Archives For actress

To Watch Until They’re 35 – Natalie Portman

June 1, 2010 — 8 Comments

Surprise! Natalie Portman is not my #1 *shock* And I love Natalie Portman, I’m pretty sure I’ve been a fan for 10 years or so, that would mean I have been visiting NataliePortman.com for that many years.

I should get a medal or something…

Anyway, Natalie Portman is on #3 of my list of Actors to Watch Until They’re 35. Right next to Brother’s co-star Jake Gyllenhaal! Coincidence or conspiracy? xD

Born in Jerusalem, Israel on June 9th 1981, this 28-year-old actress is best known for playing Queen/Senator Padme Amidala on the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy — to the dismay of us fans — even though other people should know her better for playing Evey Hammond on the live-action adaptation of Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, or the little assassin-in-training Mathilda on Luc Besson’s Leon (The Professional), or Alice on Mike Nichols adaptation of the stage play Closer, for which Portman earned nominations for Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, the BAFTA, and other critic circles, as well as winning a Golden Globe.

Portman has had an unusual career, not only by being discovered at a pizza parlor to be a model, and instead getting a part on Besson’s Leon, which would turn into a breakthrough role for her — besides turning into a cult hit, and becoming one of Portman’s most memorable performances — grow up in the limelight and surprisingly have quite normal formative years attending high school and then university. I mean, not many could say that they’ve worked with Michael Mann (Heat) alongside  Al Pacino and Robert de Niro, Ted Demme (Beautiful Girls), Woody Allen (Everyone Says I Love You), and Tim Burton (Mars Attacks!) before they graduated high school.

She then signed on to the Star Wars prequels, in which she would play the would-be mother of iconic characters Luke and Leia. The project spanned through her early twenties, starting in 1999 with the release of The Phantom Menace, until 2005 with the release of Revenge of the Sith. Between those projects, she came up with a broad variety of films, starting with the slighly-more-grown up Anywhere But Here by Wayne Wang starring with Susan Sarandon in 1999, following that up with Where the Heart Is, a tad more mature light drama with Ashley Judd and Stockard Channing in 2000.

The roles and projects began escalating in intensity in 2003 when she played a small part on the epic film by Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain, with Jude Law and Nicole Kidman. Finally in 2004, two of her most critically acclaimed projects were released. First up, Garden State written and directed by Zach Braff, and Mike Nichols’ adaptation of Closer with Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen. Suddenly, Portman was everywhere during award season with nominations here and there, and some wins.

After the final Star Wars film in 2005 and studies abraod, Portman was back with smaller films of more serious flare like Free Zone with Hiam Abbass, as well as more popular commercial work with V for Vendetta adapted by the Wachowski brothers and starring alongside Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry and John Hurt.

In 2006, Paris Je t’Aime was finally released in Cannes and festival circuits, the collection of short films included one by Tom Tykwer titled True. There were also other interesting collaborations with Goya’s Ghosts by Milos Forman (Amadeus) alongside Javier Bardem and Stellan Skarsgård, as well as a role on Wong Kar-Wai’s (In the Mood for Love) English debut My Blueberry Nights, and her much-talked-about collaboration with Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums) on the short film Hotel Chevalier, which was the prologue to the film The Darjeeling Limited in 2007, as well as Mr. Mangorium’s Wonder Emporium by Zach Helm (Stranger than Fiction) with Dustin Hoffman.

In 2008, Portman tried her chances with the period piece with telenovela drama The Other Boleyn Girl, based on the book by the same name, playing Anne Boleyn opposite Scarlett Johansson (as her sister Mary) and Eric Bana (as the King). However, the most exciting news were when it was announced that Portman would sit on the director’s chair, first on the short film Eve starring Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazzara and fellow the 20 to Watch Olivia Thirlby, and then on a New York I Love You segment.

Of course, besides writing and directing shorts, Portman has also put on the producer hat with films likes Love and Other Impossible Pursuits based on the novel by Ayelet Waldman, alongside Lisa Kudrow, as well as Hesher written and directed by Spencer Susser, and playing opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt… which are set to be released sometime this year. In the meantime, Portman released Brothers late last year, based from the Danish film of the same name, and directed by Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, In America) opposite fellow the 20 to Watch Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire.

What’s in store for the rest of 2010? Well, besides from the small releases for Impossible Pursuits, and Hesher, there’s the Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler) film Black Swan. Starring Portman with Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder and Vincen Cassel – the film is promising enough to get very early Oscar buzz.

