http://www.suntimes.com/output/movies/cst-ftr-lana20.html
Zeta-Jones will try to fill Turner's sweater in biopic

October 20, 2005

BY CINDY PEARLMAN

Catherine Zeta-Jones confirms to GLARE that she's definitely going
to play sultry screen legend Lana Turner in a big-screen biopic
called "Stompanato."

So we asked: Is Sharon Stone (who supposedly coveted the role for
years -- and is already blond) a little ticked off at her? Is Sharon
getting out her ice pick?

Zeta-Jones adopts a petulant voice. "Guess what?" she poses. "I
really really wanted to do 'Basic Instinct 2!' "

She'll have to settle for the sultry Turner, whose basic instinct
was to date a mob guy named Johnny Stompanato, who was then knifed
in the Turner home by her daughter -- at least, that's the official
story. Many still think Turner did the slice-and-dice work on her
lover.

Who will play Johnny? "Keanu Reeves is still on to do it," Zeta-
Jones says. "I think he'll be great."

Meanwhile, Zeta-Jones says she always wanted to play Turner. "It's
just a great, great role," she says, admitting she's also a bit
nervous about it. "I've got it in my head that the studio will turn
around halfway through filming and go, 'She doesn't look like her!' "

The film will be directed by Adrian Lyne ("Fatal
Attraction," "Unfaithful"). Zeta-Jones says the role of daughter
Cheryl hasn't been cast.

Zeta-Jones is not only watching all of Turner's old movies, she has
a secret weapon in the research department -- and he often sits
across from her for Sunday dinners at the Douglas pad.

"My father-in-law, Kirk Douglas, is going to be my research engine,"
she says. "He's my Google when it comes to Lana Turner." (Douglas
starred with Turner in the 1952 film "The Bad and the Beautiful.")

Zeta-Jones says they won't shy away from the rougher bedroom scenes
that reportedly were part of the Turner-Stompanato heat fest. "It
will make for some great screen moments," she purrs.

Meanwhile, Zeta-Jones locks lips with Antonio Banderas in "The
Legend of Zorro," due out Oct. 28.

Big Picture News Inc.

Mike Mills wins praise for first feature film Thumbsucker, at
Toronto fest
TORONTO (CP) - For his feature film directing debut, Mike Mills'
Thumbsucker is already racking up the accolades. The unique comedy
earned the American director a Guardian News Directors Award at the
Edinburgh Film Festival. And his star, relative newcomer Lou Pucci,
who portrays Justin Cobb, has won best actor from both the Berlin
and Sundance film festivals.


Now Mills is trying his luck with a Canadian audience at the Toronto
International Film Festival.

Mills adapted Thumbsucker from the novel by Walter Kirn. It tells
the unlikely story of a 17-year-old with the childish thumbsucking
habit. Even though Justin is way too old for his oral fixation he
can't seem to shake it and throws everyone around him into a
tailspin when he tries to stop.

"There's a lot of plot in this film," said Mills during a news
conference Tuesday. "But it is character development and ... on some
level they all have the same character problem.... It's not just a
coming of age film, everybody's at different stages of life.

"(They're all) at the ends of different ropes. It's all that sort of
unresolvedness is what everybody is experiencing."

Thumbsucker also stars Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Keanu
Reeves, Kelli Garner, Benjamin Bratt and Tilda Swinton as Justin's
mother.

"The film is really about the fact that it's almost impossible for
people to communicate with one another, particularly in families,"
offered Swinton.

Mills started writing the film version six years ago but admits much
of the movie came from actors' improvisation.

"It's funny that we did all this improvising yet there's tons of
dialogue and scenes that are just dead right out of the novel. So
it's a real hybrid approach, I think," Mills said. "All the
improvising and everything we did was to get to the themes that were
in novel .... And I think Walter didn't feel betrayed by what we
did."

Thumbsucker opens this month in Los Angeles and New York.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20050913/ca_pr_on_en/film_fest_thumbsucker_1

Addictive Personalities
Source: Edward Douglas September 16, 2005


Thumbsucker, the feature film debut by graphic artist Mike Mills, is
based on Walter Kirn's book of the same name about Justin Cobb, a 17-
year-old who still sucks his thumb. When he gives up his thumb
through hypnosis, he goes through a series of other drugs to replace
the loss. Maybe it's not so surprising that it took Mills almost six
years to get this movie financed and made, but in that time, he was
able to assemble an impressive cast that included respected stars
like Tilda Swinton, Keanu Reeves, Vince Vaughn and Vincent
D'Onofrio.

Mike Mills showed up for his interview with ComingSoon.net wearing a
suit and tie, which seems quite odd because the organic nature of
the film, as well as Mills' background as a graphic artist and video
director, would make you expect someone a bit less formal. "I feel
like the director is kind of like a combination between a concierge
and the captain of a ship," he explained in complete
seriousness. "It's not about power; it's more respect back to the
crew and the actors. If you're on the crew of a film, you have to
listen to me, and I apologize to them for that, and at least I'm
going to look like the part if you're going to be in this hierarchal
situation with me."

The role of Justin allowed young actor Lou Pucci to pull out a
strong performance in his first major starring role, one that has
already won him two acting awards at prominent film festivals. To
get the role, Pucci auditioned in New York on tape, and then had to
fly out to Los Angeles at his own expense—his first time flying—to
meet with Mills in person. "The audition was like three hours later
and I looked like I just got off a plane," Pucci told us. "I was
tired, nervous and depressed, and then [co-star] Kelli [Garner]
broke up with me eight times."


"When I first read [the book], the thing that really stuck out to me
was that [Walter] was so good at showing family relationships in a
really honest way that smelled so real and wasn't contrived
feeling," Mills told us when asked about why he chose Kirn's novel
for his first film. "The book's really funny, but not in a mocking
way, and I liked that kind of compassion to the characters. I had
enough echo with my family that it quickly became a really cathartic
personal project for me. It took a long time to get financed, so I
thought it was my family after awhile."

"I didn't read the novel before I did it," Pucci continued. "It was
me and Mike's decision, because it's harder to have to forget all
that stuff, so we figured it would be better. I think Justin is kind
of a culmination of all the experiences that he has gone through, so
if in mind, I thought that he had gone through certain experiences
and he hadn't, then I think he would have been a different
character. I wanted to do the movie's character, not the book's."

"I think it works on a couple levels," Mills explained when asked
about Justin's thumbsucking, which is obviously a metaphor for other
personality disorders, "so on one level, it is just an addiction
that he has or a way to deal with his anxiety and his fear and when
it's taken away, there's a series of substitutes like Ritalin or pot
or sex. On another level, hopefully, we can look at it like… I don't
suck my thumb, but I have some things about myself that I'd rather
put a better face on then I do. If people knew the secret thing
about me, I would be a little less lovable or acceptable. I wouldn't
be right with the world."

Tilda Swinton plays Justin's mother Audrey, a woman so obsessed with
television actor Matt Schramm, played by Benjamin Bratt, that she
takes a job as a nurse at the rehab clinic where he ends up. "I knew
of Mike as a graphic artist and a video artist," the British actress
told us when asked about her involvement in the project from years
ago. "Even before he told me about the actual story of the script, I
knew that we should work together, because we were kind of talking
about wanting to see the same sorts of cinema, and I was really
thrilled to meet him."

Swinton, who admits that she's obsessed with David Bowie herself,
gave an intelligent response full of depth when asked about what
drives her character to do what she does. "We talked about her as
being the woman who isn't there," the actress told us. "She's kind
of left the building a long time ago. There's a whole part of her
psyche that she's not been looking after for years, which is a very
unacceptable situation particularly for mothers.


"People always ask you when you become a mother, how you've changed,
and it's actually the wrong question. It's not about you changing,
the fact is that another being comes into existence, but you as a
solitary, individuated person who has a link to your 6-year-old or
your 19-year-old self still exists and there's a great pressure to
ignore her and to just leave her flat. The truth is that's a
disservice not only to yourself, but also to your children, because
that's what is going to stop you understanding them, if you tell
yourself that you've stopped being an individual. And that's the
crisis that she's in, and it's not a very exotic crisis. Most
parents struggle with exactly the same thing."

Keanu Reeves took on a rare supporting role in the film as Perry
Lyman, a New Age orthodontist who uses rather unconventional methods
to try to cure Justin of his thumb sucking, including
hypnosis. "It's a great role and I had a great time performing it,"
said Reeves, "It was a great experience." It took a bit of urging to
get Reeves to expand upon his rather generic response. "I liked his
richness of feeling," the actor said. "I don't know any other way to
describe it. No matter what he was doing, he FELT it."

