 was End of Watch (2012) from writer/director David Ayer. When the Academy Awards allowed only five Best Picture nominations, it was easier to accept that a certain movie “just isn’t a ‘Best Picture’ kind of movie.” Now, with ten available slots for nominations—and frustrating film-lovers the past two years by selecting only nine—everything decent is “snubbed”, especially independent films that were teased into believing they now had access. And of all snubbed films, End of Watch is near the top of the list and now available in DVD/Blu-ray. (You can read my analysis of the Oscar nominations and the top films of 2012.) I recommend it to you heartily as both good cinema for the film and good social insight in the story and special features. Source: www.justpressplay.net

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick as Brian and Janet Taylor in "End of Watch" (2012) directed by David Ayer

Gangster Squad, Lingeman's The Noir Forties, Detour, Brick: Neo-Noir & Fate

Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney in "Angels with Dirty Faces" (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz

In the annals of Hollywood history, there has been no studio more associated with the gangster genre than Warner Bros. Pictures. From Robinson, Cagney and Bogart appearing in films like “The Public Enemy” and “Angels With Dirty Faces”, to De Niro and Scorcese’s “Goodfellas”, Warner Bros.’ reputation as the “gangster studio” is one well earned. With that reputation and the current resurgence of the gangster in modern pop culture – “The Godfather” never really went away, while “Boardwalk Empire” is a TV favorite – it seemed inconceivable that the star-studded “Gangster Squad” could be anything but a hit with fans and critics.

Marketing “Gangster Squad” to moviegoers as a serious crime picture along the lines of De Palma’s “The Untouchables” was a mistake.

The final film lacks the weight or ambition to elevate it to such esteemed company. This is the gangster picture as one of the lesser summer comic book action movies: something to keep you distracted for a couple of hours, but one that you’ll have trouble remembering a few months down the line. Source: www.gmanetwork.com

DETOUR IS AN ULTRA-LOW-BUDGET 1946 film noir that packs an undeniable punch. “He went searching for love,” the Detour poster said, “but fate forced a detour” — to accidental murder. The film is one of Richard Lingeman’s touchstones in his new book The Noir Forties. For him the film dramatizes how, in the feverish world of immediate postwar America, “guilt is arbitrary, the sentence is death, and there is no appeal.” Yes, on V-J day in 1945 the sailor kissed the nurse in Times Square in that ecstatic Albert Eisenstaedt photo. But less than a year later, fear had returned; people were anxious about another Depression, about the Germans, about the Soviets, about the A-bomb. “Fate,” it seemed, “was in the driver’s seat.”

“Films noir,” Lingeman declares at the outset, “are a key for unlocking the psychology, the national mood during those years.” But despite its title, The Noir Forties is not a book about the films — for that, readers should turn to J. Hoberman’s recent book An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War, and to the classic More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts by James Naremore. Instead, Lingeman’s book provides a broader history of the brief but crucial period when the world of the New Deal died and the iron cage of Cold War politics and culture was forged. It would remain in place for the next 45 years. Source: www.salon.com

Happy 32nd birthday, Nora Zehetner!

Nora Zehetner as Laura in "Brick" (2005) directed by Rian Johnson.

The film is, in fact, a refreshing private-eye thriller in a style now widely identified as neo-noir, and the brick in question is a block of heroin. Along the trail, he meets assorted noir archetypes. One of them is the school's femme fatale, with the resonant name of Laura, who's a cross between Bacall in The Big Sleep and Mary Astor in The Maltese Falcon. Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Eva Green will be Ava Lord in "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For"

Eva Green has been tapped to play the femme fatale of Dimension Films’ Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, being directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.

Green’s casting marks the end of a long search for an actress to take on the role of Ava Lord, who is at the centre of the pulpy story first published as a comic book in the 1990s. Josh Brolin is playing Dwight, the photographer. Returning for the sequel are Mickey Rourke, Jessica, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson and Jaime King. New additions include Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Jamie Chung, Ray Liotta, Juno Temple, and Julia Garner.

Eva Green in Madame Figaro magazine (2012)

“Ava Lord is one of the most deadly and fascinating residents of Sin City,” Rodriguez and Miller said in a statement. “From the start, we knew that the actor would need to be able to embody the multifaceted characteristics of this femme fatale and we found that in Eva Green." Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

Michael Pitt, Eva Green and Louis Garrel during 2003 Venice Film Festival - 'The Dreamers' Photocall in Italy

Jake Gyllenhaal was initially considered by Bertolucci for the role of Matthew in "The Dreamers" but Gyllenhaal turned it down because of the explicit nature of the nude scenes.

