What springs to my mind is how on earth will the mountain be given its power and breadth on a stage? How can they possibly contrast the small towns and the small rooms with the wide open space of the mountain? And Ennis Del Mar singing? There are too many hows for me in this project and, I know I'm biased, but will I ever be able to accept two other men calling each other Jack and Ennis?
Venice says no to Rendition
The other surprising news today is that Venice Film Festival announced its list of films today and unexpectedly Rendition was not on it. I suppose this now means a concentration of effort in Toronto in September. The Venice festival will present Ang Lee's Chinese thriller Lust, Caution, not to mention 32 spaghetti westerns.
SherryBaby cut for the skies - UK trailer
SherryBaby reaches British cinemas tomorrow and the UK trailer has just become available. You can watch it here. Apparently, Maggie has announced her disapproval with British Airways because she has heard that they have cut the sex scenes from the film. I'm afraid, on this occasion I don't agree with Maggie. I would have thought that the advantages of having this film publicised in the skies far outweighs any scene cuts - after all, these are planes not theatres and not everything is suitable for all passengers. Better that they show the film without the sex than remove it all together for its content. I sympathise with Maggie's view that this would 'drastically change' the film but it's my experience that watching a film on a plane often spurs me to watch it properly when I'm on the ground and not shaking in my boots.
The reviews for SherryBaby are being published thick and fast and are almost entirely complimentary - to the film and to Maggie's great skill. One review caught my attention today. Sherrybaby is featured in an article in the Guardian about the films that make you cry. In the words of the reviewer: 'Here at Film Weekly, we'll stick to our old-school indie guns and look at Sherrybaby, which is a New York indie film par excellence. Maggie Gyllenhaal is great as a single mom coming out of jail and off heroin to pick up the pieces of her misspent teen life, the largest piece being her four-year-old daughter. I talk to the film's director, Laurie Collyer, who sounds as if the struggles of getting somewhere on the indie scene are getting her down a bit. Still, she offers fascinating insights and lots of hope for anyone wanting to get a film going - if you write a good enough script, the stars will come (especially if they're still young enough to take risks and take their clothes off). I like Sherrybaby a lot. And I cried.'
Last words
Jessica Alba is single, having just split with longterm partner Cash Warren. Cosmopolitan asked her who she had her eye on and she replied: "I would have to say Johnny Depp, Michael Caine... Morgan Freeman, and Jake Gyllenhaal." With the exception of one name on this list, I'd like to congratulate Jessica on her excellent taste in men.
By the way, I have no knowledge of many of Hollywood's ladies and I thought Eva Mendez below was Jessica Alba - she sure looks like her to my untrained eye. Thanks to Jantoinette for putting the right name to the right lady. But I'll leave these up anyway as they look a lovely pair ;D
Includes pictures from IHJ.