"I think [Perry] is like a friend that maybe doesn't help you as
much as help himself off of you, but Justin doesn't know that,"
Pucci elaborated. "They're going through the same thing, Justin and
Perry, almost the same arc but at a completely different time in
their lives."

Keanu was rather reluctant to answer why he chose to take on a
supporting role in such a low-budget film, but Mills interjected
with his own thoughts on the matter. "[Keanu] never with words or in
any way said that he was special or different and never asked for
anything special," he said. "Working with Keanu was like working
with one of my electricians or my grip. The worst thing you can do
is pay too much attention to him…like now…because he feels nervous,
like you would."

Pucci also talked a bit about working with Vince Vaughn, who plays
the debating teacher who drives Justin to better himself. "He's all
over the place," Pucci laughed. "He's so articulate, and he has such
a huge vocabulary. It's kind of amazing because you just wouldn't
imagine it. When you see Wedding Crashers and you see him going on
for about five minutes on some improv thing, that's really him."

Even though he was able to keep up with his better-known co-stars,
Pucci always felt in danger of being dwarved by them, only because
most of them were over 6 feet tall. "I was the smallest one in the
cast," the actor opined. "I'm not growing any more either."


Pucci does have one co-star closer to his age in Kelli Garner, a
gorgeous young actress who worked with Mills six years earlier, and
was given the prominent role of Rebecca, Justin's high school crush
who uses him to experiment with sex only to break up with him when
he gets too attached to her. When shooting began on Thumbsucker,
Garner was also appearing as Howard Hughes' fiance in Martin
Scorsese's mega-blockbuster The Aviator. We asked her how it was
going back and forth between the two very different films. "It was
so different, especially because it's a studio picture and a small
indie budget film, so one is really intimidating and threatening and
everything is so much bigger. In 'The Aviator', they rebuilt the
Coconut Grove to scale. In that case, you feel like everyone has put
their sweat and blood and lots of money into it that I feel like I
can't mess up. On the other end, I've known Mike and I've worked
with him a couple times before, and I'm not worried about messing up
with him. For some reason, he loves when I mess up. Those are the
takes he uses, because they're real and they're raw. Going back and
forth was a little hard to deal with."

"I wouldn't tell someone to get their shirt hung up on the door,"
Mills explained, "but that would happen, and that makes that take
better to me."

Besides its interesting characters and their stories, the most
striking thing about Thumbsucker is its soundtrack, written and
performed by Polyphonic Spree front man Tim DeLaughter. "I
definitely had lots of music in mind," Mills told us. "I had a whole
CD that I played for lots of people on the crew and I used music to
describe the film to different people. 'Harold and Maude' was a huge
influence on this movie, and I always wanted to have one
singer/songwriter be the bulk of it. Actually, Alex Smith was going
to be that person, and he did a cover of 'Trouble' from 'Harold and
Maude' and he had another cover of Big Star's 'Thirteen.' He passed
away, and we were stuck and depressed, but then I went to see the
Polyphonic Spree, and they're a really amazing 35-member robe-
wearing choir, symphonic rock band. I wasn't thinking of them being
in the film, but watching the show, I felt so positive and if people
feel a little like this when they leave the theatre, that's totally
what I want. This was Tim Delaughter's first score, but he nailed it
because he was so intuitive and he got it right away."

Thumbsucker opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday.
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=11217

Dear Members of Watching Keanu,

Campus Circle is hosting FREE advance screenings of
Thumbsucker starting September 15th in New York and LA with
other cities to follow. Check it all out at and RSVP at:
http://campuscircle.net/screening/thumbsucker/

* September 15 - New York
* September 15 - Los Angeles
* September 20 - Boston
* September 20 - San Francisco
* September 21 - Seattle
* September 22 - Chicago
* September 29 - Dallas

GET THERE EARLY

Enjoy!
Bernard
* Thanks Julie *

INTERVIEW: TILDA SWINTON (THUMBSUCKER)
09.12.05
By Devin Faraci

Casting Tilda Swinton as an angel in Constantine was obviously a
great idea, but it wasn't until I saw her in person that I really
understood how perfect it was. The person she most reminded me of
was a younger David Bowie, and while I rarely find androgyny to be
very sexy, she really makes it work.

In her new film, Thumbsucker, she's not playing sexy (although no
amount of frumpiness in the world holds her back), she's playing the
mom to Lou Pucci's thumbsucking teen Justin. Before Tilda came in,
we had spoken to the director Mike Mills (not the one you're
thinking of), who had told us of the film's long journey to the
screen. Look for him later in the week, where you can read how he
told us that Tilda was the actor who stuck around with his little
film the longest, and how she became a producer on the project. Of
course that meant we would start the interview with that.

Tilda's been someone I've enoyed for years, but she's about to get
huge. This Christmas she's playing the villainous White Witch in
Disney's mega-budget The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, and you're going to see her all over the place
promoting it. Enjoy her here now, in this fairly in-depth interview,
in the calm before the storm.

Thumbsucker opens in limited release on Friday.

Q: Mike Mills said that you were the one who hung in there the
longest in the long process of getting this film made. What made you
want to hang on so long?

Swinton: Mike Mills. You've met him and so you understand why. So
that's it. And I knew about him anyway. I knew that I might feel
this way about him and I did. On it goes. It was going to happen. It
was obviously going to happen and it was obvious that it was going
to be as good as it is. It was obvious to me. I have to say that
it's been obvious to me before now with other first time filmmakers
that I've had the privilege to work with who've had people telling
them they're insane when they went to ask for money. I get a real
kick out of it, this thing of going, 'I was right. I was right.'

Q: You're now a mother, right?

Swinton: I am a mother.

Q: Did that help you relate to your character?

Swinton: No. It's very different. I relate to Justin entirely.
Justin is my into it. I don't, as a mother, relate for two reasons.
First of all, I'm not there yet. I don't have seventeen year olds
and also I think that I'm well aware of the fact that I don't know
what I'm doing. Whereas she is fighting that. So I think that I'm in
a better position or just that I have clearer sense of chaos then
she does. Also, she had them very young and I had my children so
old. Also, I have the great luxury of being able to live several
different lives at once. Whereas she is in that quite orthodox
position of becoming a mother and putting aside her solitary,
identifiable self as Audrey the person and has to look after their
worlds. That kind of thing really kicks you in the ass I think
eventually. One sees it time and time again. Obviously everyone does
it to a certain extent. Parents are really led up that path, but for
mothers I think that it's really, really hard to resist being
consumed by one's mother identity and keeping in touch with one's
individual self.

Q: Can you talk about your role as producer?

Swinton: Well, to be honest with it was very similar to what I've
always been doing with these independent films. It's just that now
we sort of felt that because I'd been working for a while it just
means more now for my name to be on the front of it. My name has
never been there before, but actually the work has always been
there. I've been looking at my address book. My address book is
fatter now than it ever was before and I got, frankly, a few notches
on my belt of impossible films that no one thought would be able to
do anything being made and being what we wanted of them.

Q: One of those films is Teknolust. Is that being released?

Swinton: I love it. I know. But you know these films always find
their audience. They do. Teknolust has it's audience and it might
even find a time, I don't know, in twenty years or maybe less. I
feel so clear about that. That's not just idealism. That's reality
in my lifetime because I worked with Derek Jarman. We always had
this joke when we were making films that he was the real filmmaker
because he used to make films for not more than $200 thousand and in
the first five years it was way into profit because it didn't cost
that much. So we were very clear always then that the audience was
there. That the audience will always be there, and my contention is
that the audience might be bigger than these sort of art, indie,
mainstream, all these labels that I don't know what they mean. I
don't know what they mean. What seems to be coming beautifully clear
is that the "mainstream audience" is getting tired of being given
such generic crap. That's great news. That's great news for all of
us because it means that maybe people who are prepared to put more
money into pictures will chose people who are into doing more
complex visions.

Q: Is your decision to take roles in big films like Narnia a way of
fattening up your address book for future indies?

Swinton: It's actually not. That sounds like a really clever and
very conscious way of thinking. I'm not that clever. It's not that
because I'm not ? I'm actually doing those things for exactly the
same reasons as I'm doing everything else. I'm doing them because
the filmmakers come to me and we start up a conversation and they
propose something that I just want to go on talking about. They sort
of say, 'Well, come on and talk about it on the set.' So then I
say, 'Yeah. I will.' When Constantine is being directed by Francis
Lawrence who is a phenomenal guy who I'd have done anything with and
I would do anything with, that's his first feature and it just so
happened that it was a $150 million film with Keanu Reeves and
Warner Brothers rather than Mike Mills and however much we're
telling everybody out there that this costs. I can't remember how
much, but the official figure is not bad.