Jake Gyllenhaal filming "Prisoners" in Georgia

Jake Gyllenhaal with mom Naomi Foner attending the 'Very Good Girls' Premiere - Sundance Film Festival, in Salt Lake City (Utah) on January 22, 2013

Jake Gyllenhaal on the set of "Prisoners" (2013) in Georgia, on January 20, 2013

"Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman were in character on the Conyers, GA, set of Prisoners yesterday. The picture sees Hugh Jackman playing a father, who, not content with the job law enforcement is doing to find his kidnapped daughter, takes the case into his own hands. Jake reportedly plays a local policeman assigned to the case. Jake and Hugh will appear in the movie, slated for a September release, with Paul Dano and Melissa Leo." Source: www.popsugar.com

"End of Watch has come home on DVD and Blu-Ray and it's a fantastic opportunity for millions to see this fantastic film that should have been a blockbuster. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star as two Los Angeles police officers working some of the most dangerous streets in the city. Also not-to-be-missed features include Fate with a Badge and Honors, a must-see in its ability to have the viewer see those that protect their safety on a daily basis in a whole new light.

End of Watch, standing on its own, deserved serious Academy Awards consideration." Source: www.moviefanatic.com

A comeback for Reese Witherspoon, Winona Ryder, Josh Hartnett & Lindsay Lohan

Who: Reese Witherspoon


"Mud" Movie TRAILER (2013) - Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon

Why she should make a comeback: Sure, she's been focusing on other parts of her life, like marriage and the birth of her third child, but the Oscar-winner's last big screen hit was the instantly forgettable "This Means War."

Who: Winona Ryder


The Iceman - Official Trailer featuring Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans

Why she should make a comeback: Two words: Winona Forever.

Who: Josh Hartnett


Josh Hartnett ("Make Me Smile") video

Why he should make a comeback: Hartnett seemed poised as one of his generation's most-promising actors at the turn of the century, with plum roles in "Virgin Suicides," "Pearl Harbor" and "40 Days and 40 Nights." What happened?

Who: Lindsay Lohan


The Canyons Movie CLIP - Assaulted (2013) - Lindsay Lohan

Why she should make a comeback: Because even though we should probably know better by now, we can't stop secretly rooting for the charming kid who stole our hearts in "Freaky Friday" and "The Parent Trap." Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Emma Stone talks "Gangster Squad" in W magazine

In Gangster Squad, Stone reunites with Gosling, and their love scenes have an intensity that gives the movie an emotional center. Although her part is underwritten, Stone does something new: She channels a glamorous woman of mystery.

Emma Stone as Grace Faraday and Ryan Gosling as Sgt. Jerry Wooters in "Gangster Squad" (2013) directed by Ruben Fleischer

-Who do you play in Gangster Squad?

-Grace Faraday, who moved to Hollywood in the ’40s to become a star and ended up falling in with Mickey Cohen, a very well-known gangster, and his brood. Grace is also having an affair with Jerry Wooters, portrayed by Ryan Gosling. He’s one of the cops investigating Mickey Cohen. Grace is playing with fire—she’s constantly torn, caught in that classic conundrum between good and evil.

Audrey Totter was one of the great femme fatales of the film noir era, often playing "bad girl" archetypes in 1940s

-Actresses from that era were always so dolled up. Was it hard to be perfectly groomed at all times?

-Those undergarments were pretty demanding. It’s time-consuming to put on a bustier and a little corset every day. But you’re immediately more poised than you would be in modern-day clothes. And it makes it easy to get into character. Source: www.wmagazine.com

The Truth Behind the Real-Life 'Gangster Squad': "You probably figured that the movie was Hollywood-tized, but I feel like it’s my duty to confirm that fact. The characters are real, yes, the situation is real, yes, but the violence in the movie is outlandish and bears no accuracy to the reality of the Gangster Squad’s actions. My mom likes to say 'they didn’t use bullets. They used their brains.' Yet violence sells more than cleverness, so unsurprisingly violence won," she said. "All I ask is to keep that in the back of your mind: the real Jack O’Mara fired his gun once. And only once." Source: www.nextmovie.com

Bunraku (2010) starring Josh Hartnett, Gackt - Full movie

August (2008) - directed by Austin Chick, starring Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Adam Scott and David Bowie - final scenes.

Josh Hartnett plays The Drifter in "Bunraku" (2010) directed by Guy Moshe


Bunraku (2010) directed by Guy Moshe, starring Josh Hartnett, Gackt, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, etc.

