Hollywood

I caught The Bourne Identity today. Good stuff. Really intense, nice pace. Has Matt Damon ever made a bad flick?

In a sense, one of the key points the story is tending toward arrives right here, in a speech not usually emphasized in productions – although Branagh's Hamlet does recognize it. After all, the careful creation of Fortinbras, laid out in Act I, as identical to Hamlet in being the nephew of a king and son of a slain king, and moreover a king slain by Hamlet's slain king of a father before he was slain, was not done by accident. Fortinbras is Hamlet's shadowing double, like that little French archaeologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark who shadows Harrison Ford, or Quilty to Humbert Humbert for those of you who are Lolita fans, or, um, um. Well, bardseye can't think of any more, and invites his readers to think for him.

I went to Border’s and picked up the Mars special Astronomy magazine issue, and the Time special Scientific American issue. I was motivated, after the IMAX. Then, I saw that the new Harrison Ford movie, Firewall, had just started. So I went in. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the moment, since the RSA security conference had just ended.

I like Fred Astaire’s endearingly goofy on-screen persona. And when I respond well to actors, be it Gena Rowlands or Philip Seymour Hoffman (Phil!), that’s what I’m reacting to. I’m no judge of acting talent. I’m not able to say with any degree of certainty that any particular performance was good or bad. I just react to what they radiate. So, you know, maybe Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow are great actors. I don’t know. I just don’t like the energy they put on the screen.

I watched Matt Damon's movie today for writing a paper.But the more I saw him,the more I feel he likes D.Especially Matt's mouth when he smile,I feel it's similar to D's.I don't know why.

Apparently McDonald's is debuting a new series of commercials involving those ubiquitous Ronald McDonald benches, Bigfoot and a man in a hamster costume. Meanwhile in Japan, Ronald's cousin Donald can be seen on TV figure skating in the Torino Winter Olympics. These new commercials might seem a little familiar to anyone who has seen Burger King's kitschy new ads featuring a creepy big headed mascot and Brooke Burke. Hey Ronald, copying Burger King's ad campaign just ain't cool. Looks to me like you need to find yourself some new marketing people. In case you're interested, I'll be available starting August 1st.

Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek are reportedly more than happy to allow rumors that the sexy pair are involved romantically to keep fans guessing. The two stars have been rumored as lesbian partners in Mexico, a published report claims. It all began when the two were promoting there upcoming film Bandidas.

Wow! I can’t believe Brad Pitt would give up Jennifer Aniston. I mean, she’s really got to be a bitch for him to get away from her. Hey, if he’s willing to let that go, then I’m willing to take the risk of bumping into her and maybe even be tempted to strike up a conversation. Okay, so it’s ballsy. But what the heck. It’s just like ending up at a site you have absolutely no interest in, like some off the wall topic like ibm laptop, and you then start searching for ways to research the topic on the site without even giving it a second thought.

Windsor has turned into an amateur paparazzi town, with every person relaying the latest rumours and celebrity sightings, with each person trying to outdo the next. I've heard everyone from Ben Affleck to the whole fucking cast of the O.C. to Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Donald Trump, John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and everyone famous in between "just spotted entering/exiting xxx establishment". Strangely, when the place is contacted to confirm the sighting, everyone has "no comment".

Cool trivia: Dutch kickboxing menace Lucia Rijker not only co-stars in it, but also trained Hilary Swank, the film’s lead actress. In this interview with Filmfocus (the interview is in Dutch, apologies to my foreign readers), she’s surprisingly frank about Swank’s performance and the movie’s glorification of boxing, but also acknowledges that “this is a love story above all else”.

Do you remember the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie where Harrison Ford stands at the edge of a great precipice? He's supposed to step out over the abyss, for he was told that if he did so, a bridge would appear miraculously beneath his feet. He would not fall! Of course he was a little reluctant to try his luck, but the situation, you may recall, left him no choice. There was no turning back. So he takes the fateful step and sure enough a stone arch appears beneath his feet. See? You just gotta believe!

In fact, Prime Minister Harper has already diverted five patrols of armed snowmobiling soldiers to defend the 49th from your invading forces in a sovereignty campaign that has been cleverly codenamed "Operation Nunalivut". While your troops are setting down their arms and picking up their Inuktitut to English dictionaries, we plan to have Gwyneth Paltrow hurl insults your way, thus decreasing troop morale. Just when you think that it can't get any worse, we will bring in our big gun - newspaper carrier Danny Atkinson. Snowball after snowball will be hurtled towards you and your troops until you retreat in tears from the bitter cold. You had better hope that you can run fast, Mr. Markman, because we Canucks begin our training in the martial art of the "face wash" at a very early age.

I don’t have any well-worked out theory regarding race and casting for theater, film or television, but I find the topic an interesting one nonetheless. The first time I can remember this sort of thing really striking me was when I saw Kenneth Branaugh’s Much Ado About Nothing, with Denzel Washington as Don Pedro. Again, his performance didn’t disturb me at all–it was excellent, in fact, and I suppose that playing him as a character from formerly Moorish Spain allowed for a little literary license in regards to race as well. But it still sticks out in my mind. Anyone care to contribute other examples of race-blind casting that worked well? Or that didn’t? And for that matter, any thoughts on how to justify doing so in the first place?

Me and my fellow cowgirls are waiting for the rain to stop here in California so we can trial ride without our horses getting swallowed up in evil, black mud. We thought we’d kill a little time one afternoon by taking in the new cowboy romance movie, “Brokeback Mountain.”