Footage of next summer’s video game adaptation Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has popped up online, and with it has popped up some minor controversy. Apparently, viewers are speculating that Jake Gyllenhaal’s abdominal muscles, seen prominently in at least one shot, are not actually his own. Because this footage is from the set and not from some post-production house, it can’t be an airbrush job, but it might be a prosthetic plate covering up his own less-toned abs. The “conspiracy” theory originates with commenters at Towleroad and was brought to most people’s attention via Kyle Buchanan at Movieline. But is it worthy of discussion?
I just recently watched Chris Bell’s steroid documentary Bigger Stronger Faster*, so I’m concerned with the allegations, and whether or not they’re of importance. Shouldn’t we be glad that Gyllenhaal may not have needed to get juiced? Or, should we instead demand that the actor, if not so ripped, show off his own body, so as not to fool young men who might grow up thinking they need a body type that isn’t in fact real? We know, thanks to Bell’s film, that such image issues are as harmful to men as skinny model types are damaging to women, so perhaps this is indeed a necessary discussion.
Unfortunately, the ab conspiracy/controversy has only been brought up by a few so far, while other blogs are merely taking the bait and talking about how amazing Gyllenhaal looks. Check out parts of both discussions after the jump:
IFC has picked upMedicine for Melancholy for day-and-date distribution. It’ll be released sometime next year; in the meantime, it’ll play in competition at the impending Los Angeles Film Festival.
Paramount is getting sued by Mario Puzo’s son, based on allegations that he wasn’t paid proper royalties on a video game based on The Godfather. He’s trying to make the studio stick to contract they made with his father seven years before his death, which was in turn intended to provide reparations for Paramount having gyped him when first buying the Godfather rights.
Sienna Miller will play Maid Marion opposite Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood Sheriff in Nottingham. Sure, it’s an unnecessary retread of a beloved brand, but it should be a nice break for her after filming G.I. Joe, don’t you think?
UPDATE 4/22 9:57 AM: We’ve been asked to remove the photo of Dennis Quaid in his G.I. Joe costume which originally accompanied this post.
Is it just me, or does Dennis Quaid look completely out of place in his G.I. Joecostume? It appears that he’s unsure of himself, too. It’s like they took a photo of him while he was saying, “are you guys sure this looks cool?” Fortunately, he can now receive the answer: no, Dennis, it doesn’t. But it’s fine, because most of the internerds are too busy drooling over the Rachel Nichols “Scarlett” images to pay much attention.
Plus, the four shots of Quaid as “General Hawk” (none of which make him look any cooler than the one to the right), are, along with the rest of the ton of G.I. Joe cast photos, being taken down all over the place. But for now you can still find the pics, which include Quaid, Nichols, Channing Tatum (”Duke”), Karolina Korkova (”Cover Girl”), Marlon Wayans (”Ripcord”), Byung-hun Lee (”Storm Shadow”), Sienna Miller (”The Baroness”) and Ray Park (”Snake Eyes”) over at What Would Tyler Durden Do?
The site is claiming an exclusive on the pics, which may explain Paramount’s request of removal elsewhere, but something tells me they might just have been leaked. Check them out while you can, just in case.
Suddenly, G.I. Joe became the Summer 2009 movie to avoid — not intentionally, of course, but we all know Sienna Miller, like her ex- Jude Law, is a bit of a box office kiss of death. Yet, Paramount has cast her as “the female lead” anyway. Don’t think she’ll be playing good-girl “Scarlett”, either; Miller’s character is apparently Baroness, the black-leather-clad femme fatale who works for COBRA.
Two more high-profile films have been delayed thanks to the WGA strike. This time it’s Mira Nair’s Shantaram, which is being produced by and is to star Johnny Depp, and the next Rob Marshall musical, Nine, which is partially based on Fellini’s 8 1/2. These films join previously postponed Angels & Demons and Pinkville. At least strike talks are set to take place next week.
John Singleton will never get another shot at Oscar with this kind of thinking, but at least he’ll have the honor of giving us yet another alien-invades-a-small-town movie.
I may be the only one, but I am indeed looking forward to Final Destination 4, which is a little late in being the 3-D installment. Typically, and obviously, they make more sense as the third in a series. Whatever, as long as they have cooler kills than #3, and not just because they look neat with the technology. Yeah, I’m probably thinking too highly of the franchise. I don’t care.
If you’re in the habit of visiting websites, you’ve probably seen ads for Interview, Steve Buscemi’s remake of a Dutch film by the same name, which stars Sienna Miller and which opens in limited release this Friday. Buscemi’s Interview is the first in a series of three films (the others are to be directed by Stanley Tucci and John Turturro), in tribute to the director of the original Interview, Theo Van Gogh. In 2004, Van Gogh was murdered by a Muslim extremist, who was acting in response to Submission: Part One, a ten minute film about the oppression of women under Islam, made by Van Gogh in collaboration with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. That film is embedded above.
I haven’t seen Van Gogh’s Interview, but I’ve just returned from a press screening of Buscemi’s, and in terms of style, content, weight and intent, it’s about as far away from Submission as you can get. Van Gogh has become something of a martyr since his death; a famed free-speech advocate in life, his body was found with a 5-page “jihad manifesto” attached to his chest with a dagger. His murder has since been used by some members of the Dutch government, as supporting evidence in their quest to limit immigration.
Put simply: the idea that the best way to pay tribute to that guy is to have three American actors remake his films is somewhat baffling. And after having seen Interview … well … am I the only one struggling to see how the solipsistic fantasy that Buscemi has committed to celluloid could possibly be seen as a proper tribute to anything?
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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IFC has picked up Medicine for Melancholy for day-and-date distribution. It’ll be released sometime next year; in the meantime, it’ll play in competition at the impending Los Angeles Film Festival.
Suddenly, 