Q: If they wanted to make your characters in these big movies less
complex, would you still do them?

Swinton: No. No. I mean, I don't need to do those films. I have a
really rich life and I have no officially - this is the thing - I
have no career plan. I have no career. I have a life. I have so much
to occupy myself that I don't actually need to go and spend two
months on a big Hollywood movie unless I'm having a fantastic
conversation with the filmmakers. The question is can I take myself
with me, and in all the instances, the few instances that there have
been of me being in these big films I've always been, correctly as
it happens, encouraged that I could take myself with me and that
myself is actually what they wanted. So I've gone, 'Okay. If that's
what you want then I'm coming.'

And it's true that they did want me in Constantine and they did want
me in this film. That's great. Amazing that Disney would put me in
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when you think of everyone else
they could have put in it. It's a bit of a joke. And why not? It's
literally no skin off of my nose and in fact it's fantastic
information because I felt like a spy on these films apart from
anything else. It's really, really interesting. It explains a lot to
me about how difficult it is to make those big films because it's
about as different to the kind of filmmaking that I'm used to as
plumbing and carpentry.

I keep saying that it's like the difference between being a long
distance runner and a sprinter. The creativity on the big films is
months ago and with little films you have to - you are going to deal
with chaos anyway - you're going to have to deal with chaos and so
you have to make it your friend and work it and really enjoy it on
some level. On big films chaos is really scary because there are
fifteen hundred people going to lunch everyday and huge decisions or
little decisions, rather, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So I liken big budget filmmaking to being a big jigsaw being put
together very slowly by very, very kind of old giants which doesn't
mean that the picture isn't going to be great. It really might be.
It might be great. But you can't see it while it's happening because
there are huge pieces that they're loading in over your head and you
just have to trust and refer back to your notes of that meeting four
months before when someone said that it was going to look like this.
The kinetic energy of independent filmmaking is so different. It's
so much more alive. It's unplugged.

Q: Are you more comfortable on an independent film?

Swinton: It's what I know. It's what I know. But I've enjoyed every
one of my mad spying missions into the mother-ship. I've enjoyed
every single one of them. It's been really fascinating. I've had a
really great time. But I worry about the money that they waste. Ah.
It's so painful for me really.

Q: At least you're not the producer.

Swinton: Exactly.

Q: What's it like on the set of a big film like that?

Swinton: You work out - If you haven't got enough to do you start
working out that the craft service budget for a week is the budget
of a film that you've been trying to get off of the ground for five
years and you just drive yourself crazy. But money spent is not a
problem. Money wasted is and there's always going to be more wasted
on these big things.

Q: They're calling Narnia the next Lord of the Rings.

Swinton: That's not my idea. That's not a good strategy for anyone's
career. I don't know. That's what they decided to do with that film.
The point that I'm laboring, I would have, if Andrew Adamson was an
independent filmmaker making an independent film of The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe and I was asked to play the White Witch I
would've done it. That's my point. I didn't do it because it's a
huge film.

Q: That whole process of getting into the big films – there's all
sorts of contracts and licensing you deal with.

Swinton: Yeah. That's where the spying comes in and that's where the
newness comes in and that's where one has to really dig deep when
you start to wonder if they've done a deal with McDonalds after you
signed a contract.

Q: So is there going to be a Tilda Swinton doll included with my
Happy Meal?

Swinton: I'm kind of hoping not because I'm the epitome of all evil
and one would hope that that would protect me from all of that. What
would the white stuff be on the snow burger. Ghastly thought. Lion
Burgers. I don't know what they're going to be able to do that, but
lets just see them try. I don't know.

Q: Are there sequels you're obligated to?

Swinton: No. no. I'm dead. I'm dead. There's one other that my
character appears in and that's The Magicians Nephew. That's a
prequel which is fantastic. It's really fantastic.

Q: Would you come back for that if they made it?

Swinton: Yeah. God. It's a tall order that one because it's all in
Victorian London and would involve me kind of going around Victorian
London on the back of a coach and horse. I pick up the lamppost and
throw it and create Narnia. It's fantastic.

Q: Isn't Andrew a sort of first time director as well?

Swinton: He's completely a first time director. He was a first time
director and probably the most powerful first time director in
history. Even given that he had a $250 million dollar film as his
first live action film, it's amazing and it's closely followed by
this Francis Lawrence who had Constantine as his first feature.

Q: David McKenzie was in town a few weeks ago for Asylum and he
talked about Nico. Are you committed to that film?

Swinton: I'm completely committed to playing Nico. We're doing it.

Q: Is that next for you?

Swinton: No. I think that he has to do something else in between and
don't hold your breath because it'll be a year or so away minimum.

We had this very funny experience yesterday when I was Washington
and I had just mentioned Nico to someone and as I was walking to the
loo I thought, Uh oh. I never cleared it with David that I could
talk about this. That's terrible. So I went to my hotel room and
there was an email from him saying, I feel really bad because I'm on
a press tour for Asylum and I never cleared with you whether or not
you wanted me to say that you were going to be playing Nico. Anyway,
so we both decided to come out of the closet and stick a flag in the
ground and say that we're going to do it. So we'll see. Maybe two or
three years.

Q: What is it about her that interested you?

Swinton: Well, it's the aspect of the story that we're interested in
showing. It's the last, the very last tour in fact and I think
there's something really interesting about the has-been, never-was
on a certain level. And that sort of dying fall of an artist's life
who is really struggling and particularly of course struggling with
the fact that she's a sort of major junkie at that point in her life
that I find very interesting. It's also very funny as well. So we'll
see. It's rich. It's written by Dan Peoples, who wrote Blade Runner
and Twelve Monkeys.

Q: Is it going to look back at her glory days and time with Andy
Warhol's Factory at all?

Swinton: It will refer. It will refer to them. But you should read
it. It's based on a book by James Young. He's a guy who was a
pianist, a keyboard player in her last band and he wrote the most
beautiful book about it and this is what's the inspiration for this
film, the last passage.

Q: What else are you working on?

Swinton: What am I working on? I'm working with Bela Tarr, the
Hungarian filmmaker. We tried to make the film in the spring and
then unfortunately for unavoidable circumstances we had to move it.
So I hope that we're going to make that in the autumn and what else?
There's a number of other things that are possibly not enough
skinned enough to talk about, but there's some things popping up in
pre-production next year I hope.

Q: I saw a lot of projects in your future on IMDB.

Swinton: Apparently there are some complete red herrings there.
There's a film called I'll Never Get Out Of This Town on there. I've
never heard of it. I don't know what it is. I don't know. I'm
waiting on the check is all I can say. I've no idea what that is. So
you can disregard that. There's another film called Three Bad Men
which is also not happening. So there you go. But someone also did
tell some time ago that I was incredibly good in one of The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre films. So I might be wrong. I don't know. What I'm
waiting for is someone telling me about a fictional film in which
I'm better than I've ever been. That would be awful wouldn't it?

http://chud.com/interviews/4302

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/_/id/6822044?
rnd=1126391098995&has-player=true&version=6.0.11.847

  Justin Cobb (Lou Pucci) is seventeen and still sucking his thumb.
It's hell on his school and sex life. His guru orthodontist (Keanu
Reeves in a hilarious cameo) clouds the issue with "hippie
psychobabble." But when Justin is medicated for his attention-
deficit disorder, the numbnut becomes a narcissist who leads the
debating team to victory. The change shocks his coach (a terrific
Vince Vaughn) and his parents (Tilda Swinton and Vincent D'Onofrio),
who turn out to be just as screwed up as Justin. Debuting writer-
director Mike Mills -- remember the name -- brings heart and sting
to Walter Kirn's novel. Pucci is an actor to watch: He rides this
spellbinder without softening the truths that plague the thumbsucker
in all of us.

PETER TRAVERS
(Posted Sep 08, 2005)


   3 Stars

Happy 41st Birthday Keanu!

STONE HITS OUT AT ZETA-JONES CASTING



SHARON STONE is furious CATHERINE ZETA-JONES will play LANA TURNER
in a new biopic, because she was the screen legend's first choice.

THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE actress met Stone before she died of
throat cancer in 1995 and Stone reveals Turner wanted her to star in
a movie celebrating her life.

