Nov 22 2009
Anyone who's ever had to sit in a room and hammer out a group list - anything from top TV theme songs to Pittsburgh's cultural forces - knows they are arbitrary.
However, having said that, Pittsburgh or its visitors get a couple of shoutouts in People magazine's sexiest man alive issue. Johnny Depp is the cover boy but the publication pays tribute to "110 of the hottest guys on the planet!" Exclamation mark theirs.
Among them: Jake Gyllenhaal, here wrapping up "Love and Other Drugs"; Michael Keaton, whose heart always seems to belong to Pittsburgh although he lives elsewhere; and Zachary Quinto, formerly of Green Tree.
Keaton is among a group of 50-somethings that also includes Kevin Bacon, Spike Lee and Jimmy Smits, while Quinto is sexiest villain (a nod to his "Heroes" role, not his sensational turn as Spock in the new "Star Trek").
Natalie Portman, Gyllenhaal's co-star in "Brothers," suggests: "Jake is the kind of guy who can do a spot-on impression of someone you work with that will make you giggle. He knows home remedies for distressed hair. He can build a cabinet from scratch. He plays guitar and has a great voice. Kids and dogs love him. He loves his mom and sister and girlfriend. He's perfect. Too bad he's ugly."
"Brothers," by the way, opens here on Dec. 4. It's based on a Danish movie of the same name. When a decorated Marine goes missing overseas, his black-sheep younger brother cares for his wife and children at home, with consequences that will shake the foundation of the entire family. In addition to Portman and Gyllenhaal, it stars Tobey Maguire.
Nov 22 2009
Those 20 midnight showings of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" at AMC-Loews at the Waterfront were just the tip of the box office iceberg.
From the Associated Press:
The vampire romance "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" sucked up $140.7 million in its first three days and pulled in a total of $258.8 million worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The No. 1 domestic debut for Summit Entertainment's "New Moon" was more than twice the $69.6 million haul over the same weekend last year for "Twilight," the first in the franchise based on Stephenie Meyer's novels.
"New Moon" placed third on the all-time domestic chart behind last year's $158.4 million opening weekend for the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" and 2007's $151.1 million haul for "Spider-Man 3."
On Friday, "New Moon" set an all-time domestic high for opening day with $72.7 million, topping the previous record of $67.2 million had been held by last year's "The Dark Knight."
Overseas, "New Moon" debuted in 25 countries and took in $118.1 million.
"New Moon" continues the story of teen romance between a school girl and a vampire (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson), with the sequel adding a love triangle with a teen werewolf (Taylor Lautner).
"The Blind Side" opened at No. 2 with $34.5 million and "2012" earned $26.5 million. Rounding out the top five according to early box office reports: "Planet 51" with $12.6 million and "A Christmas Carol," $12.2 million.
Nov 18 2009
From Associated Press:
NEW YORK (AP) - Get lost, Hugh Jackman. This year's "Sexiest Man Alive" is once again Johnny Depp.
Depp nudged aside Jackman to get the coveted endorsement from People magazine Wednesday. It's the 46-year-old actor's second time as "Sexiest Man Alive." He also won in 2003.
Kate Coyne, senior editor at People, said on CBS' "Early Show" that Depp has achieved an almost "iconic status in terms of sexiness."
Says Coyne: "Johnny Depp was someone who was sexy 10 years ago. He'll be sexy 10 years from now. He's someone who appeals to multiple generations of women."
Depp joins other double winners Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Richard Gere.
Matt Bomer, who stars in USA's "White Collar," was named "Sexiest Rising Star."
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On the Net:
http://www.people.com
Nov 18 2009
From the Associated Press:
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Actress Kristen Stewart wanted to make the right fashion statement when attending a screening of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" in Knoxville.
The 19-year-old star told The Knoxville News Sentinel that she brought two fancy dresses, but they didn't seem to appropriate for the Tuesday night screening benefiting the philanthropic organization Variety of Eastern Tennessee.
Minutes before walking out before a crowd of hundreds of fans, she changed into a simple black-and-white strapless dress.