In 2011, however, there’s two HUGE projects. First up in April 2011 — if it doesn’t get pushed back — there’s the big stonner comedy Your Highness by David Gordon Green (Snow Angels, Pineapple Express) alongside Zooey Deschanel and James Franco. Then, just one month later, Kenneth Branagh’s live action adaptation of Marvel’s Thor with Anthony Hopkins (playing Odin), Stellan Skarsgård, Rene Russo, Adriana Barraza, and Tadanobu Asano.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the sketchy romantic comedy Ivan Reitman Untitled Project (which was previously known as F*ck Buddies or Friends with Benefits) with Ashton Kutcher – okay… ? – and Kevin Kline. And there are also plans on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees), which is also being produced by Portman. You can’t really say she doesn’t have variety on her CV now.

Yeah, okay… we’re excited about Black Swan the most, but who knows what a few months would do to our desire of wanting to see more of Portman.

PS: Happy Bday in about a week! I know, way ahead~~~ Wow, you’re 29!!!

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Remembering Jinseitte Uso Mitai – Life is like a Lie~

From WOWOW’s experimental 2008 drama, Camouflage.

Ryo Kase and Yu Aoi = LOVE.

I think this one was the BEST chapter of the series. [here for the recap]

have a good not-suffering end of the weekend, but an overall relaxing Sunday.
or you know, have a good new week if you’re on the other side of the world~~~

Posted on May 30, 2010 In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Japanese, Sharing, Snapshots, Television, Torrents & Digital Streams , , , , , , , ,
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Joe Odagiri and Chiaki Kuriyama for New Satoshi Miki Drama

May 26, 2010 — 4 Comments

Two of my favorite people are teaming up with one of my fave Japanese directors for a new drama for Asahi TV. Joe Odagiri was set to star on Atami no Sousakan (熱海の捜査官, Atami Investigators?), a series directed by Satoshi Miki (Turtles Swim Faster than Expected, Instant Swamp) that will start airing on Asahi TV on July 2nd (Friday) at 11.15pm. And now, Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill) has joined the cast.

Now… wonder, is anyone subbing this, or am I watching this and figuring out the plot as I go. LOL

via Tokyograph.

—

*EDIT*

I dunno why I posted July 2nd
it starts July 30th

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To Watch Until They’re 35 – Rinko Kikuchi

May 24, 2010 — 3 Comments

Forgive the lack of 20 to Watch posts, in case you were expecting them sooner. Continuing with the list of the 20 to Watch Until They’re 35 is none other than Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi.

Born in Hanado, Japan, on January 6th 1981, this now-29-year-old actress burst into the worldwide film scene when she played deaf-mute Chieko Wataya on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel, for which she earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscar., among other nominations like a Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the Golden Globes, a Best Supporting Actress and a Breakthrough Performance at the Online Critics Awards, another one at the Satellite Awards, as well as a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and several other wins and nominations in critic choices.

Kikuchi began her career by appearing on Ikitai (Will to Live) directed by renowned Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba, Hachiko Monogatari which he has remade recently as Hachiko: A Dog’s Story) in 1999, and followed that up with By Player (Sanmon Yakusha), another one of Shindo’s films.

She continued her collaborations in her native Japan with Hole in the Sky (Sora no Ana) directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, and on the short film Tori by Tadanobu Asano, who co-star next to her on screen. During 2004, she participated in films that were generally received positively by critics, with roles in Cha no Aji (The Taste of Tea) directed by Katsuhito Ishii — a possible favorite among many festival movie goers — , 69 sixty nine by Sang-il Lee (Scrap Heaven, Hula Girls) about a bunch of pseudo-counter-culture revolutionaries from high school in an obscure city in Japan in 1969, based on the novel by RYu Murakami. And finalizing with Survive Style 5+, a wacky intertwine storyline following a whole bunch of people, directed by Gen Sekiguchi. The film starred big names from Japan, including Tadanobu Asano (who is in the same Agency as Kikuchi), Kyoko Koizumi, Hiroshi Abe, and even martial artist Sonny Chiba (who was last seen on worldwide screens in Tarantino’s Kill Bill).

After slowing down for a while, and continuing her work in 2006 with Inarritu’s Babel and earning worldwide attention, in 2007 she collaborated in The Insects Unlisted in the Encyclopedia (Zukan ni Nottenai Mushi) written and directed by Satoshi Miki (Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected, Instant Swamp) alongside Yusuke Iseya (Blindness). In 2008, she returned to international screens with The Brothers Bloom written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick), alongside big names like Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, and Mark Ruffalo. Moreover, she voiced Suito Kusanagi on Mamoru Oshii’s animated film Sky Crawlers with Chiaki Kuriyama (Kill Bill) and Ryo Kase (Letters from Iwo Jima).

