 | Persepolis - Trailer 2 The poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people’s hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the “social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable. As she gets older, Marjane’s boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. In addition, Marjane has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Over time, she gains acceptance, and even experiences love, but after high school she finds herself alone and horribly homesick. Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past. Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novels Persepolis: the Story of a Childhood (Pantheon, 2003, English version) and Persepolis 2: the Story of a Return (Pantheon, 2004, English version) won widespread acclaim in France, now her home, and around the world. Now, she has co-directed, with Vincent Paronnaud, the animated film version of her memoir. The title PERSEPOLIS comes from the Persian capital founded in the 6th century BC by Darius I, later destroyed by Alexander the Great. It’s a reminder that there’s an old and grand civilization, besieged by waves of invaders but carrying on through milennia, that is much deeper and more complex than the current-day view of Iran as a monoculture of fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. “I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists,” Satrapi says. “I also don’t want those Iranians who lost their lives in prisons defending freedom, who died in the war against Iraq, who suffered under various repressive regimes, or who were forced to leave their families and flee their homeland to be forgotten.” Directed by: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian |
Persepolis – Trailer 2
December 21st, 2007Retromercial: 1984 Chevy Corvette
December 20th, 2007
This Corvette looks like the car that TRON built...light cycle not included.
Runtime: 1 min 29 sec
Two, with love… From Nathan Love.
December 20th, 2007
Most people spend their holiday down time revising Christmas lists and relaxing. If you’re a member of the Nathan Love gang, you spend your holiday time pulling all nighters and creating demented animations with loose Christmas themes. I’m proud to pass along to you to new animations by none other. Enjoy.
Alternate YouTube versions:
Crack Xmas
Rabbitard
Further SAG noms second-guessing
December 20th, 2007So do the Screen Actors Guild nominations announced today completely reset the Oscar playing field or not? Depends on which L.A. Times columnist you read. Pete Hammond (normally of Maxim) says that the inability of "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd" to field any SAG nominations means that it's over, buh-bye, no Oscar soup for you. Tom O'Neil in his Gold Derby column says it's not that simple but still finds dark meanings in the fact that the Outstanding Cast category included dark horses like "3:10 to Yuma," "Hairspray," "American Gangster," and "Into the Wild" -- rather than such assumed Oscar frontrunners as "Atonement," "Sweeney Todd," "There Will be Blood," "Michael Clayton," and "Juno."
Lot of noise over misread tea leaves if you ask me. There is no correlation between the SAG's Outstanding Cast category and the Academy's Best Picture. The former looks only at performance, the latter considers the entire production. What do the the five films nominated by the Guild have in common? Deep, deep casts, with one or two big star turns anchored by a number of smaller, pungent players. Of the five presumed Oscar front-runners overlooked by the SAG, only "Michael Clayton" and "Juno" have both the flashy home-run hitters and the deep bench, and as much as I love Ellen Page and Allison Janney, "Juno" is hand-tooled for writers' awards, not actors' laurels. (As for "Clayton," beats me. Maybe Clooney and Swinton and Wilkinson and Pollack just aren't good enough for their peers.)
In any case, actors and pictures equals apples and oranges. My own guess, at this precise moment in time, of what could be the five Best Picture nominees: "No Country for Old Men," "Atonement," "Into The Wild," "American Gangster," and one wild card -- maybe "Clayton," maybe "Juno," maybe even "Hairspray." Not "There Will be Blood," though -- too damn strange (and brilliant). Nor "Sweeney" -- too damn bloody. Understand, of course, that this has nothing to do with what the year's best movies actually are.
By the way, the SAG folk got their WGA waiver, which means the televised awards ceremony can go forward without a picket line. The Globes and the Academy can't say the same. Maybe the SAG awards will be the Oscars this year.
“All Will Be Revealed”
December 20th, 2007
Steve Scott recently created an animated backdrop for Led Zeppelin’s re-union concert in London. The band played Kashmir for 20,000 fans in front of a 28 x 12 meter screen while this deco-psychedelic film played – the only video in the whole show. Nice work if you can get it.
Jamie Jorg from Red
December 20th, 2007Another great face scouted by Red Model Management. From Holland and 6′2″.
Picture courtesy of Red
Picture courtesy of Red
SAG nominations announced
December 20th, 2007The Screen Actors Guild has announced their nominees for outstanding performances of 2007. A solid list with a few surprises: The amount of love shown to "Into the Wild" (actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, outstanding cast), which is, after all, a film directed by an actor very much respected by his peers. Nice to see Ruby Dee nominated for her "American Gangster" performance, and nice to see "3:10 to Yuma" noted for its entire cast.
