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29-2-2000MR. RIPLEY HITS OZ
he Talented Mr. Ripley has now extended his reach across the oceans and settled comfortably into Australia and environs. Now, Aussies can judge for themselves and see if all the hoopla has been justified, see if “Ripley was robbed!” at the Oscars, and see our Cate do another one of her miracles totally submerging herself into a supporting character, this time the wandering aristocrat, Meredith Logue.
T Related to Ripley’s invasion of the UK and Oz, we present this interesting article via Teletext UK which tackles a subject which has not been discussed all that much Stateside.
2-22-00
Ripley raised hackles in AmericaMinghella admits Ripley's homosexuality posed a problem for US preview audiences.
"They left in their droves during the bath scene (where Jude Law is seen naked) - the first suggestion that Ripley is gay - and some couldn't cope with Ripley getting away with murder."His punishment is that, in killing Greenleaf, he removes the possibility of being himself. That's the real tragedy of the whole story."
Minghella says of Ripley's punishment for murder: "In the climax of the film, he is forced to decide how he is going to continue with his life.
"You realise that by making that decision, he can never be lovedfor himself any more. It's not about the exhilaration of escape, but the punishment of escape from one's self.
"He represents us all in that he's not satisfied with his lot. We transform ourselves and trade up our partner."For Anthony Minghella, 46, born in Ryde on the Isle of Wight (where he still lives), filming in Italy took him back to his family's roots.
His father is Italian and his mother English. He says the film was a "voyage towards my father and my own love affair with Italy"."It's not just the dazzling and beautiful locations. Italy has quite a dark soul, which I began to discover," the writer-director says.
We should also draw your attention to a few articles added to the Cate Library since Ripley hit Oz. The first is a fascinating interview with Anthony Minghella you may read at Urban Interviews Minghella. Secondly, there is a nice interview with Aussie cinematographer John Seale, who shot Ripley, which you may check out at Andrew Views Seale. And finally, as if that weren’t enough, take a look at this piece which is a listen to the wonderful musical score for Ripley, which can be examined at Mr. Ripley’s Soundtrack. That should keep you busy for a while!
CATE PROJECTS
ore shakeout this week on the Cate project front. In a story we first reported on our Cate and Sarah List, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report seemed to move slightly closer to fruition this week with an announcement by Spielberg that he is definitely passing on Harry Potter.
M As reported by several sources,“Steven Spielberg has taken himself out of consideration to direct a film version of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In a statement Tuesday, the director said, "I have every certainty that the series of Harry Potter movies will be phenomenally successful. J.K. Rowling's vision of Harry Potter is modern genius. Warner Bros. and (president) Alan Horn have been more than generous in the time they've allowed me to make a decision. However, at this time, my directorial interests are taking me in another direction." He was not more specific.”
Other unnamed sources pointed to MR as the direction Spielberg is referring to, especially due to the time he has already put into the project, and Tom Cruise’s need to solidify his schedule due to other projects.
And in stunning news broken this week by the Telegraph UK, Hugh Davies reported a Texan has been cast in the film role of Bridget Jones, but, that Texan ain’t our Cate. The role of the quintessentially English thirty-something diarist renowned for her angst over men, drink and cigarettes has been won by the Texas-born actress Renee Zellweger!!
Eric Fellner, the producer, said the two-year search for "the perfect Bridget" had been "exhaustive". Now one of Hollywood's brightest young stars, Zellweger made her name starring opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire.
Industry gossip had it that an English actress would play the ever-jinxed career girl who itemises her "fag" and alcohol intake and obsessively dials 1471 to see if Mr Right has called. Mr Fellner had been urged to choose an unknown actress by the author of Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding, who also wrote the script. He said he picked Zellweger, 29, whose mother is a Norwegian married to a Swede, because she was so funny. "Renee is one of the best comic actresses of her generation and brings enormous character and conviction to the part."
Colin Firth has been tipped as Bridget's love interest, as an in-joke. In the diary the man in her life is named Darcy in honour of Firth's role in Pride and Prejudice, serialised by the BBC. The producers are Working Title, makers of Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Zellweger called the Diary "an amazing evocation of the life of a single girl" and said she was honoured to be bringing her to the screen. She appears to have more success in her love life than her fictional character. Jim Carrey, her co-star in her new film, Me, Myself and Irene, recently bought her a £130,000 ring and they are said to be on the verge of getting engaged.