Last year, Kikuchi starred as Ryo on Map of the Sounds of Tokyo written and directed by Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me, Elegy) with Spanish actor Sergi Lopez (Pan’s Labyrinth). In Japan, she made the film Assault Girls by written and directed by Mamoru Oshii, a sci-fi/fantasy live action film mix with CG about a group of people (including 3 women and a man) that war against mutants in a digital world to achieve points. Moreover, she also participated on the Japanese remake of the critically acclaimed American film Sideways. You can’t really say she doesn’t have variety in her CV.

What’s more exciting for this 2010? Let’s start with Shanghai directed by Mikael Håfström, which will probably open in several cities around the world, as it stars John Cusack, Ken Watanabe, Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, and Franka Potente. Followed that up in December with the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel Norwegian Wood by Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran (The Scent of Green Papaya) alongside the 20 to Watch fellow Kenichi Matsuyama.

Yes, we CAN’T WAIT for that one.

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To Watch Until They’re 35 – Ludivine Sagnier

May 8, 2010 — 2 Comments

Continuing with the countdown of our 10 actresses to Watch, on place #5 is none other than Ludivine Sagnier! Another French actor/actress on the countdown!

Born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, Yvelines, France on July 3rd 1979, this 30-year-old actress – woah, almost didn’t make it – shot to fame by playing Julie on François Ozon’s Swimming Pool in 2003, but it’s probably most recognized by people in general for playing Tink on P.J. Hogan’s adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, alongside Jason Isaacs, Olivia Williams and Rachel Hurd-Wood.

Sagnier started out young, when she was about 10 with small roles on films as “the little sister” or “the little girl” and moved on to slightly bigger roles. It was in the year 2000 when she first collaborated on Gouttes d’Eau sur Pierres Brûlantes (Water Drops on Burning Rocks), written and directed by François Ozon, and turned herself into his sort of muse as she collaborated with him once again on 8 Femmes (8 Women) in 2002, and finally on Swimming Pool, which was well received by critics and earned awards and nominations in places like the Critics Choice Award (Best Foreign Film), Cannes (Palme d’Or), as well as the César Awards where Sagnier was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and at the European Film Awards where she was nominated for Best Actress.

In 2006, Sagnier was involved on Paris, Je t’Aime participating on the segment by Alfonso Cuaron, alongside Nick Nolte. She followed that up with great work in 2007, including a supporting role on Laurent Tirard’s Molière, as well as a role on Claude Miller’s Un Secret (A Secret) for which she earned her second nomination for Supporting Actress at the César Awards, and Christophe Honoré’s Les Chansons d’Amour (Love Songs) alongside Louis Garrel and Chiara Mastroianni. Add to that a starring role on La Fille Coupée en Deux (The Girl Cut in Two), which was well-received in critic circles, and well… we have to admit that has been her most prolific year as an actress.

In 2008, Sagnier participated on l’Instinct de Mort (Killer Instinct) alongside Vincent Cassel and Gérard Depardieu, based on the autobiography by Jacques Mesrine, a French criminal. The film also sprang a follow-up film called l’Ennemi Public No 1 (Public Enemy No 1).

Now in 2010, after having her second child, Sagnier has a few films ready to go. First up, it’s another François Ozon collaboration with Potiche alongside the 20 to Watch fellow Jérémie Renier, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, and Judith Godrèche. Followed by Pieds Nus sur les Limaces (Lily Sometimes) with Diane Kruger, and then Crime d’Amour alongside Kristin Scott Thomas.

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Everyone for a Dragon Tattoo

May 7, 2010 — Leave a comment

And since we’re talking about remakes of Swedish films, how about an article that says every of-the-moment actress in Hollywood wants to get a Dragon Tattoo. At least according to a post by Deadline.

Every hot young actress in Hollywood wants to play the lead in Sony Pictures’ The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. But will director David Fincher cast one of them — or go with an unknown?

…

Sony execs insist they’re “nowhere near casting”. But Mulligan, Page, Kristen Stewart, Mia Wasikowska, Natalie Portman, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Thirlby, and Scarlett Johannsen are all circling.

You know what I think of Mulligan, Page, and Portman as Lisbeth, but what about the others? Well, about Stewart, I am not convinced about her acting, plus she still has Twilight commitments, meaning she wouldn’t be able to toughen up for the role because… well, then Bella would be all able to kick Edward’s ass. Plus, another series after a series? I don’t think it would be smart as an actress. She should keep it open for a while.

