So to start off again, here are the tidbits of the day:
-Could Dubya really get an Oscar nomination? Of course, lately, it has been wishful thinking for Brolin to get recognized for playing the president, but could he really land a spot in the top 5? According to Politico (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13820.html),
People who have seen the film, and there are not many at this point, have said the most astonishing part of the movie isn’t the storyline, which doesn’t contain any shocking new information. And it’s not the liberties the film takes with reality — like any biopic, it includes invented dialogue, and several lengthy real-life events have been telescoped into a few minutes of screen time. Instead, “W.” watchers say that Brolin has positively nailed Dubya, channeling his very soul in the same way Jamie Foxx inhabited Ray Charles’ skin in “Ray,” Joaquin Phoenix captured Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line” and Jim Carrey became Andy Kaufman’s reincarnation in “Man on the Moon.”
Brolin is said to be so impressive that there has been discussion of using his performance to market the entire picture. “He gives off such an amazing vibe that Lionsgate should promote the movie as a great dramatic piece, instead of hyping it as another Oliver Stone controversy, because that’s going to happen anyway,” said a source close to filmmakers. While viewers have an awareness of Stone that no other
director enjoys, the campaign will be very “Josh-centric,” confirmed a studio insider who requested anonymity.
As a result, expect Lionsgate to move hard for a best actor nomination come Oscar season in order to move more DVDs, with release of the home video version of the film expected to conincide with Academy Awards hoopla early next year.
Stone said he then chose Brolin, who was “not a star” but felt “more rural Americana.” According to the director, Brolin was “scared sh-tless” at the thought of mocking the sitting president — probably because he remembered the grief that his father, James Brolin, went through after playing Ronald Reagan in a CBS TV movie that ultimately got bumped from the network. But the younger Brolin dove into his work, spending hours perfecting his Texas twang and listening to speeches, press conferences and other material to strike a proper tone.
One thing to be grateful about: Unlike Stone’s previous presidential picture about Richard Nixon that ran an interminable 192 minutes (and 212 in the subsequent “director’s cut”), his take on Bush is way more concise. Advance word from the London Film Festival (where the picture will make its European debut) indicates it will clock in at a mere 110 minutes.
-Is anyone else excited for Sasha Baron Cohen's Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt? Yeah, long name... but Cohen recently got arrested for it. Earlier this week, the notorious Cohen managed to somehow get backstage and walk down the catwalk before getting pulled away by security at Agatha Ruiz de la Prada show in Milan. After being bundled away by the Italian police, one officer recalled, "He was actually very funny, and the first thing he said was 'Can I make a phone call', like they do on TV."
Luckily, an Italian film crew captured everything that went on at the show:
-John Foote over at In Contention (http://www.incontention.com/?p=2075) wonders if Kate Winslet is the greatest actress of her generation? I think he is right!
-And speaking about Kate Winslet, Scott Rudin and Harvey Weinstein have finally come to an agreement! The Reader will be released on December 12, 2008 after a long and heated debate between Rudin and Weinstein, and even a rumored bet.
-And while we are still on the topic of the amazing Kate Winslet, Anne Thompson says that Paramount Vantage will officially debut the Revolutionary Road trailer during tonight's broadcast of Mad Men. This is very appropriate because Matthew Weiner, the show's creator, was mostly inspired to create Mad Men after reading Richard Yates's amazing book, Revolutionary Road.
-Will Helen Mirren be the next iconic action star? Mirren will star in John Madden's The Debt. According to Empire Magazine (http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=23323),
Mirren will play a former Mossad agent who, along with two colleagues, fails to capture a Nazi war criminal. They decide to cover their tracks, only for the criminal to resurface thirty years later, prompting Mirren to track him down before the truth can be revealed.
Seems like this could be a doozy of a role for the ever-wonderful Mirren – not only will there be a great deal of soul-searching and self-examination, there should be the chance to see a sixtysomething woman kick arse on the big screen.
To be honest, we should have seen Mirren’s casting coming the minute we discovered that the plot called for two actresses to play the main character – one in her thirties, and the other in her sixties. Quite frankly, there aren’t many actresses around these days who could handle a role like this – and Mirren is at the top of a very short list.
-An in Foreign Language submissions news, China has unusually submitted a documentary for their choice: Dream Weaver: Beijing 2008. It is about the country’s seven years of preparation for last month’s Olympic Games. It was produced by a state-owned company. Israel has submitted the animation flick Waltz With Bashir, which is about the director's attempt to reconstruct lost memories of his -- and the Israeli Army's -- involvement in the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Christian militias during the first Lebanon War in 1982. Waltz recently premiered at Cannes and won the top prize at the Israeli Film Academy Awards. France chose the Cannes winner, The Class, and Germany in a very surprising move chose The Baader Meinhof Complex. Most people thought Germany would choose The Wave, but instead they chose this movie which is about the early years of the RAF.
-And who will be the new Oscar host for this year? I say the amazing Kathy Griffin, but rumor is that Ricky Gervais will be the man! I am a huge fan of Gervais and I think he will make a great host. The Academy has made a statement that they have not chosen a host yet, but apparently some light bulbs were turned on with some execs when Ricky Gervais was telling Steve Carell to "Give me back my Emmy."
I swear, I crack up everytime I see that! Ricky Gervais is brilliant! Last week, after recieving praise, his movie Ghost Town premiered... and flopped at the box office. But hey, that could be like a punchline at the Oscars if he is the host. He has another movie coming out in 2009 called This Side of the Truth, in which he wrote and directed and stars along Jennifer Garner and the amazing Tina Fey.
-And by the way, Ricky Gervais has like the best blog ever! Check it out - http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php
And now on to my OBSESSION of the week. Now, I just realized that I forgot to do my obsession of the week for last time, so I got two obsessions for you guys.
1. The trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What a great looking trailer!
2. This has nothing to do with movies or tv or anything like that, but just the other day my friend told me about how there is a "secret menu" at Jamba Juice! I've always loved Jamba Juice and was excited when I heard about this "secret menu." She told me that she got one smoothie that was called "White Gummie Bear" and another one called "Pink Star" (which is suppossed to replicate a Pink Starburst - which just so happens to be my favorite flavor). Well, later on in the day, I googled up "secret menu jamba juice," and sure enough I found a few pages relating to this "secret." As I was looking down the list of names of these smoothies, I saw such titles as "Fruity Pebbles," "Skittles," "Wake-Up Call," "Push-Up Pops," "Strawberry Shortcake," "PB+J," "Hello Jesus," "Thank You Jesus," and my personal favorite "Screaming Orgasm" just to name a few on a very long list.
Well anyways, today I decided that I would go to my nearest Jamba Juice and order a "secret menu" item. I ordered the Pink Star. When I ordered it, the guy was like "no problem." And the woman at the check-out station rung me up like normal with a smile and without any questions. But here's the best part. As I was waiting for the smoothie to be made, there were like two people working the blenders there - the guy making my "Pink Star" and another girl. The girl asks the guy, "So, what smoothie are you making?" And the guy responds "Pink Star." And girl is like, "Are you seriously making that?" And they guy is like, "Who cares, it's already in the blender." And he rolled his eyes. Ah, that was great! Pathetic, but great. And it tasted so good too! It was like a Pink Starburst! So if you get a chance, go to your nearest Jamba Juice and order a secret menu item.
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