Anniversary of Black Dahlia's murder - Pathology Museum event

Barts Pathology Museum at Queen Mary, University of London’s West Smithfield campus will hold a special evening seminar on Tuesday 15 January – the anniversary of the gruesome and much-publicised Black Dahlia Murder. The event will focus on cultural depictions of the case, followed by a wider look at forensic science and cases of dismemberment.

On January 15th, 1947, the dismembered body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was discovered on a vacant lot in Los Angeles, California. To this day, the murder is unsolved, but the brutality of the crime and Short’s ‘femme fatale’ persona have ensured The Black Dahlia Murder remains a part of crime folklore.

Crime fiction scholar and editor Steven Powell runs the blog The Venetian Vase and is author of the essay Betty Short and I Go Back: James Ellroy and the Metanarrative of the Black Dahlia Case. He has edited the books Conversations with James Ellroy and 100 American Crime Writers. His talk, I Never Knew Her in Life: Cultural Depictions of the Black Dahlia Case, focuses on the enduring popularity of Short’s life and death in newspapers, novels, and films.

Entry to the event is £6 and includes refreshments and a themed cocktail. There will also be a chance to win a copy of the film The Black Dahlia, directed by Brian De Palma. Source: presszoom.com

Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson and Brian De Palma on the set of "The Black Dahlia" (2006)

Ofcr. Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert: "The basic rule of homicide applied: nothing stays buried forever. Corpses. Ghosts. Nothing stays buried forever."

"I kept everything pertaining to them away from him out of a desire to keep Madeleine's lesbian bar doings under wraps. I continued skimming the file, sweating in the hot, airless room. No Webster prefixes appeared, and I started getting nightmare flashes: Betty sitting on the westbound Wilshire bus stop, 7:30 P.M., 1/12/47, waving bye-bye Bucky, about to jump into eternity. I thought about querying the bus company, a general rousting of drivers on that route--then realized it was too cold, that any driver who remembered picking up Betty would have come forward during all the '47 publicity. I thought of calling the other numbers I'd gotten from Pacific Coast Bell --then jacked that chronologically they were off-- they didn't jibe with my new knowledge of where Betty was at what time. I called Russ at the Bureau and learned that he was still in Tucson, while Harry was working crowd control up by the Hollywoodland sign. I finished my paper prowl, with a total of zero Webster prefixes. I thought of yanking Roach's P.C.B file, fixing the notion immediately. Downtown LA, Madison prefix to Webster, was not a toll call--there would be no record, ditto on the Biltmore listings. It came on then, big and ugly: bye-bye Bleichert at the bus stop, adios shitbird, has-been, never-was, stool pigeon niggertown harness bull. Bye-bye Betty, Beth, Betsy, Liz, we were a couple of tramps, too bad we didn't meet before 39th and Norton, it just might have worked, maybe us would've been the one thing we wouldn't have fucked up past redemption" -"The Black Dahlia" (1987) written by James Ellroy

Jake Gyllenhaal will star in "Prisoners" (2013) and in talks to star in 'Mississippi Grind'

Jake Gyllenhaal will produce 'Mississippi Grind': Indie darlings Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden are delving into the world of gambling for their next film. Jake Gyllenhaal will produce and is in talks to star.

The multihyphenate duo, who directed Ryan Gosling to a best actor Oscar nomination for Half Nelson, will helm Mississippi Grind from a screenplay they penned. The story centers on a down-on-his-luck gambler facing crushing debt who teams up with a younger gambling addict (Gyllenhaal) in an attempt to change his luck. The two set off on a road trip through the South with visions of winning back what has been lost. The lead character would be a plum role for Hollywood's fortysomething set. WME, which reps Fleck, Boden and Gyllenhaal, is packaging the project, which would fall in the less-than-$10 million budget range.

Gyllenhaal brought the screenplay to Electric City partners Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell, who are also producing alongside former WME agent and Paramount president John Lesher. Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn is a "that guy" on the rise. You might not know his name, but the Animal Kingdom star has been steadily making his way into American titles like Killing Them Softly, The Dark Knight Rises and Derek Cianfrance's eagerly awaited follow-up to Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines. Now the eye-catching supporting player is on the verge of becoming a Stateside leading man in the indie drama Mississippi Grind.

Jake Gyllenhaal will produce and is in talks to star as the younger lead, and Variety reports Mendelsohn is currently in negotiations for the other lead. There's no doubt the project seems promising for Mendelsohn. For one, it would step him into the leading man niche here in the U.S.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick in "End of Watch" (2012) directed by David Ayer

Secondly, Gyllenhaal is a hot commodity again thanks to his stirring performance in the critically celebrated cop drama End of Watch. Source: www.cinemablend.com