Wasikowska never ever crossed my mind as Lisbeth, she’s so delicate so she would also need to toughen up, and I mean it in the way she needs to gain a little more weight to get some muscle there. But she certainly fits the cute and tiny bill. And please! Keira Knightley is a total pass. WAY too skinny, and she’s not able (according to her) to gain weight, so she wouldn’t be able to get that bad-ass look down. Plus her eyes are dull.

Anne Hathaway is too old, and not the right body type, as is Johansson. Plus, she is known for her curvy body, would she lose that in order to get a bad-ass muscle body? As for Olivia Thirlby, I kinda liked that. She’s not really mainstream… but there’s also the thing about the bad-ass.

And wait for it, wait for it…

On the other hand, they think the male lead does require a star, and the studio is waiting for an answer from Brad Pitt.

Say what? I like Brad and all, but this is exactly what Lainey said would happen.

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Millennium Trilogy: The Movies

May 6, 2010 — 1 Comment

Can I just say Noomi Rapace is really REALLY bad-ass?

Continue Reading…

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To Watch Until They’re 35 – Anne Hathaway

May 4, 2010 — 4 Comments

Well, talk about timing~

Someone else is using Anne Hathaway as their actress of the month… and she is placing #6 on our list of actresses to Watch Until They’re 35. This also marks the half of our list of actresses, which only means… we are doing guys and girls at the same time from now on!

Born in Brooklyn, New York on November 12th 1982, this 27-year-old actress burst into the pop culture scene for playing Mia Termopolis in 2001 for Disney’s The Princess Diaries alongside Julie Andrews. Starting your career with a Disney would-be short-lived franchise isn’t bad, but it proved to be a tough image to shed when you wanted to be considered a serious actress. This is why Hathaway had roles on films like The Other Side of Heaven, and Nicholas Nickleby… though moving away from the “princess” image was a little difficult with roles like Ella on Ella Enchanted, and The Princess Diaries 2.

Lending her voice to Red (Riding-hood) on Hoodwinked! in 2005 didn’t do the trick, so Hathaway did what actresses who want to branch-off do, and pulled a 360 by participating on Havoc, the rated-R film of suburban troubled youth, though critically-panned, the film did seem to do the trick since she followed that up with films like Brokeback Mountain directed by Ang Lee with fellow the 20 to Watch Michelle Williams, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, and perhaps her biggest box office hit The Devil Wears Prada alongside Meryl Streep.

Suddenly, she was everywhere getting gigs playing Jane Austen on the film Becoming Jane with fellow the 20 to Watch James McAvoy, and giving a new face to Agent 99 on the film adaptation of the series Get Smart alongside Steve Carell, which gave her even more exposure to the masses. However, it was in 2008 when she received the most praise when she played Kym on the critically-acclaimed Rachel Getting Married for which she was nominated for the first time for Best Female Actress at the Oscar, as well as the Indie Spirits, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild. She even tied for a Best Actress win with Meryl at the Critics Choice Awards!

After that, yes. She followed that up with crap like Bride Wars and Valentine’s Day, so hopefully she’ll decide to be more choosy next time. Luckily, however, she made up for that by playing the White Queen on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

What’s next for Hathaway? Hopefully, not more insipid romantic comedies [non-negative connotation], but how about Love and Other Drugs by Edward Zwick (Defiance, Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai) alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Hank Azaria, Judy Greer and Oliver Platt? Or Rio an animated film by Carlos Saldanha (Ice Age) alongside hottie Rodrigo Santoro, and funny guy George Lopez?

Okay, not very exciting, but she’s got over half a dozen of films “in development” on her IMDbPro page, which I can’t access… unless you wanna buy me an account. No? I didn’t think so. One of those projects is bound to be good, right? Worth keeping an eye…

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To Watch Until They’re 35 – Eva Green

May 2, 2010 — 1 Comment

Okay, since I have no idea when my computer will be back up, I decided to try to remember all the names that were on my non-back-up list of actors, in order to not delay my choices and ran into more names that are no longer 30. I am pretty sure that I have got all my names down, I just don’t know if I placed them in the correct order… but it will have to do.

So in the #7 position of our list of actresses to watch is none other than Eva Green.