The film will look at eight-times married Turner's tumultuous
marriage to gangster JOHNNY STOMPANATO, to be played by KEANU
REEVES, who was killed in 1958 by her daughter CRANE.

Stone says, "I met Lana in her final years and liked her a great
deal.

"She was every inch the movie star and we got along really well. She
said if there was a film to be made on her life, then I was her
choice.

"Lana's life is one of the more interesting of the Hollywood greats.
Lana really rocked."


http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/stone%20hits%
20out%20at%20zeta-jones%20casting

Robert Downey Jr. Marries Girlfriend

Saturday Aug 27, 2005 6:00pm EST
Sunday Aug 28, 2005 8:10am EST (updated)
By Katy Hall
CREDIT: GREGORY PACE / FILMMAGIC

Robert Downey, Jr., married his longtime girlfriend Susan Levin on
Saturday, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The wedding began at 6:30 p.m. in the Long Island, New York, town of
Amagansett. The ceremony took place under a gazebo built for the
occasion, with guests sitting on white benches.

Guests including Keanu Reeves, who arrived by motorcycle, Billy Joel
and his wife, Sting and his wife and actress Ellen Barkin.

The reception followed at the same location, with tables decorated
in red and gold and topped with exotic greenery instead of flowers.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, Downey did a 30-minute Kung Fu session,
then went for a swim with his son, Indio. "He really blew off a lot
of steam," says a friend.

At lunch, Downey didn't eat much. "He just drank a lot of water,"
adds the friend. "He was too nervous."

The rehearsal dinner Friday night was held at the East Hampton Point
Restaurant, hosted by Levin's parents. Guests included Sarah Jessica
Parker and Robert Downey, Sr.

Downey, 40, and Levin, 31, met in 2002 on the set of Gothika, the
psychological thriller he made with Halle Barry, which Levin
coproduced.

The couple were engaged in November 2003 when Downey presented Levin
with an engagement ring made of diamonds and a rare African
sapphire.

Downey – who has starred in more than 50 films including Less Than
Zero, Chaplin and Wonder Boys – has a reputation as a talented but
troubled actor. In June 1996 he was pulled over for speeding, and
police found heroin, crack and an unloaded gun in his car. He spent
the next six years in and out of prison and rehab.

Downey, who has an 11-year-old son, Indio, with ex-wife Deborah
Falconer, however, has turned his life around, and has been sober
since meeting Levine.

"She's been very firm that if he's going to be with her, he has to
really toe the line, and he's done that," Gothika producer Joel
Silver told PEOPLE in 2003.

It's a sentiment Downey Jr. shares – with his characteristic flair:
She "has got me in a freakin' choke chain," he told PEOPLE at the
time, "and I love it."

Zeta-Jones Stomps Out Pic

Oscar winner could potentially star with Keanu Reeves in Lana
Turner/Johnny Stompanato biopic for Warner Bros.

Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato had one of the most fiery,
exciting relationships in Hollywood during the '50s, and now Warner
Bros. Pictures is working to bring that romance to the big screen.
The studio has started negotiations with Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-
Jones and Keanu Reeves to play the lovers in Stompanato, which will
be directed by Adrian Lyne.

Penned by David and Janet Peoples, with a rewrite done by Sebastian
Gutierrez, the project centers on the tumultuous relationship
between Hollywood starlet Turner (Zeta-Jones) and Stompanato, a
bodyguard and the right-hand man of mobster Mickey Cohen. The
romance came to end on April 4, 1958, (Good Friday) when Turner's
daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Stompanato to death in what was
later ruled a justifiable homicide. Rumors surrounded the death,
including those that Crane and Stompanato had been lovers and that
Turner actually killed Stompanato and let her 14-year-old daughter
take the wrap.

The studio would like to begin production on the project sometime in
January. Contrafilm's Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson will produce with
Erwin Stoff and Bill Lischak. Kevin McCormick will be the executive
overseeing for Warner Bros.

Repped by CAA, Zeta-Jones, who won her Oscar for her supporting role
in Chicago, will next be seen with Antonio Banderas in The Legend of
Zorro. Her recent credits include Ocean's Twelve, The Terminal and
Intolerable Cruelty. She is also currently attached to Mimi Leder's
Smoke & Mirrors and Joel Zwick's Coming Out.
http://www.filmstew.com/Content/Article.asp?ContentID=12209&Pg=1

Here is Keanu's clip under Hypnosis http://a.videodetective.com/?
PublishedID=439506

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thumbsucker/

http://movies.apple.com/trailers/sony/thumbsucker-tsr.html

http://www.cinematical.com/2005/08/16/trailer-trash-thumbsucker-an-
excellent-cast-and-keanu-reeves/#comments

Trailer Trash: Thumbsucker: An excellent cast and...Keanu Reeves?
Posted Aug 16, 2005, 5:20 PM ET by Kim Voynar
Filed under: Scarlett Johansson, Trailer Trash

At every indie flick I've gone to lately, I've seen the trailer for
Thumbsucker, a film I'm really looking forward to seeing. The film
stars Lou Taylor Pucci (who I really liked in The Chumscrubber) as
the thumbsucking main character, alongside such stellar actors as
Tilda Swinton (who was tragically underused in Broken Flowers - but
she's playing the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe!), and my two favorite Vince's - Vincent D'Onofrio, and
Vince Vaughn (In the same film? Are  you kidding me? Someone has
heard and answered this girl's prayers!).

The biggest potnetial glitch in this film, for me, is Keanu Reeves
as the orthodontist. Now, don't get me wrong. I liked Reeves as the
sexy Neo in the Matrix films as much as anyone - he's ever so much
sexier when he's doing lots of cool martial arts moves and not
opening his mouth much - but in this film, at least in the trailer,
he seems to be trying to...well, to act. Given that my daughter's
Barbie dolls generally emote better than Reeves on a good day, this
doesn't bode well for me. This bit of dialogue from the trailer
seems to sum it up pretty well:
REEVES: Justin, are you ready to let go of your thumb?

PUCCI: Why are you talking like that?

Exactly. As in, Keanu - why are you talking like you have no emotion
whatsover? Why, when you have a bit of interesting dialouge in a
film, do you sound as exciting as if you were reading your mom's
grocery list? Maybe he'll prove me wrong; I fervently hope so,
because I have been waiting patiently for years for Reeves' acting
skills to catch up with his sexiness.

As for Thumbsucker itself, well, the critics over at Rotten Tomatoes
have so far given it a resounding 100% (!), which is shocking, since
of late I seem to disagree with them on everything. IMDB users have
only given the film a 4.9% so far (with 176 folks voting), but I'm
not too worried about that, since IMDB users gave Stealth at 4.5%
and The Chumscrubber a sad little 5.4%, while The Island got a 6.8%
(are you people kidding me? You rate The Island above The
Chumscrubber?).

At any rate, this is one film I've been long waiting to see, and I
have to wait another month before it opens here. When it does,
though, I promise - I'll go into it hoping against hope that Reeves
will actually be good in it. Trivia: Scarlett Johansson was
originally cast as Rebecca Crane, but she dropped out before filming
and was replaced by Kelli Garner. Wonder if Johannson dropped this
film so she could do The Island?

Men Of The Week: Entertainment

Keanu Reeves

  AskMen.com feature on Keanu Reeves that includes pics, pictures,
biography, video, related news, vital stats, commentary, and cool
facts.

why we like him?

Despite his oafish image, the guy knows how to draw people to a
movie. He scores high AskMen.com points for his ability to appear in
films that appeal to both men and women; we enjoy the blockbusting
action while our lady friends can focus on the eye candy.

why is he famous?

During his long and busy career, Keanu Reeves has been in Dangerous
Liaisons (1988), Point Break (1991), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992),
Speed (1994), The Devil's Advocate (1997), and the Matrix trilogy.
But for many, he will always remain dimwitted slacker Ted Logan from
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).

  overall rating 85

The world is divided into two categories: those who enjoy the work
of Keanu Reeves and those who can't stand him. While it's true that
he hasn't yet proven himself to be in the same league as Al Pacino
and Jack Nicholson, his films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.

Keanu Reeves is comfortable in both independent personal dramas and
loud summer blockbusters. He personifies a new breed of action hero,
one that isn't macho and out to steal scenes. Comfortable with
himself, he comes off onscreen as a regular guy who's in way over
his head.

Contrary to many Hollywood types, Keanu is willing to take a pay cut
for the good of a movie. He allowed part of his salary to be
deferred for The Replacements (2000) so that Gene Hackman could be
cast and gave back $38 million of his Matrix sequels money to pay
for some of the special effects and keep the movies on schedule.

