Random Winona Tidbits...

[CHRIS B]

I thought I'd make this thread for just random Winona things you find. Sometimes I find weird Winona tidbits that I never know where to post and I don't want to make a whole post for something so unimportant. So, for instance, I recently found this:

"Lovely, Still"

Director: Nik Fackler

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Martin Landau, Elizabeth Banks, Adam Scott

If I'm just being honest... I was on set for this one during filming, and most importantly had Ellen Burstyn take my hand and acknowledge my actual being! I also got to watch her dazzle and dig into character right before my very eyes, and I can tell you first hand that this nuanced performance should be one to watch for and give a second viewing. And you know me, I'm not one to put actors on a pedestal... other than when I do it daily as a blog.

"I have something I've wanted to ask you since the moment we met... Do you prefer paper or plastic?"

This small scale fable follows an elderly grocery sacker (Landau) and his first brush with romance just in time for the holidays. How about a collective "aww..." On any level it should be nice having any new Christmas film not involve dueling neighbors or Tim Allen. It's guaranteed sweetness with a few surprises along the way -- and has Ellen Burstyn ever shaken your hand and called you "Adam?" Didn't think so.


Fun (bitter) fact: Originally the supporting cast was said to be comprised of Paul Rudd and Winona Ryder! I would have orgasmically imploded on that set and thus they were replaced with Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks. They're lovely too... but still.

I remember when she was supposed to be in this. I actually emailed a producer of the film who told me that she had just dropped out the previous day...

[CHRIS B]

Moved post to a new thread.

[CHRIS B]

Could Any Actress Have a Comeback Like Mickey Rourke?

Mickey Rourke may not have won an Oscar, but The Wrestler nabbed him just about every other award worth having this year. While the Oscar would have been the shiny prize on top of the comeback cake (and we could debate until the end of time who deserved it more), I do think this is one of the rare times when it really was an honor just to be nominated.

Inspired by Rourke, Jezebel poses an interesting question -- could an actress ever enjoy a similar second coming? As Hortense puts it: "In the real world, an actor like Mickey Rourke can undergo extreme plastic surgery and dress like an insane scarecrow and wax poetic about his dogs and forget his co-stars names on stage and be forgiven, due to his talent and ability. Do actresses receive the same forgiveness? If Marisa Tomei, who is undergoing a comeback of her own, wasn't still quite lovely and couldn't "climb the pole," would she have been cast in her Oscar-nominated Wrestler role? If she was the one who was known for extreme plastic surgery and erratic behavior, would people even give her the time of day?"

A good example might by Sean Young. She's been angling for a comeback for years, but always seems to self-destruct. Last year at the Director's Guild Award, she drank too much and heckled people onstage before being whisked away to rehab. She was seen last week still acting drunk and disorderly. No director will touch her, but Rourke was in a similar boat not so very long ago. Winona Ryder is another actress who languishes in unemployment -- the whispers that Star Trek could be a comeback have vanished, not helped by her collapse on a British Airways flight. It's difficult to know if she's uninterested, or if she's such PR poison that no one is willing to take a chance.



You can also debate whether Young or Ryder deserve a comeback, but the question lingers. It's difficult enough for an actress to get a good role -- but how does a "fallen" one earn back her cred? Is it a matter of attitude? (Rourke has consistently been a humble and contrite fellow.) Hard work? Or would a woman have to rely too heavily on the fact that she'd survived the wilderness of unemployment with her looks intact?

http://www.cinematical.co...eback-like-mickey-rourke/

[CHRIS B]

Take a look that this. Remeber these projects? Shame none of them ever happened.

http://www.atmanentertainment.com/index.php?id=4

This site was last updated in 2005.

Teaming up again with Winona Ryder, Bell is also producing ROUSTABOUT, which is in turnaround from New Line. The story of a girl who runs away from the circus, the project will most probably find a new home at HBO.

[CHRIS B]

Some info I found on "Smiley Face" AKA "Mary Warner."

MPF: "Smiley Face" was originally titled "Mary Warner" and had Winona Ryder attached. Now it has a brand new title, a new director and features completely different characters and actors. Can you explain a little bit about what has changed and how the project has evolved from its original conception?

Dylan Haggerty: Yeah. In terms of the script very little has changed. It was in the hands of some other producers obviously- and for a number of reasons, they just couldn't get the production off the ground. When the rights expired, Gregg Araki, who was looking for a new project since he had read "Mysterious Skin"- it sort of made the rounds in Hollywood and he wanted to make it his next movie and because of his track record and who he is, was able was to secure financing for the film. Once that all happened, he decided to go in a completely different direction. From our first meeting he discussed casting Anna Faris in the role, he just felt that her energy was perfect for the project and I think he turned out to be right.

MPF: So Gregg was the one who changed the title from "Mary Warner" to "Smiley Face"?

DH: Actually "Mary Warner" wasn't even my title. That was just a temporary title... when I wrote the script it was called "The Communist Manifesto".


MPF: Were you involved at all with Winona Ryder leaving the project?

DH: No, I was really exciting when Winona got involved, but surprisingly we weren't able to secure financing with her attached. Finally, It was Gregg's decision he just felt like, "she's great and all but she has a darkness to her" and he wanted to go for somebody who was a little lighter and there is just something so goofy and funny about Anna. Winona would have made it a completely different movie if she had starred in it.

