Evan Rachel Wood

http://forum.starsnets.com/viewforum.php?f=33

Holly Hunter gets on Hollywood Walk of Fame

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) -- "Saving Grace" star Holly Hunter has been
immortalized in concrete, receiving the 2,363rd star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
Director Steven Spielberg and tennis great Billie Jean King were
among those on hand Friday as Hunter's star was unveiled on Hollywood
Boulevard.
Spielberg directed Hunter in the movie "Always" and the actress
portrayed King in a 2001 TV movie.
Hunter has won an Academy Award for her role in the 1993 movie "The
Piano" and two Emmys for TV movies.
She called it "an unbelievable honor" for her star to share the same
boulevard with those of Spielberg, Marlon Brando and other movie greats.

Broadcast News (1987)
"The movie has not dated at all, and that's an accomplishment, because it's about an industry that's in constant flux. For Jim Brooks to have harnessed a truth about how network news is made and where it was headed in 1986 was very prescient. In fact, it's probably more relevant now. I learned a huge amount from Bill Hurt and use it to this day. I took things from his habits and his reverence for his work and the way he behaved on the set. He was my first mentor, even though he didn't know it."

Raising Arizona (1987)
"What can you say about the Coens? It's like extended family. They still have the same script supervisor they had back then, the same sound guy and accountant, and they often work with the same actors over and over again. I've done three projects with them, and we've all stayed really close friends."

The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993)
"That's the most fun I ever had. I had a blast with Beau Bridges and Michael Ritchie, who was such an amazing filmmaker. I've had the opportunity to work with so many powerful directors, for whom it was a true calling. They didn't fall into it. They had to direct."

The Firm (1993)
"I loved playing the character, but I kept wishing it was a bigger role. I'd get down to Memphis -- and I loved being there -- and then I'd do my scene and have to go back to New York. 'The party's over?' That party didn't last long enough!"

The Piano (1993)
"Jane Campion remains one of the most formative people in my life. I really pursued that movie, felt that I was right for it (even when) no one else did. But Jane was enough of a true independent individual to keep an open mind regarding me. A lot of people would have said, 'She's just not right, I don't need to see her.' And Jane said, 'If she really feels this strongly, I'll be glad to see her.' She gave me the chance to change her mind."

Thirteen (2003)
"I look back on it with nothing but great enthusiasm and love because of the voice that (writer) Nikki Reed and (writer-director) Catherine Hardwicke found together. They both wrote in this journal -- that was incredibly magical of Catherine to suggest she and Nikki do that. Nikki was an avid journal keeper well before then, so she already had the writing habit, and Catherine had the gift to see that it could be something they could do together."

http://www.interference.com/stories/id184240.html

Interference.com : Articles

DVD Review: Rocking Across the Inspired and Intoxicated Universe*

By Andrew William Smith, Editor
2008.2

Visually intoxicating and emotionally inspired, Julie Taymor’s Across
The Universe redefines the rock musical as she retells the story of
the 1960s counterculture by reinterpreting classic songs from the
Beatles catalog.

Mixing a sappy love story with an incendiary political situation and
painting it all with an epic brush across a wildly-costumed,
brilliantly-choreographed, and polychromatic palette, ambitious
auteur Taymor has achieved the artistically impossible, constructing
prophetic nostalgia and seamless narrative in the form of a feature-
length music video.

Ignoring her potential detractors, Taymor treads well-traveled byways
of familiar cultural motifs with a lyrical levity that ignites our
passions without getting lost in the socially complicated
implications of her endeavor. The lead characters bear names from
Beatles songs like Jude (Jim Sturgess), Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), Max
(Joe Anderson), and Sadie (Dana Fuchs). These overlapping lives light
fires of historical significance to warm our jaded memories of a time
period that defined a culture war that has lasted for decades since.
Every scene and song provide memorable highlights, but some in
particular stand out for me.

The already enormous “Let It Be” gets recast as an emotionally-loaded
gospel revival against the chilling backdrop of the parallel
casualties wrought by the Detroit riots and the Vietnam war. Carol
Woods’s wondrous performance haunts with its poignant beauty after
repeated viewings and listenings.

An imagined super-group collaboration between Janis Joplin and Jim
Hendrix comes alive in the relationship between Sadie and Jo Jo
(Martin Luther). When Lucy leaves her sheltered suburban reality to
discover the urban grit of New York City, she gets the full immersion
experience a wickedly rocking version of Sadie’s band performing “Why
Don’t We Do It in the Road.”