This down-to-earth dude is always entertaining to watch on the big
screen. He may be adored and respected by some and reviled and
ridiculed by others, but there's no denying that Keanu Reeves will
be remembered as one of the most popular movie stars to ever come
out of Tinseltown.

personality & talent 78

Keanu Reeves is a secretive person and not much is known about his
personal life except that he enjoys ballroom dancing, horseback
riding, surfing, and motorcycling, hobbies he's picked up on movie
sets. He has a reputation for being uncultured, but this likely has
more to do with being typecast as a slacker early in his career than
his true nature. It also doesn't help that he's constantly self-
deprecating when doing interviews.

Of course, the question many people ask themselves is, how can a man
who has the emotional range of a polished doorknob continue to star
in successful movies? The truth is that Keanu has the ability to
convey passion and authority simply with his charisma. A man with a
knack for choosing interesting projects, he's the strong silent
type, and it's worked to his advantage in movies like Speed (1994)
and The Matrix (1999).

woman magnetism 92

Not only was Keanu Reeves chosen by Empire magazine as No. 17 on its
list of 100 Sexiest Stars in Film History in 1995, but he's also
been named as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by
People magazine. But women don't need a periodical to tell them that.

Many of Keanu's female fans have created websites devoted to him.
And although he's been romantically linked to the likes of Jennifer
Syme (who died in a car accident in 2001), Jill Schoelen, and
allegedly had a romantic relationship with his Matrix costar Carrie-
Anne Moss, he seems to be secretive when it comes to his
relationships.

In January 2005, he was rumored to be involved with Amanda de
Cadanet, but once June rolled around, he had apparently married
Autumn Macintosh. Only Keanu knows for sure...

accomplishments & fame 87

Keanu Reeves received his first acting paycheck for doing a Canadian
Coca-Cola commercial in 1980, and four years later he was in another
ad, this time for Kellogg's Corn Flakes. He continued making a name
for himself on the Toronto theater circuit with plays such as
Wolfboy in 1984 and Romeo and Juliet in 1985.

After the made-for-TV movie Letting Go (1985) and the film One Step
Away (1985), Reeves could be seen in Youngblood (his American film
debut, in 1986), River's Edge (1986), Flying (1986), and five
television movies, including Young Again (1986) and the remake of
Babes in Toyland (1986), a made-for-TV film starring Drew Barrymore.

In 1988, Reeves appeared in The Night Before, Permanent Record, The
Prince of Pennsylvania, and the Academy Award-winning Dangerous
Liaisons with Uma Thurman. He followed it up with the cult classic,
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).

Keanu's next projects were Parenthood (1989), I Love You to Death
(1990), Tune in Tomorrow... (1990), and Point Break (1991), as an
FBI agent going undercover as a surfer. Then came two other 1991
features: Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and My Own Private Idaho.

With his stock rising, Reeves appeared in Bram Stoker's Dracula
(1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
(1993), and Little Buddha (1993), as the mythical Siddhartha. The
international blockbuster Speed (1994) then established him as an
action hero and made Sandra Bullock a star.

The following titles on his resume -- Johnny Mnemonic (1995), A Walk
in the Clouds (1995), Chain Reaction (1996), Feeling Minnesota
(1996), and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997) -- were
disappointments. However, Reeves came back in top form with The
Devil's Advocate (1997) and The Matrix (1999).

Following The Replacements, The Watcher and The Gift, all 2000
features, he starred in Hard Ball (2001) and the chick flick Sweet
November (2001) with Charlize Theron. In 2003, Reeves was busy with
The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions and Something's Gotta
Give with Jack Nicholson.

Keanu came back strong in 2005 with the title role in Constantine.
He'll be even busier in 2006, with the release of A Scanner Darkly,
Il Mare (which reunites him with Sandra Bullock) and The Night
Watchman.

It's also worth mentioning that in 1991, Keanu acted as a James Dean-
type in the music video for "Rush Rush," by American Idol judge
Paula Abdul.

coolness factor 82

When it comes to being cool, few actors come close to Keanu. His
vacant-looking demeanor makes him appear indifferent about his fame
and movie star label, which definitely adds to his coolness.

In fact, it's this blank-like image that made The Matrix (1999) so
likable to begin with, helping to turn a science-fiction film into a
huge mainstream success. Keanu would be a great guy to hang out with
if we weren't so afraid of him stealing the ladies' attention...

personal style 84

When hanging out or performing with his band, Keanu's comfortable in
jeans and a plain T-shirt. But when it comes to public appearances,
he almost always wears a stylish black suit with no tie. Oftentimes
when he's not working, he grows a beard, and we have to say that it
doesn't really suit him. But we'll let him keep it, as it must help
his anonymity.

Secret Wish

That Keanu Reeves would appear in movies with more martial arts
action and less dialogue.

quote

"I used to have nightmares that they would put 'He played Ted' on my
tombstone."
-Keanu Reeves

"I'm a meathead man. You've got smart people, and you've got dumb
people. I just happen to be dumb."
-Keanu Reeves

biography

Keanu (which means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian)
Charles Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 2, 1964.
His father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves, is a former Chinese-Hawaiian
geologist, while his British mother, Patricia Taylor, is a former
showgirl. In 1966, after the birth of second child Kim, the family
moved to Australia for a year.

But soon, Patricia and Samuel divorced. With custody of the
children, Patricia moved to New York City, where she married stage
director Paul Aaron. The family relocated to Toronto, Canada, and
became Canadian citizens.

keanu reeves early on

A year later, the couple divorced and Patricia was subsequently
married to rock promoter Robert Miller, a move that led to her gig
as a costume designer for rock stars like Alice Cooper. In 1976,
Keanu welcomed sister number two, Karina, to the family.

Keanu's early education began at Toronto's Jesse Ketchum Public
School. Next, he attended four different high schools including the
Toronto School for the Performing Arts. But he had little interest
in academics and the only fun he had in school was studying drama
and playing ice hockey. He was so good at goaltending that he was
nicknamed "The Wall."

keanu reeves makes his debut

Reeves eventually dropped out of school without getting his degree.
He wanted to be an actor but it was difficult to get work, even
though he studied at the famous Second City workshop in Toronto for
a year. To make ends meet, he worked in landscaping, sharpened
skates at an ice rink, and even managed a pasta restaurant.

In 1980, Reeves was cast in a television commercial for Coca-Cola. A
few years later, a commercial for Kellogg's Corn Flakes was added to
his resume. At the same time, he got some stage work appearing in
Wolfboy in 1984 and as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet a year later.

Two small movies followed in 1985: television's Letting Go with John
Ritter, and the little-seen One Step Away. His big break came
shortly after when he joined the cast of Youngblood (1986), a hockey
film starring Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze. From that moment, Keanu
knew he could make it in the movies.

keanu heads to hollywood

In 1986, he packed up $3,000 and his belongings in an old Volvo and
drove to Hollywood with the hopes of contacting his first stepfather
Paul Aaron. He quickly hired a manager, and at the time it was
suggested that he change his name to "K.C. Reeves." Eventually, he
went back to the more exotic Keanu.

In addition to five television movies in 1986, including a remake of
Babes in Toyland starring Drew Barrymore, Keanu starred in the dark
teen angst drama, River's Edge (1986). Oliver Stone offered him the
part of Chris Taylor in Platoon (1986), but he turned it down and it
went to Charlie Sheen instead.

keanu in bill & ted's excellent adventure

A string of little movies followed in 1988 -- The Night Before,
Permanent Record and The Prince of Pennsylvania -- before Keanu
appeared in a major motion picture, the Oscar-winning Dangerous
Liaisons, with John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer and Uma Thurman.

The following year, Keanu auditioned for a little time-travel comedy
called Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). Although he
originally tried out for the part of Bill Preston, he was ultimately
chosen to star as harebrained slacker Ted. The film was a hit and
his "excellent, dude" attitude became his trademark.

keanu reeves in point break

After landing supporting roles in Parenthood (1989) and the Kevin
Kline comedy I Love You to Death (1990), Reeves returned to starring
roles with Tune in Tomorrow... (1990) and Point Break (1991), a
movie about a young FBI agent who must infiltrate a gang of surfers
in order to catch bank robbers.