Born in Paris, France on July 5th 1980, this 29-year-old actress shot to stardom by starring on Bernardo Bertolucci’s NC-17 film The Dreamers alongside Michael Pitt and Louis Garrel. However, she’s probably most recognized for playing Bond Girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale with Daniel Craig… or playing witch Serafina Pekkala on the fantasy film The Golden Compass, based from Northern Lights from the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.

Green’s Silver Screen career isn’t even over 10 years, but with a start as Bertolucci, we can only expect the best from her, considering she’s stated she has no plans to go to Hollywood to get typecast as a femme fatale, instead she will be searching for the perfect script. Sure that shuts the door from getting exposure, but after working on films like Casino Royale, Kingdom of Hearts by Ridley Scott, and The Golden Compass — that’s like half her filmography — we think she doesn’t need it any more.

A self-confessed nerd — whom we have a weakness for — Green admires Tim Burton, Lars Von Trier, David Lynch, David Fincher, Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche and Helena Bonham Carter, so name-dropping doesn’t hurt her a bit. Top that off with a small commercial shooting alongside Wong Kar-Wai, which smells like good opportunity.

She speaks French and English, and is working on perfecting her American accent… and wait for it, she’s also apparently learning Japanese, which you know… would open doors there, since Japan loves anything French. And have I mentioned how exciting the Japanese film industry is? She seems to like intense directors, so could I see an Eva Green collaboration with Tetsuya Nakashima? Please, make that happen.

Sorry, I digress —  What’s next up for her? How about The Last Word directed by David Mackenzie, who also directed Young Adam and Hallam Foe (aka. Mister Foe) alongside Ewan McGregor.

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To Watch Until They’re 35 – Michelle Williams

April 26, 2010 — 4 Comments

Moving on with our list of the 20 to Watch, placing on #8 is none other than Michelle Williams. I mean, who would have thought that troublemaker Jen Lindley, ex and friend of Dawson Leery in that show about high school days during my school years, would end up where she is now.

Born in Montana, USA on September 9th 1980, this 29-year-old actress established herself as this generation’s new talented Hollywood in 2005 when she participated in Ang Lee’s critical-acclaimed film Brokeback Mountain. She wasn’t only nominated for an Oscar (and other awards) for Best Supporting Actress in that film, but she also met the father of her child, Heath Ledger and Mathilda’s — we’re all family here, right? — godfather, Jake Gyllenhaal. Obviously, Brokeback Mountain changed Williams’ life professionally and personally… and that is basically what every Hollywood legend has gone through in their lifetime.

Like any young starlet, Williams started out with small appearances on shows like Baywatch, Lassie and Step by Step, when in the late 90’s she shot to teen pop culture stardom on The WB’s Dawson’s Creek, which ended in 2003 after more than 100 episodes. While everyone was thinking about the future of the idols now that they were grown up, Williams made appearances in films like The United States of Leland alongside Don Cheadle, Kevin Spacey, Lena Olin, Jena Malone and Ryan Gosling, as well as the acclaimed film The Station Agent written and directed by Tom McCarthy alongside Patricia Clarkson.

She followed that up with smaller films like Imaginary Heroes with Jeff Daniels, Sigourney Weaver and 20 to Watch fellow Emile Hirsch, and starred in the even smaller Land of Plenty, for which she earned her first Indie Spirit nomination for Best Female Lead. After her Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Academy Awards for Brokeback, Williams decided to be part of the film I’m Not There alongside 20 to Watch fellow Ben Whishaw.

By the year 2008, she had decided to participate in the independent films Wendy and Lucy, which was well-received by critic circles and earned Williams her second nomination for Best Female Lead at the Indie Spirits, as well as Synecdoche, New York the directorial debut of scriptwriter Charlie Kaufman, alongside the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Hope Davis and Jennifer Jason Leigh — they all, by the way, won the Robert Altman Award at the Indie Spirits.

The impressive filmography doesn’t end there, as Williams next film was Mammoth written and directed by Lukas Moodysson (Fucking Åmål), and also starred Gael Garcia Bernal… topping it all off with this year’s Blue Valentine fresh off great buzz from Sundance alongside Ryan Gosling. Add to that Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese… no Scorsese film, as bad as some could be, would be a real negative on anyone’s resume, right?

Next up for her? Well, how about a project written and directed by Sarah Polley? I’m talking about the romantic comedy [non-negative connotation] Take this Waltz. Following that up? Possibly, The Emperor’s Children by pseudo indie fave Noah Baumbach — fresh off with the Greenberg buzz. Yeah? Worth another 5 years watching her, right?

Woah, could this write-up be a little girl-crush right there? xD

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