The appearance by Stewart and co-star, 17-year-old Taylor Lautner, raised a little more than $440,000 for the charity.
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Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com
Nov 16 2009
Listen closely and you can probably hear the screams ... ever so faint from the West Coast. From the Associated Press:
"Twilight" fans have taken over the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Thousands of fans from as far away as New York filled the streets near UCLA on Monday, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite "Twilight" stars attending the evening premiere of the latest film in the series - "New Moon."
Some "twi-hards" - as they call themselves - arrived as early as Thursday afternoon to secure a place in line for tickets allowing them to watch the stars' arrivals on the red carpet. The 800 available tickets were all distributed by Monday morning.
Some of the cheering fans - mostly young women - were wearing T-shirts proclaiming their allegiance to either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner, the bloodsucking stars of "New Moon." One woman held a homemade sign saying, "We love Robert and Taylor they rock our socks."
Nov 15 2009
Roger Corman, Lauren Bacall and Gordon Willis received Honorary Oscars at the 2009 Governors Awards last night in Hollywood. Producer John Calley, absent due to health reasons, was given the Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award.
The awards were moved out of the regular show but there was no shortage of star power with Kirk Douglas, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening, Morgan Freeman, Steven Spielberg, Warren Beatty, Norman Jewison, Quentin Tarantino, Ron Howard and Anjelica Huston among the 600 guests.
The Associated Press reports guests drank champagne and dined on filet mignon as each honoree was celebrated with tributes, toasts and a generous montage of film clips - leisurely elements not possible in previous years when special-Oscar presentations were built into the already-crowded Oscar broadcast.
Excerpts will be shown on the March 7 telecast. Above photo by Richard Harbaugh, A.M.P.A.S.
Nov 12 2009
Is it a coincidence that James Cameron is on the cover of Playboy? Of course not, given that "Avatar" will be released on Dec. 18.
The Oscar-winning director sat down with contributing editor Stephen Rebello to talk about the $200 million-plus sci-fi film along with lots of other topics. Here are some excerpts, supplied by the magazine. The issue hits newsstands Nov. 13.
On being a demanding director: "I'll cop to my faults, but I'll also defend the situation in a rational way, and it goes like this: Isn't the purpose of being attracted to something intense and challenging - such as, say, white-water rafting - to come out the other side and tell everybody how you almost died?
It doesn't mean you almost died. [On the set of ‘Titanic'] we simply let Kate [Winslet] think she was nearly drowning. A little sputtering and coughing does not count in my book, because I have almost drowned several times...Anybody who signs on [with me] is going to be tested."
On the impact "Star Wars" had on his career: "My entree into Hollywood came as a direct result of ‘Star Wars' because George Lucas suddenly made science fiction gold instead of a ghettoized B-movie genre. When most people saw ‘Star Wars' there was the shock of the new. For me there was the shock of recognition, as if somebody had taken my private dream and put it up on the screen ... I took ‘Star Wars' as a sign that what I had to offer was something people wanted."
On the reason he made "Titanic": "I made ‘Titanic' because I wanted to dive to a shipwreck, not because I particularly wanted to make the movie."
On Kate Winslet vs. Leo DiCaprio: "I'd certainly work with her again; she's very talented. Whereas Leo DiCaprio switches his acting on and off like a faucet, Kate's acting process is to internalize all this stuff and use it."
On Christian Bale's temper: "The ‘Avatar' crew all thought [the video of Christian Bale berating a crew member on the set of ‘Terminator Salvation'] was a hoot...The joke is I'm a tyrannical guy, but I said, ‘Man, I have to take my hat off to this guy. I could not pull a rant like that if I had to.' I mean, I can get on a roll but not like that. I just had to bow down."
On Arnold Schwarzenegger: "If you've known him for even a short time, you're not surprised by anything he accomplishes. He used to say, ‘You don't program yourself for failure; you program yourself for success.' At first I thought it was just macho bull... But I've subsequently made many decisions using that principle."
On men's problems with women: "Most of men's problems with women probably have to do with realizing women are real and most of them don't look or act like Vampirella. A big recalibration happens when we're forced to deal with real women, and there's a certain geek population that would much rather deal with fantasy women than real women. Let's face it: Real women are complicated. You can try your whole life and not understand them."