His next projects were Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), My Own
Private Idaho (1991), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Much Ado About
Nothing (1993), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), and the
unsuccessful Bernardo Bertolucci film, Little Buddha (1993).

keanu reeves full speed ahead

What came next was a role that would change his career and introduce
him to a whole new audience. Keanu Reeves was cast in the summer
blockbuster Speed (1994), about a bomb on a bus filled with
passengers. Grossing almost $300 million at the worldwide box office
and making a star of a then unknown Sandra Bullock, Keanu was
established as a bona fide movie star who could carry a movie.

Reeves continued alternating between small dramas and bigger movies,
with the films Johnny Mnemonic (1995), A Walk in the Clouds (1995),
Chain Reaction (1996), Feeling Minnesota (1996), and The Last Time I
Committed Suicide (1997). In 1997, he joined Al Pacino and Charlize
Theron in the supernatural thriller, The Devil's Advocate.

keanu enters the matrix

With his status as an action star still intact from a few years ago,
especially since he had refused to appear in the Speed sequel, Keanu
was offered a starring role in a science-fiction picture by the
Wachowski brothers. That flick was The Matrix (1999), a film nobody
expected would go on to become a cult classic and earn almost half a
billion dollars in worlwide box-office receipts.

Commanding a salary of over $12 million per film, Reeves appeared in
the football comedy The Replacements (2000), The Watcher (2000), The
Gift (2000), Sweet November (2001), and Hard Ball (2001) with Diane
Lane.

keanu reeves in matrix sequels

Reeves' following films were The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix
Revolutions (he received a paycheck of $15 million plus 15% of the
gross, for both sequels) and the Jack Nicholson vehicle Something's
Gotta Give, all released in 2003.

keanu reeves is constantine

After Thumbsucker premiered at 2005's Sundance Film Festival, Keanu
starred as John Constantine in the comic book adaptation of
Hellblazer, Constantine, costarring Rachel Weisz.

In 2006, Keanu can add A Scanner Darkly, Il Mare and The Night
Watchman to his resume.

Keanu Reeves is also an avid musician. He used to play bass in the
rock band Dogstar, which released the album Our Little Visionary in
1996. Since 2002, he joined a new band, Becky, along with former
Dogstar member Rob Mailhouse. A private man by nature, Keanu Reeves
reportedly splits his time between Beverly Hills and Toronto.

What else do you need to know?

Trivia: Keanu Reeves turned down a role in which Oliver Stone movie?
http://www.askmen.com/men/entertainment_100/143_keanu_reeves.html

Billandted.org reports: "It may be the most unknown urban legend-
type rumor you've never heard... and if MGM/UA has its way you never
will! Speculation still abounds... is there a hushed-up recall of
Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Collection, the 3-disc DVD set, or not?
Well it seems the answer is yes, there is... don't look for any
press releases from MGM/UA on their website about it and don't even
expect to find many people talking about it online or offline, but
here's the lowdown... according to reports the artwork on the
outside sleeve of the box set (which is designed to look like a
phone booth) includes a sticker which reads "How's My Time
Traveling?" and then offers a 1-800 number which utilizes some
numbers Bill and Ted have been known to recount when meeting
themselves (not literally, of course). Unfortunately someone either
didn't do their homework or pulled a prank on the distribution
company because the phone number actually connects to a porn line!
Sad, but true. We've tested it ourselves and indeed, it does connect
to an adult-entertainment phone service. We're not giving out the
number simply because I'm not sure if this company charges for its
services or not and I'm not about to field complaints from angry
parents for encouraging calls to sex lines! We've had reports from
various fans who have heard directly about the recall from stores
and the box set is now unavailable on Amazon.com. A stop at Suncoast
Video Store didn't make anything clear... they have not heard about
any recall but they also had NO copies of the box set in the store!
We'll have to see if future versions of the box set appear without
the number (or perhaps with store stickers placed over it?) but in
the meantime hang on to your original sets if you have them! They
may be considered collector's items some day. And we recommend you
don't let your fingers do the walking on this one... unless you're
over 18 and into that kind of thing."
http://www.billandted.org/

More Talks About Constantine 2

Constantine 2

  Superhero Hype! ( United States) - August 4, 2005

[snip]

SHH!: There's an interesting phenomenon going on with comic book
fans and the movies. None of them are too happy if the movie is too
different from the comics. "Constantine" is a great example of this,
because it got a lot of negative early flack because you had Keanu
Reeves, a dark-haired American, playing the role. Can you talk about
this desire to separate the movies from the comics?

Uslan: Two key things here: #1 that was critical to us was to get
the full support of Karen Berger, the editor of the Vertigo line. We
wanted to make sure that in her heart, she could stand up and say
that this captures the essence of Constantine, the characters, the
stories and most of that movie was derivative from various
storylines that are found in the comics. Tim Burton said something
to me early on, which directly applies to "Constantine". At the time
of the first "Batman" movie, when I had been dedicating my life to
doing a serious dark version of Batman, I get a call one day asking
what I thought of Michael Keaton playing Batman. So I laughed,
because I thought it was a joke. "Great. Mr. Mom as Batman." It took
him 20 minutes to convince me he was serious. I thought he was going
to destroy everything I had been working towards. He told me that
first, he was a serious actor, and they actually set up a screening
of the rough cut of "Clean and Sober" for me, but physically, he
doesn't look anything like Batman. He's my height, he doesn't have
the musculature and he doesn't have the square jaw. And Tim Burton
said to me "Michael, a square jaw does not a Batman make. In cinema,
it's about the character and about creating a portrayal of an
obsessed, driven to the point of nearly being psychotic Bruce Wayne,
who I can get audiences to suspend their disbelief about, to buy
into the fact that this is a guy who would get dressed up as a bat
and fight crime in Gotham City." He said "You want to do it
seriously? That's the only way I know we can do it without getting
unintentional laughs from the audience. If I try to put Harrison
Ford or Dennis Quaid or Kevin Costner, serious actors quote-unquote,
in a Batman costume, I'm going to get unintentional laughs." And as
it turned out, he was exactly right. It was the greatest call and
all of fandom, after me, learned that and then nobody wanted anyone
else to play Batman.

The same thing's true with Constantine. A British accent does not a
John Constantine make. Blonde hair does not a John Constantine make.
It is about the essence of that character and his personality, which
is nailed in that movie, and I'm very proud of it. (Uslan's partner
F.J. mentioned that the turning point for the change in attitude
towards Keanu as Constantine happened when Warner Brothers showed
fifteen minutes from the movie at Comic-Con International.)

SHH!: Who found Francis Lawrence to direct that movie? I thought
that he did a great job.

Uslan: I think he's potentially the next Alfred Hitchcock. He's one
of the greatest storytellers around.

SHH!: Has Keanu been signed to do another movie yet?

Uslan: There are discussion ongoing at the moment.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/featuresnews.php?id=3388

Thumbsucker (Trailer of the Week)

Writer-director Mike Mills has assembled a terrific cast for his
first full-length feature film, a picture which one might be tempted
to compare with the breakout hit of another young "indie" director,
Wes Anderson. Just as the part of Max Fischer became a breakout role
for Jason Schwartzman, young actor Lou Pucci, probably best known
for his small but crucial role in this year's HBO production of
Empire Falls, seems poised for big success after playing Justin Cobb
here. The movie follows Cobb, a socially awkward teenager with ADHD,
as he tries to grow up with and despite the help of a group of
adults including his parents, his hippie orthodontist (played by
Keanu Reeves), and his quirky debate coach (Vince Vaughn). The movie
is actually an adaptation of a book by Walter Kirn, but if this
preview is any indication, the story has been translated brilliantly
by Mills. Obviously, any comparisons to someone like Wes Anderson
are premature at this point, but regardless of his skills behind the
camera, Mills has found an extremely engaging story for his first
film. One can only hope the picture itself is as interesting as this
trailer.

http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=9119

The Matrix: Path of Neo


  http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/previews/default.asp?
pagetypeid=2&articleid=36827&subsectionid=1596

Keanu dons scrubs for 'Thumbsucker'
USA Today ( United States) - August 5, 2005

Thumb's up: Judging by early buzz, Thumbsucker could turn into quite
the cult hit when it hits theaters next month. Not only does the
trailer make Vince Vaughn and Keanu Reeves look as cool as they were
10 years ago (Keanu plays an orthodontist!), but 20-year-old Lou Pucci
earned a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and best-actor honors at the
Berlin International Film Festival for his role as Justin, a thumb-
sucking addict.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/hipclicks/blog.htm

Equity putting cash into action
The Hollywood Reporter ( United States) - August 4, 2005

COLOGNE, Germany -- German media fund Equity Pictures is sinking its
money into the action genre, investing $70 million in a new slate of
productions that includes titles toplined by action veterans Keanu
Reeves, Vin Diesel and Sylvester Stallone. Cash from Equity's new fund
will help bankroll such upcoming features as the Reeves starrer "The
Night Watchman," based on the James Ellroy best-seller about a racist
serial killer; "The Retriever," which features Diesel as a one-man
army fighting to save the world from nuclear apocalypse; and "Rambo
IV," in which Stallone returns to his most famous action role. Other
titles on Equity's slate include Gavin O'Connor's drama "Pride &
Glory," starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell, and the comedy
thriller "The Death and Life of Bobby Z," from director Renny Harlin.
(Scott Roxborough)

http://keanuweb.com/en/reports/display_kr60218f.html

to Thumbsucker photo album

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/stealth1.php

snippet
Question: So what are... are you taking a break after this movie
comes out or are you...