The rudely claustrophobic rendering of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
transforms the military induction rite of passage with riveting
images and dystopian riffs—sort of like the Matrix meets MC Escher.
Much to Max’s disdain, when Uncle Sam puts out the call for cannon
fodder, even someone who claims to be a “crossdressing homosexual
pacifist” will do—as long as he doesn’t have flat feet.

Under the wonderfully fantastic tutelage of Taymor’s wide angle
wisdom, each song gets treated like a sacred text to be taught to an
audience of acolytes aspiring to be members of the psychedelic
clergy. In the cosmically delectable trifecta of “I Am the Walrus,”
“Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” and “Because,” Taymor captures
the topsy-turvy and mentally curvy magic of the times.

An unlikely candidate for the day-glo guru giving out shots of
electric koolaid, Bono’s brilliant Dr. Robert does creative justice
to the merry pranks of Ken Kesey’s kind with the spontaneous poetry
of “We’re navigators. We’re aviators. We’re eatin’ taters,
masturbating alligators. Bombardiers, we got no fears. We shed no
tears. We’re pushing the frontiers of transcendental perception.”

When “Dr. Geary” at the “League of Spiritual Deliverance” refuses to
meet with Bono and his band of sisters and brothers, the scene soon
switches to the surreal circus tents commandeered by Eddie Izzard’s
Mr. Kite. Creating a mood reminiscent of festive scenes like the
Bread and Puppet Theater or Burning Man, Taymor takes us down the
rabbit hole with a special effects budget and sensibility so savvy
that she can recreate the “sixties trip” without any side-effects,
legal worries, or mental hangover.

But Taymor doesn’t just employ her keenly kaleidoscopic directorial
eye to conjure fantastic communal bliss, she also taps into the
terrifying aspects of the times, from jangling with Max through the
jungles of ‘nam to watching Jude paint his protest in a stunningly
apocalyptic version of “Strawberry Fields” that literally must be
seen to be believed.

As Lucy gets swept away by the rhetoric of an increasingly angry anti-
war movement and the charismatic magnetism of one of its key
organizers, she starts to lose Jude. In a charged scene that reminds
us that every battle small and large is really about love, envy,
loss, and unresolved emotions, Jude’s heart-wrenching “Revolution”
reminds us that the real resolutions for peace must first be made
inside the human heart.

Across The Universe is a movie I’ve waited decades for. As a young
child with wide eyes, I discovered the fabled genre of the rock
musical in the theater and on the widescreen. With a vivid
imagination, I starred on the stage of my bedroom and entertained
myself with repeated listens to the soundtracks to Hair, Godspell ,
and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Since those lazy pre-adolescent afternoons in the 1970s, I have
sought a cinematic or theatrical feat to feel so alive that I would
once again be compelled to dance around my room and sing along
without a care. Efforts like Tommy, The Rocky Horror Picture Show,
The Wiz, or Rent may have come close. But for my inclinations, no
other rock opera has captured that original magic on stage or screen.
Until now.

Of course, having Lennon and McCartney score already penned on the
ears of eternity, Taymor had a particular advantage. With Across The
Universe, Julie Taymor give us an amazing gift for our times, for all
time.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/02/14/nikki-reed-sees-twilight-as-
vampire-film-adds-to-cast/

Nikki Reed Sees ‘Twilight’ As Vampire Film Adds To Cast

11 Comments  |  Published by Larry Carroll on Thursday, February 14,
2008 at 2:58 pm.
Much like Bella’s eye-opening journey to Port Angeles, the past few
weeks have been filled with revelations for “Twilight” fans
everywhere. Now, as cameras officially begin rolling on the eagerly-
anticipated vampire flick, four more actors have been added to the cast.

MTV News has confirmed exclusively that Nikki Reed (”Thirteen”),
Rachelle Lefevre (”What About Brian”), Cam Cigandet (”The O.C.”) and
Michael Welch (”Joan of Arcadia”) have been cast in the flick based
on Stephenie Meyer’s #1 bestseller. The actors will be playing the
key series roles of Rosalie, Victoria, James and Mike Newton,
respectively.

“Twilight” is currently beginning production in the Portland, Oregon
area, and is targeting a late-2008/early-2009 release.

Head on over to our main movie site for the full scoop on all the new
vampires and humans. In addition, the mysterious Cullen family are
expected to be revealed next week (possibly with the first photo from
the film), and soon afterwards we can expect names for the roles of
such key characters as Jasper Hale, Billy Black, Jacob Black and
Charlie Swan.