On being married five times: "I'm a perfectionist, so I kept trying until I got it right, which I have, I'm happy to report. Suzy Amis is a keeper. I found - and this was the big one - you have to work at it. Before that I had this attitude, Well, I'll do this until it doesn't work, and then I'll bail. You'll never stay married if you have that attitude."
On his 25th high school reunion: "If you ever go to a 25th high school reunion, make sure that in the previous two months you've made the world's highest-grossing movie, won 11 Academy Awards and become physically bigger than most of those guys who used to beat you up. I walked up to them one by one and said, ‘You know, I could take your ass right now, and I'm tempted, but I won't.' Actually, they were all nice guys except for one who was still big and mean. I left him alone."
On his parents: "They were pretty much against everything. I can't think of anything my dad was for except hockey. He used to throw my comics and science-fiction books in the trash because he considered them mental junk...He treated science fiction as if it was porn."
On technology that eludes him: "On Twitter, a tweet has to be less than, what, 25 words? There isn't one concept I would be interested in discussing with anyone that could be summed up in 25 words or fewer. I'm totally not into Facebook or Twitter, so that makes me a dinosaur right there."
On reactions to the prescreening of "Avatar": "We know from the exit polling that the response was 95 percent ecstatic. Most of the five percent negative response is from the fanatic fans who imagined the movie in their minds but now have to deal with my movie."
On plotting to top "Avatar" in the future: "I haven't decided. I always say that when a woman is in the midst of childbirth, don't ask her if she wants another child. I'm crowning right now."
Nov 11 2009
How crazy is the "Twilight" craze?
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" will play in 17 auditoriums at roughly 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 20 at the AMC-Loews at the Waterfront. And that's just one theater.
MovieTickets.com reports "New Moon" has sold more than four times as many tickets as "Twilight" at the same point in the sales cycle. More than 1,300 performances, including 900 at midnight, are sold out so far.
Nov 11 2009
Mark your merry calendars.
NBC will air "It's a Wonderful Life" twice, on Saturday, Dec. 12, and again on Christmas Eve, both from 8 to 11 p.m.
Also, in a gift from Pittsburgh Filmmakers, "It's a Wonderful Life" will be shown for free Dec. 18-21 at the Regent Square Theater, 1035 S. Braddock Ave.
And here is information from the website of the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pa., (www.jimmy.org) about its showings:
All Saturday and Sunday MATINEES starting from
November 21, 2009 through January 3, 2010
will be
FEATURING OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOWING OF
"IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE"
Starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed
MUSEUM ADMISSIONS
(ALL PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE)
Members FREE
Adults- $7.00
Seniors, Military, Students with ID - $6.00
Children 7 to 17 - $5.00
Children 7 and under - FREE
Nov 11 2009
More people are still needed to watch "The Chief" as it's being filmed for eventual DVD release. Here is the press release:
THE CHIEF, a one-man show about Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney starring favorite Tom Atkins, is being retired after several hit seasons of presentation at the Pittsburgh Public Theater.
A commemorative DVD, to be sold by the Pittsburgh Steelers at various venues, is being taped on Nov. 12 at Shadyside Academy, and we're looking for audience members interested in being part of this historic event. Audiences will see a full production of the show and be provided with refreshments. Participants will be required to wear clothing appropriate for a night at the theater, be available to stay through the estimated 5 hours of taping, and will act as extras, filling various areas of the theater and recreating reaction shots.
THERE IS NO CHARGE. This may be one the last opportunities to see this tour de force, but all audience members must be confirmed to attend. Spaces are limited, and will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Participants will not receive financial compensation, but will have the chance to see the production free of charge, and additionally will receive small refreshments (not a full meal) and a copy of the DVD when released. The shooting will take approximately 5 hours, beginning in late afternoon.
If interested in being a part of this historic taping, please send an e-mail to fourthrivercasting@yahoo.com for more information. You can also call 412.728.2952, but please be aware e-mail queries will be responded to faster than phone calls will be returned.
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