Originally posted by Pucifer: Why does everyone think OnMyBirthday is Biff? Doesn't Biff usually come up with better, cleverer usernames? And if that really is dear OLD bitchy Biff, why wasn't I notified?
If it was dear old Biff wouldn't he have told you to blow something out your as$ by now?
Marion Cotillard scores a ten in Nine as Guido Contini's demure wife Luisa, who is humiliated time and again by her roving-eyed husband.
Every wife who has ever been hurt by an errant husband will recognise the particularly private pain Marion evokes.
She gets to sing two numbers - My Husband Makes Movies (To Make Them He Lives A Kind Of Dream) and then the killer new song Take It All, written by Maurey Yesten, which she performs while doing a slinky striptease. Guido's fantasies have turned into nightmares and Take It All is how he imagines his wife taking her revenge on him.
'Luisa keeps things inside - she's an actress, too.
'She has things inside her that have to come out,' Marion explained.
'The anger is everything but sexy: it's fury, it's sadness, so my reference was her pain.'
As a previous Oscar winner (for La Vie En Rose), Marion presented the best actress statuette to Kate Winslet last March.
I suspect she'll be in the running for the next round of Academy Awards, although I don't know whether she'll be nominated in the leading or supporting category. I suspect the Weinstein Company might campaign for her to be seen as Nine's leading actress and push for Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Nicole Kidman to be in supporting roles.
Daniel Day-Lewis, dancing and his two left feet Daniel Day-Lewis has portrayed all manner of hard men in his career: warriors, a boxer, thugs.
But the thought of playing a song-and-dance man frightened the life out of him. Rob Marshall, who made the Oscar-winning Chicago, was determined to secure Day-Lewis to play Guido Contini, an Italian film director suffering a creative and personal crisis in the film musical Nine, certainly one of the year's best movies and, believe me, the sexiest. 'Guido is four or five days away from shooting a film and he hasn't a f***ing idea in his head,' Daniel told me in Manhattan this week. 'I did say to Robin the early stages: "Is there any way of getting out of this? I have a list of actors who could do it tomorrow!" He tried to convince me I could sing and I said: "You've no idea if I can sing or not!"' Song-and-dance man: Daniel Day-Lewis plays Guido Contini in film musical Nine Day-Lewis said the last time he'd sung publicly was when he was in the local church choir when he was a child.
'I sang feebly a couple of times, and on the grounds of that Rob managed to convince me it was worth pursuing,' he continued, adding that dancing was out of the question. 'I know dancers, and I know what they have to do with their bodies. I can do a lot of stuff: I can climb, I can run, I can cycle, I can box. But I can't dance.' I've seen Nine twice and Day-Lewis doesn't do a lot of dancing - but his Guido moves with a dancer's grace. He laughs when I tell him this, eyeing me as if I'd had a few drinks with breakfast. 'I used a lot of 3-In-1 to lubricate those stiff old joints,' joked Day-Lewis, 52. 'It's not natural grace - that's sheer effort of will. Like a lot of ageing athletes, I tend to be creaky. I work at staying looser, but my limbs are a mass of scar tissue through years of doing things I shouldn't have.' Ultimately, what swung it for him was Marshall's enthusiasm. 'Rob's principal weapon in his armoury is the weapon of constant encourangement,' he said. 'It somehow makes you believe this thing isn't completely beyond your reach.' While he was finding his singing voice (a rich baritone, by the way), he was able to study why Guido found himself locked in a wasteland of his own making. In his head, all the important women in Guido's life swirl about in a jumble of fantasy, memory and reality. But at its heart, the film is all about winning back the love of one woman: his wife. Daniel watched all of his leading ladies rehearse. He would dress in character and sit in a corner for hours and simply observe. Danny Boyle, who directed Slumdog Millionaire, wanted Day-Lewis to play Henry Higgins in the much talked about new My Fair Lady film, but Boyle left the project when he was not able to secure the actor's services. Day-Lewis is not keen to talk about it. 'I feel that until this (Nine) has moved along, I can't contemplate doing something else,' he told me.
Nicole Kidman: The reluctant goddess Making Nine was like taking baby steps for Nicole Kidman. 'My daughter Sunday Rose was six weeks old when I started work on it,' the Oscar winner told me this week. And it was the perfect way to return to work. When I spoke to her on the set at Shepperton Studios a year ago, Nicole made the point she was part of an ensemble and the movie didn't rest on her shoulders alone. She plays Claudia Jenssen, a movie goddess, and muse to Guido Contini, the troubled director role taken by Daniel Day-Lewis.