Which actors would you cast in those remaining roles? How do you feel
about the additions of Nikki Reed and the others?

http://www.miamiherald.com/1020/story/411930.html

GRAMMY AWARDS COMMENTARY

The Grammys: The dis-chord's the fun part

But the Grammy Awards are still music's highest honor, the Oscars of the record industry. Otherwise, why would the long list of talent at the show include superstars Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Natalie Cole, Bonnie Raitt, Carrie Underwood, Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, to name just a few?

The perennial star power certainly doesn't mean the Grammys do everything right. Each year, you can almost hear a collective groan from music fans as soon as the nominations are announced -- and again after the statuettes are handed out. A Taste of Honey beat Elvis Costello in 1979 for Best New Artist. Boogie Oogie Oogie,indeed. Two years later, Christopher Cross became the only artist ever to sweep the big four -- Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. And where has he been the past 25 years?

This time around, the blunders include snubs of Bruce Springsteen's powerful album Magic and the White Stripes' primal rocker Icky Thump for Album of the Year, and the failures of Daughtry and the Plain White T's to gain Best New Artist nods.

STEP IT UP, GUYS

Which brings us to the observation that all the Best New Artist nominees are women. That's fine, especially in a year that could see the United States' first female president. Grammy got it right with Canadian folkie Feist, country darling Taylor Swift and force of nature Amy Winehouse, who should take this award, plus several others. But R&B singer Ledisi (who?) and formulaic pop-punk band Paramore?

The rest of the categories are far more eclectic, a nice mix of generations, genders and genres. Kanye West, whose album Graduation sold almost a million copies in its first week and is a near shoo-in to win Album of the Year (Winehouse's Back to Black is its only real competition), is the big winner with eight nominations. Winehouse has six, while Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and T-Pain each garnered five.

Regardless of who wins what, the awards show -- broadcast live from Los Angeles' Staples Center at 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS -- is loaded with talent. Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Feist and Brad Paisley are among the stars scheduled to perform, though they're about as interesting as an afternoon nap compared with Winehouse, whose vocal talent is surpassed only by her Britney-like penchant for trouble and who recently caved in to the fact that saying ''no, no, no'' to rehab was no longer an option.

The Brit soul sensation is being treated at a London rehabilitation center for substance abuse. After being turned down earlier in the week, her U.S. visa request was unexpectedly granted Friday afternoon, and the singer seems determined to travel. If she does manage to show, expect lots of fireworks, but let's hope she leaves the crack pipe at home. (Actually, she'll have to: A drug test is required for the visa.)

Also, expect a lump-in-your-throat moment when Kanye West picks up his first trophy of the night -- he's sure to give an emotional tribute to his mother, who died in November after complications from plastic surgery.

LATIN FIRSTS

Two independent Latin artists have been surprised with nominations among much better-known acts with considerably more marketing muscle. Sones de México, a Chicago-based Mexican folk band, has been nominated for Best Regional Mexican Album along with longtime stars such as Vicente Fernandez and Pepe Aguilar. Sones' CD, Esta tierra es tuya (This Land Is Your Land), is a Mexican immigrant version of Woody Guthrie's American anthem and also includes tributes to Bach and Led Zeppelin.

Chris Murphy, producer of Liberación: The Songs of the New Cuban Underground, which was nominated for Best Long Form Video, discovered the Australian rockers INXS. But he couldn't find anyone to release the DVD and CD of unknown reggaeton-influenced rappers he recorded in Santiago de Cuba, so he released them on his own Petrol Records.

Despite the underground buzz on Cuban rap since the late 1990s, this is the first time it has received this kind of industry recognition.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

The Beatles, once again, will be celebrated -- and, really, who can get enough of the Fab Four? It's not your run-of-the-mill nod to John, Paul, George and Ringo, either -- the incredible Cirque du Soleil will offer an acrobatic, artistic interpretation of producer George Martin's The Beatles LOVE, his cut-and-paste sonic love letter to the band that, with his help, changed musical history.

Also on hand will be the cast of Across the Universe, the musical by Julie Taymor (Frida) starring Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood, who sang Beatles songs in the film and on its soundtrack. Will Wood's boyfriend Marilyn Manson be lurking in the shadows? Will his jilted ex-wife Dita von Teese crash the party? Stay tuned!

Miami Herald staff writer Jordan Levin contributed to this report.

• Posted February 8th, 2008 by Kelsey Zukowski in 2007 Jim Sturgess Movies Review