venice film festival
Big Screen
5:45AM Brian Moylan | [George Clooney closes his eyes and imagines himself in a better place while walking the red carpet with girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis at the premiere of The Men Who Stare at Goats at the Venice Film Festival. Image via Getty]
He’s Mind-F—king Matt Damon
5:45AM Brian Moylan | [George Clooney closes his eyes and imagines himself in a better place while walking the red carpet with girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis at the premiere of The Men Who Stare at Goats at the Venice Film Festival. Image via Getty] 
People
12:40AM Brian Moylan | [Eva Mendes get's the A-OK from a randy cop while attending, ironically enough, a screening for Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans at the Venice Film Festival yesterday. Image via Getty]
The Fashion Police Take Their Job Very Seriously
12:40AM Brian Moylan | [Eva Mendes get's the A-OK from a randy cop while attending, ironically enough, a screening for Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans at the Venice Film Festival yesterday. Image via Getty]
Big Screen
Musicals, Gondolas, Cowboys And Aliens!
11:11PM Richard Rushfield | Ashes may still be raining down on the city. Summer doldrums may be stifling the rest of America. But for Hollywood, this week marks the kick-off of Festival Season! Ole! And the party is breaking out everywhere you look. More »
‘Great, Iconic’ Mickey Rourke Performance Piledrives His Way Back to Glory
4:40AM STV | While slappies like Viggo Mortensen hedge their Oscar ‘08 futures with something close to a film per month, we much prefer the bombast of all-or-nothing awards-season power hitters like Daniel Day-Lewis and Mickey Rourke. Yes, we wrote Mickey Rourke — he of the inflated face, reckless scooter piloting, and now of the acclaimed Darren Aronofsky film The Wrestler, a stirring Venice Film Festival success that Variety pumped as featuring “a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances”:Crazed Fan Attempts Potentially Lethal Hug-Attack On Defenseless Brad Pitt
6:45AM Defamer Hollywood | We recommend that you steel yourself before viewing this YouTube clip of an obviously crazed fan bum-rushing universally worshipped movie star Brad Pitt at the Venice Film Festival, as the footage demonstrates how easy it is for virtually any deranged admirer to penetrate a celebrity’s defenses and attempt to embrace him in thanks for the urchin-collecting good works that have alleviated overcrowding in a variety of Third World orphanages. Make sure you watch the video all the way to the end; most chilling is the moment where Pitt’s Italian assailant cheerily waves to the camera, a gesture clearly meant to signal a fresh wave of hug-based attacks on Hollywood’s goodwill ambassador by a legion of smiling stalkers emboldened by the fact that one can lay hands on the actor without so much as a tasering by his permissive security detail. Brad Pitt Attacked by Crazed Fan in Venice [Breitbart.tv] More »
Ridley Scott Hates Sci Fi, Mobile Phones; Reveals Twenty-Eighth Cut Of ‘Blade Runner’
11:09AM Clem Bastow | Master director Sir Ridley Scott (seen here casually relaxing IN UR PASTORAL IDYL) has taken the opportunity to use the Venice Film Festival as a sounding board to test out his new role as cinema’s grumpy old man.
Scott let his thoughts be known on everything from science fiction genre flicks (dead as the western, apparently; as The Guardian’s Paul Howlett says, Scott must’ve missed Sunshine) to how mobile phones – not pirating or the Scary Movie franchises – are “killing cinema”.
But our favourite piece of Ridley news is that he has announced another cut of his epic science fiction classic, Blade Runner.
There have been five different versions of the film released so far, but Scott insists The Final Cut (sounds a bit like KISS’ “Farewell” tour or John Farnham’s “The Last Time”) – to be released on DVD later this year – is how he originally intended the film to be, blaming the assorted incarnations of his Philip K. Dick adaptation on the studios’ muscling in on his artistic territory.
“I wasn’t used at that point in my career to having too many cooks in the kitchen, and I think there were many people who started to get involved.
“So out of it came a hybrid version of what I’d originally intended. Consequently … we had a bad opening, bad previews, confused previews. I was killed by some critics … then I thought it would be gone away for ever,” Scott said.
Rumours that Rutger Hauer’s “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…” soliloquy has been dubbed to include the line “…Ridley Scott walking away from an editing studio saying ‘I’m pretty happy with that, actually’…” could not be confirmed at time of press. More » 
Keira Knightley Requests You Focus On Her Acting, Not Her Face Or Body; Hitler Wishes To Be Known As “A Really Nice Guy With Good Taste In Facial Hair”
10:45AM Clem Bastow | In Venice to launch her latest flick, Atonement, Keira Knightley – she of the fairy-dust cheekbones and pillow pout – has expressed her dismay at the tabloids’ constantly discussing her weight and looks rather than her filmic CV.
“I think what I want to keep it about is the work, that’s all I’m interested in, and when you’ve got a project like this I think it’s a shame to take it away from that.”
She has a point – indeed, there was talk of Knightley being “too pretty” to play Elizabeth Bennett in Pride And Prejudice (which those particular critics can suck on now, as the film fell somewhere between exquisite and perfection, thanks largely to Knightley’s performance), and we’re frankly tired of the “Too Skinny, Eat A Sammich!” to “FINALLY They Pack On Some FAT FAT FATTY FAT!” celebrity gossip rag roundabout.
We suggest Terry’s consider Keira as the new face of their Chocolate Orange, so that all this speculation can be finally put to rest. More » 
Trade Roundup: Venice Film Festival Audiences Hold Off For Now On Planned Booing
5:30AM Defamer Hollywood | The Venice Film Festival opening film – a WWII drama starring Keira Knightley called Atonement – was screened to mostly positive word of mouth, a triumph capped by fest organisers allowing star James McAvoy to have full access to the controls of the Ceremonial Wrecking Ball. [Variety] Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. are circling Chilled in Miami, a romcom about “a Miami businesswoman who’s transferred to the sticks of Minnesota.” Why do we have a feeling we’ll be forced to watch this on a five-inch screen trapped in American Airlines rat-class? [Variety] We honestly thought Singing Bee’s title as absolute worst show on TV was safe, but now we’re not so sure: Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann is a go as an ABC midseason replacement, hosted by Nick Lachey’s twinkle-toed brother, Drew. [Variety] BermanBraun, the petri dish result of combining toppled Paramount tyrant Gail Berman with former Yahoo-square-peg Lloyd Braun into a production company that sounds like a hand-blender, has hired a Yahoo exec to join them on their march to total media domination. [THR] Rejoice, Xbox Live subscribers: Family Guy episodes are merely a click away, with the added feature of being able to vaporise the annoying Griffin family with a variety of Gears of War weaponry at the end of every episode. [THR] More »Venice Film Festival Update
4:00AM Defamer Hollywood | Jellyfish have invaded and are totally ruining Keira Knightley’s swimming plans! Also: At 156 minutes, Ang Lee’s NC-17-rated Lust, Caution is a chore to sit through, despite featuring sex scenes so explicit, it makes a spittle-assisted Jack Twist-taking seem tame by comparison. [filmexperience] More »