Below is the full list of SAG movie nominations; follow the link above to see the TV noms. The award ceremonies will be held January 27th, 2008, and will be televised on TNT and TBS.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
GEORGE CLOONEY / Michael Clayton ? ?Michael Clayton? (Warner Bros. Pictures)
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS / Daniel Plainview ? ?There Will Be Blood? (Paramount Vantage)
RYAN GOSLING / Lars Lindstrom ? ?Lars And The Real Girl? (Sidney Kimmel Entertainment)
EMILE HIRSCH / Christopher McCandless? ?Into The Wild? (Paramount Vantage)
VIGGO MORTENSEN / Nikolai ? ?Eastern Promises? (Focus Features)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
CATE BLANCHETT / Queen Elizabeth I ? ?Elizabeth: The Golden Age? (Universal Pictures)
JULIE CHRISTIE / Fiona ? ?Away From Her? (Lionsgate)
MARION COTILLARD / Edith Piaf ? ?La Vie En Rose? (Picturehouse)
ANGELINA JOLIE / Mariane Pearl ? ?A Mighty Heart? (Paramount Vantage)
ELLEN PAGE / Juno MacGuff ? ?Juno? (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
CASEY AFFLECK / Robert Ford ? ?The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford? (Warner Bros. Pictures)
JAVIER BARDEM / Anton Chigurh ? ?No Country For Old Men? (Miramax Films)
HAL HOLBROOK / Ron Franz ? ?Into The Wild? (Paramount Vantage)
TOMMY LEE JONES / Ed Tom Bell ? ?No Country For Old Men? (Miramax Films)
TOM WILKINSON / Arthur Edens ? ?Michael Clayton? (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
CATE BLANCHETT / Jude ? ?I?m Not There? (The Weinstein Company)
RUBY DEE / Mama Lucas ? ?American Gangster? (Universal Pictures)
CATHERINE KEENER / Jan Burres ? ?Into The Wild? (Paramount Vantage)
AMY RYAN / Helene McCready ? ?Gone Baby Gone? (Miramax Films)
TILDA SWINTON / Karen Crowder ? ?Michael Clayton? (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
3:10 TO YUMA (Lionsgate)
CHRISTIAN BALE / Dan Evans
RUSSELL CROWE / Ben Wade
PETER FONDA / Byron McElroy
GRETCHEN MOL / Alice Evans
DALLAS ROBERTS / Grayson Butterfield
VINESSA SHAW / Emmy Roberts
BEN FOSTER / Charlie Prince
ALAN TUDYK / Doc Potter
LOGAN LERMAN / Will Evans
AMERICAN GANGSTER (Universal Pictures)
ARMAND ASSANTE / Dominic Cattano
JOSH BROLIN / Detective Trupo
RUSSELL CROWE / Richie Roberts
RUBY DEE / Mama Lucas
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR / Huey Lucas
IDRIS ELBA / Tango
CUBA GOODING, JR. / Nicky Barnes
CARLA GUGINO / Laurie Roberts
JOHN HAWKES / Freddie Spearman
TED LEVINE / Lou Toback
JOE MORTON / Charlie Williams
LYMARI NADAL / Eva
JOHN ORTIZ / Javier J. Rivera
RZA / Moses Jones
YUL VAZQUEZ / Alfonse Abruzzo
DENZEL WASHINGTON / Frank Lucas
HAIRSPRAY (New Line Cinema)
NIKKI BLONSKY / Tracy Turnblad
AMANDA BYNES / Penny Pingleton
PAUL DOOLEY / Mr. Spritzer
ZAC EFRON / Link Larkin
ALLISON JANNEY / Prudy Pingleton
ELIJAH KELLEY / Seaweed
JAMES MARSDEN / Corny Collins
MICHELLE PFEIFFER / Velma Von Tussle
QUEEN LATIFAH / Motormouth Maybelle
BRITTANY SNOW / Amber Von Tussle
JERRY STILLER / Mr. French
JOHN TRAVOLTA / Edna Turnblad
CHRISTOPHER WALKEN / Wilbur Turnblad
INTO THE WILD (Paramount Vantage)
BRIAN DIERKER / Rainey
MARCIA GAY HARDEN / Billie McCandless
EMILE HIRSCH / Chris McCandless
HAL HOLBROOK / Ron Franz
WILLIAM HURT / Walt McCandless
CATHERINE KEENER / Jan Burres
JENA MALONE / Carine McCandless
KRISTEN STEWART / Tracy Tatro
VINCE VAUGHN / Wayne Westerberg
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Miramax Films)
JAVIER BARDEM / Anton Chigurh
JOSH BROLIN / Llewelyn Moss
GARRET DILLAHUNT / Wendell
TESS HARPER / Loretta Bell
WOODY HARRELSON / Carson Wells
TOMMY LEE JONES / Ed Tom Bell
KELLY MACDONALD / Carla Jean Moss
John C. Reilly Says He Was Almost in ‘There Will Be Blood’
December 20th, 2007Filed under: Drama, Casting, Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, New in Theaters
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Looks like I was at the wrong roundtable. Over at Cinema Blend, they are reporting some interesting footnotes from a recent Walk Hard junket, in which John C. Reilly says that Paul Thomas Anderson offered him a role in There Will Be Blood, but it wasn't right. "Paul and I talked a lot about it,"he says. "He wrote me a part for the movie and I said 'Don't put me in there just because you think you have to, because we're friends. Put me in there if I'm the right guy to be in there.' And he thought about it and he was like 'You know what? You're right. You just talked yourself out of a part.'" Reilly says he was happy about the decision and how the movie ultimately turned out. "I was really glad. That movie just seems so seamless. It just seems like he discovered this real place."
Reilly also went on to talk more about the film, saying "I really hope those guys [Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis] get some attention, because I think that movie is a real achievement for Paul. It's such a departure from his other work. I was just staggered by it. I've seen it a couple of times, and I have really high hopes for that one." So do I -- if a Best Director Oscar isn't forthcoming, for P.T., then it better go to Joe Wright. Who else is deserving this year?
Permalink | Email this | CommentsTop 10 Japanese Nintendo Commercials
December 20th, 2007
From spontaneous dancing to people with grotesquely large heads...these are the top 10 NES commercials from Japan (in Japanese, of course).
Runtime: 7 min 11 sec
Shera: Pregnant Snail
December 20th, 2007
A snail rushes his pregnant snail wife to the hospital in their little sports car.
Runtime: 32 sec