Powerful: Nicole Kidman as movie goddess Claudia Jenssen Claudia is a combination of some of the screen beauties Federico Fellini worked with, from Anita Ekberg to Claudia Cardinale: tumbling strawberry blonde hair; a creamy fitted gown by costume designer Colleen Atwood. So much, so goddess-like - but wait. 'Don't mention I'm wearing Uggs under the dress when my feet aren't in shot!' Nicole whispered. Contini has put Claudia on a pedestal, but she wants to step down and reveal (as Meryl Streep once told me) that she 'goes to the bathroom'. And there are several scenes where you get that rare sense of an actress and her material connecting in a powerful way. Nicole told me a few years ago that she had considered walking away from it all to 'get a life'. 'Now I have a life! I didn't have one then, but I have one now. I have Sunday Rose and Keith and Connor and Bella,' she said, referring to her husband Keith Urban and her two older children. She refuses to see herself as an iconic star. 'I don't understand it, but it's nice to play one on screen. There's Rob (Marshall, the director) saying: "No! I want to give you a great entrance, like a goddess!" But peel back the layers and Claudia's just a human being.' We're on the 29th floor of the Waldorf Towers on Park Avenue - definitely goddess territory - but we're away from the red carpet, and Nicole can be plain old Nic. 'I'm just an Aussie girl when all is stripped away,' she insisted. An Aussie girl who has been working since she was 14, I point out. More from Baz Bamigboye... BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Ian McKellen lies doggo on Godot 13/11/09 BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton are the demon duo booking a date with Sweeney Todd 06/11/09 BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Jude Law's Hamlet is the Prince of Broadway 29/10/09 Boy, he knew how to Beat It: BAZ BAMIGBOYE reviews This Is It 28/10/09 BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Madonna puts on her director's cap to take on Wallis Simpson (with a little help from ex Guy) 22/10/09 Summer Strallen brings a little Ohh La La to the West End 16/10/09 BAZ BAMIGBOYE: The hot ticket starring Keira Knightley that's made a million 15/10/09 Born to do it: Keira Knightly makes debut in a West End scoop 08/10/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE 'I've wanted to act since I was a little girl, and wanted to do it for the rest of my life till I was an old woman - if I make it to be an old woman. To be someone like Judi Dench - the glorious Judi!' 'I watched Judi do her musical number for Nine and she still has that wide-eyed wonder at being an actress. She shows us all how it is done,' Nicole told me, adding that she'd love to work with Judi again, either on screen or stage. But any theatre wouldn't happen for two or three years - if at all. 'My baby is 16 months old now and wakes up too early, but I would love Sunday Rose to come and see me on stage when she's older. 'I'd do that for her. I did Moulin Rouge for Bella who - can you believe it? - is now 17! 'And I'd say The Others is Connor's film, for the experience we had when we were in Spain making it. He just blossomed.' Nicole and her associates are developing new film projects including The Danish Girl, based on David Ebershoff's novel, where she would play a man who undergoes a sex change operation - but she's not certain she'll do it. She's also working with BBC Films on a version of Chris Cleave's book The Other Hand about a Nigerian girl forced to flee her village to the UK. That tale encapsulates much of what Nicole is interested in: eradicating violence against women and ensuring there are shelters for abused women. 'It's not something that can be fixed overnight. I've been involved for four years,' she said. 'But I'm in it for the long haul.'
From 8½ to Nine In the beginning, there was Federico Fellini's 8½, which won the best foreign film Oscar in 1963. It starred Marcello Mastroianni as a film director suffering a creative crisis during pre-production of a new movie, while also being torn between his love for his wife and the pleasures of his mistress.
The title comes from the fact that 8½ was Fellini's seventh, full-length film - but he'd also made three contributions to omnibus projects, which he counted as a half each. Nine the musical was created by Maury Yeston, who wrote the music and lyrics - with a book by Arthur Kopit. Yeston got permission from Fellini to adapt his work for the stage, and Nine was first performed on Broadway in 1982, when it beat that season's hot favourite Dreamgirls for the Tony Award for best musical. So, why is it called Nine? Well, Yeston reckoned that the addition of music and lyrics would take 81/2 to Nine. Really, with the screenplay, three new songs and some new characters courtesy of the script by Anthony Minghella and Michael Tolkin - and a complete re-working of the story by visual stylist and director Rob Marshall and his collaborators - the film should, perhaps, be called 91/2. But Nine is fine - and it opens in the UK on December 18.
Nothing like a dame for a bit of back-stage mischief Ooh la la! Nothing could be more entrancing than watching what Dame Judi Dench does with an incredibly long red feather boa in Nine. Her song and dance number Folies Bergère, for which she called upon muscles she last used when she played Sally Bowles in Cabaret in the Sixties, is deliciously risqué. When I saw her on the set last year she teasingly refused to tell me what she did with the boa. Well, it was worth waiting 12 months to find out, but I won't give it away here. In the film, Judi plays Lilli, Guido Contini's confidante and costume designer. 'It seems to me that the friendship is tested and tried. She can say anything to him - and does,' Judi explained.