[CHRIS B]

Winona was attached to this at one point! Man, that would've been great. I really enjoyed the film!

Projects in development include: BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, a tragic,
suspenseful, family drama (currently attached are Philip Seymour Hoffman, Winona Ryder,
Kip Pardue, Patricia Arquette and director Austin Chick)

http://www.therevtvseries...ges/Rev%20Press%20Kit.pdf

[oinone]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead!!! Probably for Hoffman's wife. Well, i think this role is suitable for marisa tomei. it would have been weird, if we've seen winona in that beginning scene ((=

[CHRIS B]

Anyone remember Winona being attached to this one?

What Were We Thinking Films is also developing a movie version of Bechard’s first novel, the cult-classic
take on the Second Coming, THE SECOND GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. First published in 1991, the novel
has been optioned by six different Hollywood producers, and has had actresses ranging from Winona Ryder to Ashley
Judd attached to play the lead role.

Filmmaker Bechard's first novel is the brash, broad, borscht-belt account of the life and ministry of Ilona Ann Coggswater, the daughter of God. Born in Cooperstown, New York, in 1970--an immaculate birth, natch--Ilona enjoys a relatively normal childhood, arguing with the nuns about religion and graduating from Cy Young High School as valedictorian. But her life shifts abruptly into high gear on Thanksgiving Day 1988, when the Pope interrupts a parade to acknowledge her as God's daughter. After that, matters follow the inevitable farcical route--Ilona does guest spots on Letterman and Larry King, moves with her model/bartender roommate Stephanie LaVasseur to a trendier Manhattan address, and signs an advertising contract with Coca-Cola--the proceeds to be divided among Greenpeace, Handgun Control Inc., Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, and the Better World Society--coming out in favor of all the right causes (the Brazilian rain forest, abortion rights, a ban on fur and leather), dispensing widely her trademark bromide, ``Be Kind,'' and pausing only for offhand miracles (changing water into Rolling Rock or Tab) and theological elaborations worthy of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (``Unless one is truthful and kind, they cannot see the kingdom of God'') before she meets her destiny a month later at the hands of NRA vice-president John Charlton Hanley. Lots of whimsical fun here, but not so many laughs: this satire is mostly as witless as its all-too-familiar targets.

[Gary]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead!!! Probably for Hoffman's wife. Well, i think this role is suitable for marisa tomei. it would have been weird, if we've seen winona in that beginning scene ((=

That would have been like a dream. Marisa is so hot.

[CHRIS B]

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead!!! Probably for Hoffman's wife. Well, i think this role is suitable for marisa tomei. it would have been weird, if we've seen winona in that beginning scene ((=

That would have been like a dream. Marisa is so hot.

  Marisa and Winona really need to do a film together!

[DrJoseph]

Winona and Gary Oldman make the Top 10 vampire couples for "Dracula"...

http://www.okmagazine.com/news/view/12202

P.S.  BTW Marisa Tomei is hot and she was great in the "Before the Devil..."...good movie overall, classic old noir...Hoffman and Hawke and especially Albert Finney were wonderful...

[CHRIS B]

So, I emailed Ross Grayson Bell, a film producer who produced "Fight Club" among other films and he was the producer who was supposed to work with Winona's on "Roustabout" and "Lamb Of God." I asked him what happened to these films and if they would ever be made with Winona. This is what he said.

Re: Hey. Neither project is moving forward and i have not seen Winona for over five years. LAMBS OF GOD went away after Winona took the role opposite Richard Gere in AUTUMN IN NEW YORK and the film bombed.  ROUSTABOUT was up at New Line after Fox and we worked with the very inexperienced director, Chris Eyre and the studio lost confidence. If either film was ever to happen it would be with actresses younger than Winona

oh well...

[vulcannonibird]

Roustabout is a great novel and a strong lead character. The only thing - at the time - would've been that the lead female role is a young woman about 20 to 25 working in a circus building the tent as the only woman to date doing this hard job - and honestly Winona lacked the physical appearance in 1999-2001 when this project was brewing. IKf she had done it she IMO must have gone to the gym hard....

AINY mostly fell thru due to the studios lack of confidence - thank you MGM! Nevertheless it still grossed 40 million in the US and about 75 million worldwide - but compared to the 50 million costs of which 20 million according to roumors went to Richard & Noni - 10 million each - it only made it costs. But even due to its faults I still like the movie....

[oinone]

“Welcome,” directed by Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman, Marie Antoinette, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People), also part of Glamour’s Reel Moments, stars Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands), John Hawkes (American Gangster) and Lexi Jourden (Two and a Half Men). The short tells how Bill (Hawkes), Cynthia (Ryder) and their daughter Alice (Jourden) move into a new house and find themselves confronted by an unexpected occupant. However, as they decide what to do, the young family learns that sometimes, living peacefully means learning how to get along with anyone—or anything…

[Gary]

Just what she needs. To be somehow associated with Bin Laden. Like she doesn't have enough people thinking weird things. I wonder why her of all people? Strange.

http://www.telegraph.co.u...den-and-Winona-Ryder.html


Airport face scanners 'cannot tell the difference between Osama bin Laden and Winona Ryder'

Airport face scanners designed to verify travellers' identity against their passport photographs are working at such a low level that they would be unable to tell the difference between Osama bin Laden and the actress Winona Ryder, it has been claimed.