This point/counterpoint piece overlooks the likelihood of viewers having completely forgotten about everything but Jake Gyllenhaal's glorious creepy days, the soundtrack and Drew Barrymore playing a teacher, but 10 years on, my decade-addled brain seems to remember it all coming together. You? [Nerve]
After a torrent of reports circulated the news that Avengers DP Seamus McGarvey shot portions of the $200 million Marvel blockbuster with an iPhone, the cinematographer (and especially Disney) rushed to claim he was misquoted by something called the Irish Film & Television Network: "I mentioned that the iPhone and the Canon 5d Mk2 were devices currently used on many Hollywood productions. I used the Canon on some shots on Marvel's The Avengers movie. Unfortunately, this was edited to read that I shot some of the film with the iPhone. This is not true." Disappointing, but come on. Did no one think to fact-check with Siri? [THR]
It was bound to happen eventually, and here we are: Three days after the Zanesville Zooicide that cost dozens of unleashed zoo animals their lives, PETA vice president Lisa Lange wants Cameron Crowe's upcoming We Bought a Zoo to warn viewers off from wild-animal ownership.
"Despite [Dark Blood director] George Sluizer's claim that he has been communicating with River Phoenix's family in regard to releasing River's last film, Joaquin Phoenix and his family have not been in communication with the director nor will they participate in any way." Bummer. That said, the Lying Dutchman is a pretty good nickname if Sluizer wants it. [Deadline]
I wouldn't take anything Catfish and Paranormal Activity 3 co-director Ariel Schulman says at face value, but for the record: "When we first interviewed with the president of Paramount, he actually said, 'If you tell me right now that Catfish is fake, you've got the job.' And we just went real silent. And then I said, 'I'm sorry, I can't tell you that.' Because it was real. [...] I think he figured that if we could create that authenticity dramatically, then we could do it again for this. Ultimately, we convinced them of exactly that. Catfish is completely real, but I think we have a knack for identifying the authentic moments in home video, and it plays like a narrative." [Huffington Post]
"Nobody makes a Scooby-Doo 2 and goes, 'Oh, we're going to make a...' And I don't think Scooby-Doo 2 is a bad movie; I think Scooby-Doo 2 is exactly what it's supposed to be for exactly the audience. It's just that people who are tastemakers are like, 'Oh, I don't want to deal with the kid who was in that movie.' Now, I'm the same guy who was in SLC Punk and I'm the same guy who was in Dead Man's Curve and every other independent movie in the world. [...] But, you know, it's just that thing where it's like somehow, someway, you get kind of labeled this guy who was in a Freddie Prinze Jr. movie too many. And Freddie Prinze Jr. -- it's not his fault, either -- it's just these are the things that happen." [Moviefone]
Woody Allen may have lost his knack for titling his films, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor. In a recent New York Times interview conducted by Elaine May, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter asked Allen to reveal something "startling" about himself that he had never shared publicly. Allen deadpanned, "I'm wanted for pederasty in Mongolia." Other revelations? "I am already more than sufficiently attractive. Of course the actual impact of my physique might not be apparent to the naked eye at first glance, but with some laser surgery or perhaps corneal transplants the viewer will be amply rewarded." [NYT]
Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Looper director Rian Johnson would have you believe he sought to bury the hatchet in a putative feud with Jason Reitman. The results are... vivid! "Just before sunrise I found Jason in a half shattered bathtub in a park outside of town. He was eating pork rinds and had obviously been crying and had carved what looked like a Golden Globe out of soap. He was in a dark place." [@rcjohnso via /film]
Jamie Waylett, the 22-year-old actor who played Crabbe the bully in the Harry Potter films, was arrested last month after stealing champagne from a U.K. drug store during the London riots while in possession of a gasoline bomb. After reviewing security footage, cops identified Waylett and arrested him on September 20, at which point authorities discovered 15 marijuana plants in his home. The actor has been charged with "violent disorder, having an article with intent to destroy or damage property, receiving stolen goods and also cultivating cannabis plants," which makes that Twilight kid's Four Loko incident seem like child's play. [via TMZ]
There's good news and bad news about My Week With Marilyn. The good news -- at least for its devotees -- is that Harvey Weinstein is regrouping after last weekend's super-successful NYFF premiere, readying the film for a serious awards push. The bad news -- at least for viewers anticipating its top-flight Michelle Williams performance -- is that Marilyn's Nov. 4 release date has been nudged back to Nov. 23. We have yet to discover what this means for The Artist, another movie about vintage Hollywood that Weinsteins have slated for the same day (not to mention their Piranha 3DD), but this may prove to be a pretty important development in the awards race. Stay tuned... [Deadline]
The real-life case of Dr. Evil's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery henchman Random Task continues to get more and more disturbing in ways that even the most twisted Bond villains couldn't match. Mixed martial artist-turned-actor Joseph Son, currently serving a life sentence for a 1990 gang rape, is now suspected of killing his cellmate in California's Wasco State Prison. An autopsy and investigation is underway. [THR]
"Basically, I'm fighting evil -- I'm fighting the most evil motherf--kers -- and it's fine that they're being killed," Kristen Stewart told Box Office Magazine of her currently-filming Snow White and the Huntsman. "It's anguish. It's literally f--king anguish. She takes absolutely no pleasure in ever hurting anything. I'm exhausted right now and I was thinking, 'The fight stuff is coming up, maybe that won't be so bad.' And then I realized that they're probably going to be my most emotional scenes because I'm killing people and I'm Snow White. It's a really f--king cool way to approach a movie where so many people die." Score another badass point in favor of SWATH. Sorry, other Snow White movie. [Box Office Magazine]
"[T]he veneration accorded to Paris by Americans is puzzling. Like other grand cities, this one certainly has an aura -- yet its cultural credentials are hardly the world's most impressive. If anything, its most enduring characteristic is a distinct whiff of merde de taureau. It wasn't Paris that delivered Bach, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Leonardo, Marx, Michelangelo or the Beatles. Instead, the city has given us the likes of bohemianism, deconstructionism, symbolism and the nouvelle vague. All of these were quite fun at the time, but in retrospect seem somewhat less than the real deal. The city's aesthetic soul appears to have more to do with Gitanes, cafe society and elegant posturing." Wait -- symbolism is over? And Roman Polanski lives there? Sacrebleu! [The Guardian]
"So you all know All Things Fall Apart is the kind of movie that is really hard to get studios to finances [sic]," rapper-turned-actor/writer/producer 50 Cent Tweeted to his 5M+ followers, following a screening of his upcoming cancer drama. "My partners were against the idea at first then changed there minds after they saw the movie. All the positive feed back I received makes me feel like I was right. I wrote produced and financed the film. I lost some really close to me to cancer. this film is symbol of our friend ship." And he's trying to feed the world? Start lobbying now for the canonization of Saint Fiddy. [@50Cent]
"Bottom line, and not that this is any of your fucking business weirdos, but my wife and I want to start a family and we ABSOLUTELY CANNOT have an animal that shits all over the house. Sorry. If you are a parent you will understand. And if not, that probably explains why you have such a hard on for cats. Just sayin'." And that, Internet, is why Moneyball star Chris Pratt gave up his 15-year-old cat Bella for adoption on Twitter. The actor ultimately gave Bella to a Twitter user named Meghan who is a "perfectly reasonable, sweet and friendly cat lover." Pratt's wife is What's My Number? star Anna Faris. [ChrisPratt.com]
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