Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and Fergie attended the American Music Awards.
Nicole and kate introduced the Black Eyed Peas.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Nine: the film that seduced Hollywood’s biggest stars
The corridors of New York’s historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel are lined with black-and-white photographs of famous visitors and guests who have stayed there in the past. But it is unlikely that the hotel has ever before seen such an august gathering of stars as the group of six Oscar winners and one nominee who met there the other day to talk about their roles in the lavish movie adaptation of the stage musical Nine.
“I was just upstairs with the entire cast, and I still can’t believe it,” says the film’s director, co-writer and choreographer Rob Marshall as he joins me in a fourth-floor suite. “It’s overwhelming.”
From the moment it was announced, Nine was a film that nearly every actress wanted a role in and was willing to audition for. “It was the film everybody wanted to do,” says Kidman.“Rob Marshall had his pick.”
Marshall agrees: “I saw just about every female star in Hollywood. A lot of these women don’t usually audition and I was impressed at how they were putting themselves on the line"
“I cast the majority of parts before I started writing so that I could write specifically for them. It was very important for me to cast people I liked, and I knew I nee
ded to try them in different roles to see who claimed what. Now I can’t imagine it in any other way.”
Cotillard, the French actress who won an Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in La vie en rose, originally auditioned for the role of Contini’s producer, but was cast as his devoted but long-suffering wife; while Cruz read for three roles before Marshall decided she should play the needy mistress.
Javier Bardem was originally scheduled to play the conflicted auteur Contini; Fortunately forMarshall, Day-Lewis, who had read the script because he and Judi Dench share the same agent, announced his interest. The actor, who is extremely selective with his roles and is renowned for his perfectionism, recalls: “When Rob first started telling me about it, I had the same response all the actors had, which was a tremendous desire to attempt the challenge but at the same time a lurking fear that comes with trying to express yourself in a way that is completely outside your sphere of reference."
“We all made fools of ourselves on day one, which you have to do when you’re unsure of things."
“I’ve admired and hoped to work with each and every one of these ladies, but the possibility of working with all of them on the same project was un-thinkable,” he laughs.
A former choirboy, Day-Lewis worked for months, learning Italian and taking singing and dancing lessons to prepare for the role. Then, before filming began, the cast had six weeks of rehearsals followed by two weeks of pre-recording their songs at the Abbey Road studios, during which time they formed a strong camaraderie.
“The great joy of working on a musical is that you have to rehearse, and in doing so you create a company,” says Marshall.
It would be natural to expect that, with so many award-winning actresses working together, egos would clash and sparks would fly, but they all insist this did not happen. “I wondered if we would all kill each other,” laughs Loren. “But, no, it was like a family. It was wonderful because none of us had ever done a real Hollywood musical, so we were rooting for each other and we really became lasting friends.”
Kidman, whose previous singing onscreen in Moulin Rouge earned her an Oscar nomination, agrees: “We just felt really comfortable with each other. We all became good friends because we hung out together and swapped stories and asked each other’s advice.”
She started rehearsals just four weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Sunday Rose. She took her to the set every day because she was breast-feeding, and, when she had a scene, she could call on some of the most glamourous baby-sitters ever.
Fergie (real name Stacey Ferguson) recalls the women going together to aMadonna concert and having “girls’ nights out” at West End restaurants.
“I was very intimidated and nervous, but on the first day we all had lunch together and became very relaxed with each other,” she says. “I find that the so-called A-list actors who are the most successful tend to be the nicest and most down-to-earth people because they have nothing to prove.”
Who is Who ? - Guido [6/8]
Name: CONTINI Guido
Interpreted by : Daniel Day Lewis
Nationality: Italian
HIs Work: A film Director
His Song:
I Can't Make This Movie
Guido's song
Description: Guido Contini, famous italian film director, has turned forty and faces a double crises: he has to shoot a film for which he can't write the script, and his wife of twenty years, the film star Luisa, may be about to leave him if he can't pay more attention to the marriage. As he struggles to complete his latest film, he is forced to balance the numerous formative women in his life
Saturday, November 21, 2009
TRACKLIST - Be Italian by Stacy Ferguson
Thanks to Lawrence
I Don't how this song appeared on YOU TUBE.
Of course, All rights belong to the Weinstein Company.
The Men Behind NINE - Anthony Minghella [4/5]
Anthony Minghella was born on January 6, 1954. After graduating from the University of Hull, Minghella took a position as a university lecturer, but quit academia to focus on the theater and songwriting. He oversaw the music in many of his movies.
Minghella was employed as a scriptwriter on the
British TV series "Maybury" (1981) and "Inspector Morse" (1987) and, as a script editor on the British TV series "Grange Hill" (1978), before succ
eeding as a dramatist in the West End, London's equivalent of Broadway. In 1984, the London Theatre Critics named him Most Promising Playwright of the Year and, two years later, his drama "Made in Bangkok" won the the London Theatre Critics' award for best play.
An Anthony Minghella film assured movie-goers would enjoy a film blessed with a literate script, superlative performances and first-rate production values. His great craftsmanship was apparent fromthe beginning, with the bittersweet 1990 comedy Truly Madly Deeply
(1990), in which the ghost of Alan Rickman comes back to his lady loveJuliet StevensonJ, with unintended consequences. The theme of a ghostly love also was present in The English Patient(1996) his greatest success.
It is for that film he will be best remembered. Minghella claimed that with The English Patient(1996), which won nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, that he had reached the heights of his directing career.
Anthony Minghella died of a hemorrhage on the morning of March 18, 2008 at Charing Cross Hospital in London, England. The 54-year-old Minghella had undergone an operation to remove a growth on his neck the previous week. He was survived by his wife, Carolyn Choa, and their two children, Max Minghella, who is an actor, and Hannah Minghella, who worked as a production assistant.
Nine Fans
NINE fans, you've waited long enough... it's finally time to see the posters for NINE. Monday, November 23rd on nine-movie.com
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