Wow!! Talk about pulling a rabbit out of the hat! I don’t think anyone saw this coming. The Times UK reported Renee is currently in London working with a dialect coach. In other Cate Projects news, that keeps getting stranger and stranger…
Julianne Moore’s decision to play Clarice Starling in “Hannibal” will make her a unavailable for “Unbreakable,” the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan-directed (“The Sixth Sense”) drama starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. The “Hannibal” shooting starts in early May and the timing makes her participation in the Disney pic impossible. So what, you say? VARIETY is reporting that Disney is pursuing Cate for the role, who passed on “Hannibal”!!!
Brother, this all seems rather incestuous.THE GIFT
s this issue of Cate News reaches you, “The Gift” will be in its 11th day of principal photography. We tracked down the actual press release from Lakeshore Entertainment and Paramount Classics which describes the film’s story as follows:
A "Goodhearted Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) is a recently widowed mother of three young boys in the tiny town of Brixton, Georgia, who bears ‘the gift’ of psychic vision.
Scorned by the narrow-minded town citizens, Annie struggles to support herself and her sons by giving psychic readings to eccentric locals, including Valerie (Hillary Swank), the wife of town bully, Donnie (Keanu Reeves) and car mechanic, Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi).
When Annie is drawn into the police investigation of a high-profile local murder, she finds herself in increasing danger and is left to unravel the town's dark secrets. Her ‘gift’ is her only hope to save herself and her family."
As previously reported, as soon as Raimi finished up shooting The Gift, he’ll shift over to Spider-Man at Sony. After shooting that latter film, he’ll do post-production on both projects.
SHEKHAR UPDATE
e reported earlier that the director of Cate’s Elizabeth would next be directing a remake of the classic Korda film, Four Feathers.Now comes the exciting news that Oscar nominee Jude Law will star in the remake. Originally filmed in 1939, the story's about a British officer who resigns just before a major battle, then is awarded four white feathers as a symbol of cowardice.
W We made mention before in comments regarding “Ripley” and Hitchcock that Law seemed to be something of a modern day Cary Grant. His casting here seems perfect to play the swashbuckling symbol of British Empire much like Grant did back in the glory days of “Gunga Din”. And, don’t you know Kapur is going to be able to bring something special to this epic, particularly some valuable insights as reflected by the complicated inter-twinings of English and Indian history. We can’t wait!
OSCAR WATCH 2000
or any of you still suffering Cate-Oscar withdrawals, here’s a tidbit from an article of last year, from the Telegraph UK. It’s a fun piece, which addresses the issue of what happens to all that Oscar gear, AFTER the ceremony:
F With all these giveaways, there's still no assurance that stars won't change their minds, even if a company has launched a small media campaign linking an actress with its product.
This happened last year to the Choo company.
Weeks before the '99 Oscars, it was widely reported in fashion and gossip media that best actress nominee Cate Blanchett would wear a pair of diamond-encrusted Choo sandals that were worth about $1 million.
Of course, Blanchett didn't wear them and some insiders say, despite all the public hype, the pretty Aussie never said she'd wear the shoes. "The story that was reported was that they didn't fit," says our source. "But the truth is, she just wasn't interested."
The Choo people got the unworn sandals back, something dress companies often find difficult.
Sandra Graham, the celebrity liaison for Purcell and other Oscar-friendly designers, says the dresses designers give stars to wear to lesser shows like Independent Film, Blockbuster Entertainment or the People's Choice awards, are usually loaners.
"But if it's a big awards ceremony, you kiss that dress goodbye," says Graham.
She adds that at the same time stars have back-to-back appointments to see designers' newest duds, major department store buyers are visiting showrooms to make their seasonal orders from the same collections.
Not surprisingly, the stars usually trump the buyers in the ball-gown battle, even for one-of-a-kind samples.
"It doesn't matter if Neiman Marcus wants it," says Graham. "Unless you can duplicate it, it's gone."Sounds fair to us!
That’s all for this go-around Blanchetteers! As per the usual, check out the latest at LOTR News for all the latest-and-greatest regarding the Lord of the Rings News. A couple of cool pics are on display this week, along with a recap detailing six minutes of footage previewed in Los Angeles, including footage of our Cate all dressed up as Galadriel!! (We don’t have an image from the film…YET!). Until then, “PLAY A VOLTA!!”