Double act: Judi Dench with Daniel Day-Lewis Director Rob Marshall and joint choreographer John DeLuca met Judi at Claridges. 'They gave me coffee and said: "Will you be in this?" They didn't want to hear me sing, nor see if I could dance.' Once rehearsals began, there was no turning back. Her leading man, Daniel Day-Lewis, declared that Judi was a 'very naughty girl' on set, a charge the Oscarwinning actress denied, albeit not very convincingly. 'It's not true! I haven't been naughty on this at all,' she protested. 'Sometimes I get quite naughty on a play, but not that the audience would notice,' she said, adding there were casual jokes on the set and that if she caught Sophia Loren's eye they'd share a giggle. 'Humour is a great leveller, especially on a film like this with so many actors. Sophia was terribly funny and I hadn't expected that.'
But the ensemble was kept hard at it, so there was no time for her usual pranks, such as doing beautiful needlepoint work that, when inspected more closely, revealed rude words or X-rated scenes. 'I was very good every day - but who doesn't enjoy a little laugh to get through the day? You have to have a sense of self- deprecation; you have to have a huge sense of humour in order to be in this business. 'If you haven't got those two things, you're going to have a hard time. You might as well have a hard time and a laugh about it.'
On the set of the two-part television drama A Cranford Christmas, she was up to her usual tricks and had a lifesize cut-out made of Eileen Atkins, who played her screen sibling who died in the first series. Dame Eileen was later bombarded with photographs of the cut-out pictured with various Cranford players. Sizzling: Kate Hudson knows how to dance 'I wrote her a note saying: "That'll teach you to drop out after episode two . . . or was it three?" ' Once Nine has been premiered and Christmas is over, Judi will play Titania, Queen of the Fairies, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, which her great friend Peter Hall will direct at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, opposite up-and- coming actor Reece Ritchie as Puck. Ritchie appears in The Lovely Bones, the Peter Jackson film that will be screened at the Royal Film Performance in London next Tuesday. Watch out for the whoopie cushion, young man.
Boy, is Kate Hudson a catch A lot of people who have seen Kate Hudson's dynamite dance scenes in Nine at early screenings or on YouTube have been surprised that she can shake it like she means it. Maybe they didn't realise her antecedents. Her mother, Goldie Hawn, started out as a hoofer and singer, so musicals are in Kate's DNA. I watched Kate (pictured) rehearse and shoot her Cinema Italiano scene two nights running at Shepperton Studios, and director Rob Marshall and his associates coaxed and stroked (metaphorically, of course!) until she sizzled. Fergie (aka Stacy Ferguson of the Black Eyed Peas) is another scene stealer - and one I hadn't anticipated. She plays Saraghina, the earthy prostitute who teaches young Guido the art of seduction with the number Be Italian (If You Want to Make A Woman Happy, You Rely On What You Were Born With). I'm going to tell you what Penelope Cruz does in the movie next week
The Daily Mail is not exactly state of the art journalism - sort of the NY Post crossed with Star. It is very popular in the UK, but not the most credible source.
It looks good even though its like 30 seconds but i still can't wait to see it!
FYC: Oscars 2010 Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Posts: 499 | Location: Stalkerazzi | Registered: January 02, 2009
It looks good even though its like 30 seconds but i still can't wait to see it!
I'm surprised they finally released a trailer that actually explained the film's story/premise. Other trailers, which feel a lot more like teaser trailers, would leave one to believe that "Nine" is just two hours of dancing, singing, and fornicating in sparkly outfits.
FYC: Oscars 2010 Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Posts: 499 | Location: Stalkerazzi | Registered: January 02, 2009
Out of all of those links, the only two which kept on popping up was Marion Cotillard's song and Judi Dench and Daniel Day-Lewis's scene. Is anyone else having that problem?
2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 5562 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
The clips you have listed for Fergie & Cruz both go to Cotillard.
My website and blog are taking a little break, since Geocities is closing and I now have to upload everything to a new site, so I am working on a new design and it is gonna take me a while, hoping to get it up by Oscar Season.
FYC: Oscars 2010 Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Posts: 499 | Location: Stalkerazzi | Registered: January 02, 2009
All 5 are now working. thanks for notifying. i had no idea!!! silly me NOW i hope you can enjoy.
FYC: Oscars 2010 Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Posts: 499 | Location: Stalkerazzi | Registered: January 02, 2009
)
NOW i hope you can enjoy.