Answer: I've been developing the 8th Voyage of Sinbad - a whole
new...

Question: As a live action film?

Answer: Live action, Keanu Reeves, Xiang Xi as a, you know, new, new
saga of an Arab explorer in Asia in the 10th century. The idea of
going back after all this ultra contemporary stuff and all of these
issues in the real world I really have, you know, I have a big first-
edition book collection of western exploration and, ah, ah, I have
Captain Cook's diaries and the logs. It's just - to me the idea that
these people who went out into the unknown and what happened when
they met other cultures is just really fascinating...

Question: Are you doing it for Sony or is it... or you don't have a
studio yet?

Answer: It's Sony.

Question: So you're looking at another three years.

Answer: Ahhh... yeah, probably. (Laughter)

Question: Ah, God, I'll be 52 by then. I don't know if I can keep on
doing this every three years...

Answer: Oh, I don't want to tax you, Paul. But I'll try to make it
painless.

Constantine is Hot on DVD
Source: The Hollywood Reporter July 28, 2005


Warner Home Video's Constantine has become the latest comic book-
based movie to top the sales charts, entering VideoScan's First
Alert chart at No. 1 its first week in stores.

The film, which grossed $75.5 million in theaters, proved so popular
at retail that while the regular DVD was ranked No. 1, the deluxe
edition, which includes a comic book-and a heftier price tag-clocked
in at No. 4.

Another new release, Buena Vista Home Entertainment's Ice Princess,
took the No. 2 spot on the preliminary national sales chart for the
week ending July 24, bumping last week's top seller, Warner's
Million Dollar Baby, to No. 3.

Million Dollar Baby, however, remained the top renter for the week
ending July 24, earning an additional $12 million to bring its two-
week take to $27.4 million.


http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdnews.php?id=10572

Maybe this will spark a sequel...
Discuss...

Sometimes I wonder why studios make a sequel even though the movie did
decent at the theater. In this case Constantine did decent in the US
(for the time it came out against Hitch) and awesome overseas. Now the
DVD sales a great. I really hope this prompts the sequel!!

Keanu Interviewed:

http://movies.go.com/muppets/

Constantine
Reviewed by: Scott Chitwood
Movie Rating: 8 out of 10
Extras Rating: 6 out of 10
Movie Details: View here


Buy this DVD at Amazon.com

Rating: R

Starring:
Keanu Reeves as John Constantine
Rachel Weisz as Angela Dodson/Isabel Dodson
Shia LaBeouf as Chas Chandler
Djimon Hounsou as Midnite
Max Baker as Beeman
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Father Hennessy
Gavin McGregor Rossdale as Balthazar
Tilda Swinton as Gabriel
Peter Stormare as Satan
Jesse Ramirez as Scavenger
José Zúñiga as Detective Weiss
Francis Guinan as Father Garret
Larry Cedar as Vermin Man
April Grace as Dr. Leslie Archer

Special Features:
18 minutes of Additional Scenes, including an Alternate Ending

Theatrical Trailer

Other Info:
Widescreen
Dolby Digital Surround Sound
French and Spanish Subtitles
French Language
Running Time: 121 Minutes

Synopsis:
The following is the official plot synopsis for the film:

"John Constantine has been to hell and back.

Born with a gift he didn't want, the ability to recognize the half-
breed angels and demons that walk the earth in human camouflage,
Constantine (Keanu Reeves) was driven to take his own life to escape
the tormenting clarity of his vision. But he failed. Resuscitated
against his will, he found himself cast back into the land of the
living. Now, marked as an attempted suicide with a temporary lease
on life, he patrols the earthly border between heaven and hell,
hoping in vain to earn his way to salvation by waging war on the
earthbound minions of evil.

But Constantine is no saint. Increasingly disillusioned by the world
around him and at odds with the one beyond, he's a hard-drinking,
hard-living bitter hero who scorns the very idea of heroism.
Constantine will fight to save your soul but he doesn't want your
admiration or your thanks – and certainly not your sympathy. All he
wants is a way out.

When a desperate but skeptical police detective (Rachel Weisz as
Angela Dodson) enlists his help in solving the mysterious death of
her beloved twin sister, their investigation takes them through the
world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of
contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of
otherworldly events, the two become inextricably involved and seek
to find their own peace at whatever cost.

"Constantine" is based on characters from the DC Comics/Vertigo
Hellblazer Graphic Novels."

Constantine is rated R for violence and demonic images.

The Movie:
I should start out by saying that despite being a comic fan for 20+
years, I've never read the Hellblazer series. I really can't compare
the film to the comic at all other than to say that Constantine
isn't British or blonde in the movie. I can say that I was able to
walk into this story with no background knowledge at all and
instantly be hooked by the plot. "Constantine" is dark, edgy, action
packed, funny, scary, creepy, imaginative, and just plain cool.

If you liked The Exorcist, Blade, Hellboy, or X-Men, then I think
you're going to like "Constantine". There are elements of all these
movies in this film. I also had a similar feeling watching this
movie as I did The Matrix. "Constantine" doesn't have robots or kung-
fu, but it does have Keanu Reevens and it instantly immerses you in
a whole new world where anything is possible. As you watch it, you
never know what's going to happen next. It's just very much off the
wall and you feel like you're exploring a new world. And like The
Matrix, "Constantine" is going to appeal to disenfranchised youth
who question authority, religion, and reality. But the cool thing is
that rather than wallowing in darkness, antipathy, and frustration,
our hero makes a real journey that changes his life and what he
believes. In short, there's hope at the end despite all the darkness.

I've never really thought of Keanu Reeves as a great actor, but I've
generally enjoyed the films he has taken part in. I have to say that
his role as John Constantine is probably one of his best
performances. The character is dark, tough, rude, and generally has
a bad attitude. He's the perfect example of an anti-hero. Reeves
plays the character perfectly and looks cool the whole time doing
so. And somehow he can perform an exorcism, travel into hell, and
generally conduct all these bizarre supernatural activities while
still making you buy it all. Constantine also has a wicked sense of
humor that helps break the tension in the film and adds some much
needed laughter to the otherwise intense story.

Reeves is supported by a fantastic cast. Rachel Weisz is great as
Angela Dodson and her twin Isabel. Weisz makes you believe that she
can be a cop, a psychic, a mental patient, or a guilt-ridden sister
all in the same performance. She has pretty good chemistry with
Reeves. A possible romance between their characters is hinted at
here and there and it's just enough to tease the audience without
ever compromising the film. Shia LaBeouf is fun as the sidekick Chas
Chandler. He's enthusiastic, cocky, and funny. He could have easily
have been the most annoying character in the film, but LaBeouf
pulled it off. Djimon Hounsou is also dark and brooding as Midnite.
It's quite easy to believe that he could be a voodoo witch doctor.
Rock star Gavin McGregor Rossdale is OK as Balthazar. His is
definitely a creepy cameo. Tilda Swinton is also fantastic as
Gabriel, an angel on earth. Finally, Peter Stormare delivers one of
the most unique performances as Satan that I have ever seen. He
steals the show for the brief amount of time that he's on screen.

The special effects in the film are generally first rate. The demons
are unique and quite striking. One in particular is made up of
roaches, flies, crabs, and snakes. It's unlike anything I've seen
before and pretty scary. There are other demons in the film that
look like they crawled off some heavy metal albums from the 80's.
They have half their skulls cut off and they will definitely turn
your stomach. The shots of hell are impressive though they look like
they were borrowed from T2. There are other cool shots throughout
the film that I won't spoil here.

