Jerry O’Connell shows huge cahones in this video where he mocks Jerry MacGuire co-star Tom Cruise’s recently released Scientology video. It doesn’t make much sense unless you’ve seen the original video, so go and watch it now.
Too funny. The point, however, is that Scientologists are stark raving mad and need to be watched closely. I see a Kool-Aid party in their future.
According to Defamer, this is the last known photograph of Heath Ledger alive. It was taken on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. From Defamer:
The last known photograph of Heath Ledger alive was taken Saturday night in London on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the latest project from wildly talented yet notoriously cursed director Terry Gilliam.The auteur, who got his start as part of the esteemed Monty Python troupe, has suffered perhaps the worst streak of luck for any director not named Uwe Boll. His pockmarked career will, unfortunately, likely be remembered more for his role on big budget disasters like The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen and The Brothers Grimm (with Ledger in lead) than it will for creative triumphs like Brazil and The Fisher King.
And then, there was the sad story of Gilliam's Don Quixote project, which was felled by floods and bad casting and subsequently turned into the total downer documentary Lost In La Mancha. As for the fate of The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (not to be confused with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium), we are awaiting word.
All right, I’ll stop mentioning this. I swear.
Tell-tale signs perhaps. I would like to think this was an accidental overdose, but details are still sketchy. Truth be told no one will ever know. Word is playing The Joker physically and mentally taxed Ledger.
To prepare for the role he lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's posture, voice and psychology. He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. [source]
Not to be overly dramatic, but this really sucks.
From the New York Times:
The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen, according to the New York City police. Mr. Ledger was 28.At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.
The police said they did not suspect foul play. Officials said pills were found near the body.
Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain”, a 2005 film. The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.”
Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by paparazzi. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.
In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, "I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” said in the interview.
More thoughts later.
The nominees for the 80th Annual Oscars were officially announced today. No surprise that ‘No Country for Old Men‘ and ‘There Will Be Blood‘ led most of the nominations, with ‘Juno‘ coming in a close second. Here’s a partial list:
Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features)
A Working Title Production
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight)
A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production
Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
A Clayton Productions, LLC Production
Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, ProducersPerformance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
(DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson’s War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (Fox Searchlight)Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I’m Not There" (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris BuckAchievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson
Things got nasty between Clinton and Obama in tonight’s debate (VIDEO). Some of it was almost embarrassing to watch but it was interesting. You can really see the masks and smiles begin to slip away and the inner viscousness is starting to come out of the candidates.
I’m still for Obama 100% (seconding Edwards), too bad my primary vote in Florida means squat. Hillary has far too much history in Washington and it is time for new blood.
I really hate the debates though. If people really base their vote on these theatrical sparring matches they are doing the country a disservice. What really matters is what the candidates can actually do, not what they say they will do and how well they can insult the other candidates.
And the show goes on.
995 Fifth Avenue, New York City
Half floor residences from $12 million.
Full floor residences from $31 million.
Oh, in that case I’ll take two.
Now that graduation is on the horizon and I have a small foothold in the newspaper business, I’ve been looking at my options. Considering that I am working at a newspaper whose online division ranks in the top 30, not to mention several of its sister publications, I have a good avenue to go almost anywhere. I’m fairly certain that I’ve found my niche in online producing and going that route, the sky is the limit. This is my list of places I would/could go, feel free to offer any advice on the matter. Though I expect most people would advise against L.A., I like the idea.
Top 10 Newspapers I’d Like to Work At:
And that is that, my vanity list of the day.
By now everyone has seen that the Library of Congress release a ton of photos into the public domain via Flickr. In order to tag and caption them they are using crowdsourcing techniques from Flickr users and the rest of the web. It’s an awesome project and I could spend hours poring over the photos. Here are a few of my initial favorites:
Wolcott, Marion Post,, 1910-, photographer.
Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on “Jockey St.,” near the Court House, Campton, Wolfe County, Ky.
1940 Sept.
[Man in bill cap and dungaree coat, possibly a farmer]
[between 1941 and 1942]
Palmer, Alfred T.,, photographer.
Good man, good gun: a private of the armored forces does some practice shooting with a 30-calibre Browning machine gun, Fort Knox, Ky. The gun is mounted on a pedestal for anti-aircraft work.
1942 June.
Bain News Service, publisher.
Trainer Hayes; Warnes; Allen; Sec’y Calver; Spenceley; Parks; Erksine; Murray Trainer
[between 1910 and 1915]
Bain News Service, publisher.
Capt. Felix of Army Aero. Corps.
[between 1910 and 1915]
Like I said, I could look at these all day.
Rebel violence triggers Thai fighters*
I know it is not cool to glamorize violence in my native land, but I couldn’t resist. Good luck my brothers and sisters. Watch out for the emperor, er, I mean king.
*slight modification
The Sunday line-up of punditry:
ABC’s “This Week” — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
———
CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; David Axelrod, strategist for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign; Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign.
———
NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian.
———
CNN’s “Late Edition” — Edwards; Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.
———
“Fox News Sunday” — Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Yeah I’m way behind on seeing this but I figured I’d put a link to the free version on Adult Swim. If you haven’t seen it, watch please. It is so good it is almost painful.
It’s all fun and games until SkyNet kicks in and they start chucking those littles blocks at your face.
From the LA Times:
Renfo's body was found in his Los Angeles apartment, in the 1000 block of South Ogden Drive, by his girlfriend, authorities said. Renfro was declared dead by paramedics at 9 a.m., according to coroner's spokesman Ed Winter."There is no suspicion of foul play," LAPD Lt. David Evans said.
Renfro's former attorney, Blair Berk said Tuesday: "Brad was a really gifted young man. It is a tragedy all the way around."
You know I liked Renfro. His last few appearances were stinkers (The Jacket, 10th & Wolf) but he was a cool actor. I think he could have had a decent career. Perhaps never a leading role but no doubt steady work. Too bad the Hollywood machine of drugs and addiction got to him like so many others.