"Constantine" marks the directorial debut of Francis Lawrence and I
have to say that I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
This movie is beautifully shot with all sorts of haunting imagery.
Lawrence is able to find beauty in any scene he shoots whether it's
a bare hospital room or the inner workings of a bowling alley. The
sets he films on are stunning. No matter where the camera points it
seems that there's a rich back-story behind every single prop.

I think that DC and Warner Brothers finally getting their comic book
movies back on track is a certain sign of the apocalypse. (In fact,
the credits start out with the "Vertigo" logo, a sign that DC wants
name recognition in their movies just like Marvel.) The fact that
Constantine is so much fun to watch certainly bodes well for the
upcoming Batman and Superman films.

As far as what didn't work, "Constantine" is pretty sacrilegious at
times. If you're a Christian, you may find yourself uncomfortable
with some of the religious ideas presented in the film. The ultimate
message of redemption and the fact that there's more going on in the
world than you can see with your eyes are beautifully presented, but
there are a few missteps along the way that kind of ruin it. For
example, they reveal a Bible from hell that has a few more chapters
than humans knew about. There's an angel that talks about God's
forgiveness then drops the f-bomb. Then there is all sorts of talk
about what happens to people who commit suicide in the afterlife. I
certainly wouldn't recommend people forming their views of
Christianity based on this movie.

The movie can also slow to a crawl at times. I had absolutely no
problem with it because I was so absorbed in the film and the
dialogue was great. But I can certainly see some people with short
attention spans getting bored between the big action moments.
"Constantine" is a cool, dark, supernatural adventure. Keanu Reeves
and a great supporting cast deliver fine performances. If you liked
Blade, Hellboy, The Exorcist, or The Matrix, you'll
find "Constantine" worth checking out.

The Extras:
There are three versions of this DVD. There's the fullscreen
version, the widescreen version, and the 2-Disc Deluxe Edition. If
you're into bonus features, then you want the 2-Disc Edition. It
includes 18 minutes of deleted scenes, Conjuring Constantine, The
Production from Hell documentary gallery, Imagining the Underworld
documentary gallery, Constantine Cosmology, Foresight: the Power of
Previsualization, and an Exclusive collectible Hellblazer comic book
featuring a reprint of issue #41 Dangerous Habits and a Hellblazer
short story.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize there was a deluxe version and I
bought just the widescreen version. It only contains the deleted
scenes and the trailer. In short, it's quite disappointing. So don't
make the same mistake I did if you like bonus features.

As for the deleted scenes, they are a mixed bag. Some are quite
short and hardly worth mentioning. For example, one shows Chas
bowling a strike at the bowling alley. Another shows him and
Constantine walking down the street. But there are a few more
significant deleted scenes. There's a whole character that was
removed from the movie and most of the scenes feature her. She's a
demon that has periodic flings with Constantine. In one scene we see
them in bed together while she laughs at him for having cancer. You
see her demon tail moving under the bed sheets. In another scene she
meets him in the bar and delivers many of the same lines from the
bedroom scene. It seems that it was a second try to work her
character in. We also see her at the end of the film with the other
demons facing off with Constantine, but he lets her go after dousing
her with Holy Water. As for other significant scenes, one scene
shows more of Constantine's background and attempts to exorcise him
by priests. Then there's the alternate ending. This can be found at
the end of the credits of the theatrical version, but most people
missed it. It shows Constantine visiting Chas' grave, then seeing
him appear as an angel sitting on the gravestone and then flying up
into the sky. This particular version shows Angela Dodson at the
grave with Constantine. All of these deleted scenes come with
commentary.

The Bottom Line:
"Constantine" is a cool, dark, supernatural adventure. Keanu Reeves
and a great supporting cast deliver fine performances. If you liked
Blade, Hellboy, The Exorcist, or The Matrix, you'll
find "Constantine" worth checking out.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdreviewsnews.php?id=10508

http://chud.com/specialed/3684

Shoot To Thrill

  Everyone's been known to battle a few demons in their own day, and
having Mandy Patinkin chase you around qualifies ten fold (dodge and
weave, he's a fast bastard). Knocking back a few cold ones with
Angus Scrimm also does this to my soulless bag of bones, but it's
the real demons he commands that make me run for the underbelly of
my sweaty sheets. Keanu "Shoot the Hostage" Reeves is John
Constantine, battling those who wish to take over Earth's seediest
quadrant (Los Angeles) for supreme world domination. Macho Man Randy
Savage is more than a little pissed off about this recent turn of
events. In all of this cluttered mess, make sure to check out Nick's
DVD Review of the film right here before moseying on over to read
Devin's Theatrical Review and complain about his opinion.
Constantine's got more than his share of detractors too, as the
Devil, it seems, has seen to it that everything's about to shift a
little towards the ground in order for his nastiness to begin.
Viewers of the Chewers Forum know this conundrum entirely too well.
Moving forward, The Spear of Destiny has been plucked from the Earth
and is again out and about, roaming around attempting to find cheap
gas prices in Southern California. After a sequence in which it
punches a car into crunched oblivion (can we put a moratorium on
this?) the Spear, commanding an invincible dude, continues to make
its quest to the front door of one Constantine. He's one of the very
few people who can actually see the battle waging onward between
good and evil, and the spirits that make up this hodge-podge of
interestingness. And, he absolutely hates this. I'm sure we all know
why he's in this position (if not, well, look it up) so it's when he
hooks up with a police detective (played by the very lovely Rachel
Weisz) that the spirits willing have more than a few tricks up their
sleeves in order to get the ball rolling on their exploitative
series of events for those living unceremoniously on this Earthen
ground. Let's face it, though, Constantine is a pretty entertaining
film, one that's not going to set your world on fire (although if
you're like me with a broken air conditioner in 100 degree heat, it
might), but it will keep you engrossed with its developments,
characters (especially Tilda Swinton as Gabriel) and directorial
prowess (the music video director Francis Lawrence). Just make sure
to check out Nick's DVD Review if only for his caption madness.

Be good, be bad, be the guy with the gun from Kobe Tai. Constantine
comes in two editions (three actually, but fullscreen shouldn't
exist in your vernacular). There's the widescreen single disc
edition and the 02 disc Deluxe edition. The single disc edition
comes with: 18 minutes of Additional Scenes, including an alternate
ending and the theatrical trailers. The Deluxe edition comes with:
audio commentary by director Francis Lawrence, producer Akiva
Goldsman, and screenwriters Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello, A
Perfect Circle music video: "Passive", the theatrical trailers, the
previously mentioned 18 extra minutes, 03 featurettes (Conjuring
Constantine, Constantine Cosmology and Foresight: the Power of
Previsualization), 02 documentaries (The Production from Hell
documentary gallery: director's confessional, collision with evil,
holy relics and Imagining the Underworld documentary gallery:
Hellscape, visualizing vermin, warrior wings, unholy abduction) and
an exclusive collectible Hellblazer comic book featuring a reprint
of issue #41 Dangerous Habits and a Hellblazer short story.

Thumbsucker
Stuff falling from the sky? Check. Strangely touched orthodontist
proscribing hypnosis? Check. Kid whose parents don't understand him?
Check. Ah, yes, it must be the trailer for a prize-winning Sundance
indie. Interesting title side note: Star Lou Taylor Pucci is also in
The Chumscrubber. (MTV)
www.movies.com search Thumbsucker

Q: What can you tell us about A Scanner Darkly?

Linklater: Shot it a year ago.  We're in a year-long animation
process.  So yeah, it's in process.

Q: Is it a very different approach from Waking Life? In the fact
that, that one was very free form and it would just kind of go off
into--

Linklater: Yeah, yeah, this is that story.  It's very much the book,
A Scanner Darkly.  It kind of looks like a graphic novel.  The
design is very consistent this time.  For Waking Life, we had
different artists, different looks kind of for each character, each
section.  But this, it's very different.  But fundamentally, the
same software.  It's just been updated.

Q:  But not a graphic novel to the extent of "Sin City."  I mean,
you're not like copying frame for frame?

Linklater: No, no, because the origination is not a graphic novel.
Like "Sin City" is a graphic novel that's become a movie.  We're
like a movie that's becoming a graphic novel.  So we're, so Robert
and I are crossing--

Q: Is there going to be wide release to it?

Linklater: I don't know.  It's a weird ass movie.  But it's, I don't
know.

Q: It looks great.

Linklater: I don't know.  I have no idea how they're going to
release it.  I mean, I think it should be.  It's weird in an
intriguing way, not an incomprehensible way.  It's funny too, it's
very much a comedy.  A dark comedy, but a comedy.

http://chud.com/interviews/3698