The Screengrab : new york i love you

Scarlett Johansson: The Unkindest Cut

Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Scarlett Johansson has the best boobs in Hollywood, according to a (no doubt very scientific) poll conducted by Access Hollywood. But that’s not the sort of news we report here at the Screengrab. No, no, no, we’re above that sort of thing here, which is probably why we’re doomed. What matters to us is what appears on the screen – or in this case, what disappears. You see, Ms. Johansson’s long-awaited directorial debut will have its premiere on the cutting room floor.

“The 24-year-old star of The Black Dahlia and Vicky Cristina Barcelona shot a segment for New York, I Love You, a series of linked love stories directed by different people, including Natalie Portman and Brett Ratner,” according to the Daily Mail. “But her episode, shot in black and white and starring Kevin Bacon, was 'unwatchable,' sources told the New York Post.”

Unwatchable! Now there’s a word that makes my eyes well with tears of pride. The film’s producer, Emmanuel Benbihy, has a much more diplomatic explanation for the excision of Scarlett’s segment. “The story did not specifically involve an interpersonal relationship, and it was conceptualised to be filmed in black and white – both of which were extreme departures from the other films… Scarlett presented me with an extremely compelling, albeit unconventional, narrative that appeared as though it would not necessarily conform to the overall approach of the entire collective.”

All is not lost, however. The Johansson short will appear on the DVD release of New York, I Love You. And we’ll always have her boobs.

Cannes 2008: Meet the Jury!

Paul Clark — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Yesterday, The Screengrab was the 152nd blog on the web to post the Competition slate for next month's Cannes Film Festival. But before you start predicting the winners sight unseen, we suggest you get to know the members of the Competition jury. That way you'll know whose names to curse when your favorite filmmaker gets smoked by some little-known furriner whose name you can't pronounce.

This year's Cannes Competition Jury:

Sean Penn (Jury President) is a filmmaker of some note, directing four films since his 1990 debut, The Indian Runner. His most recent film is the memorably Oscar-snubbed Into the Wild. When not behind the camera, Penn is also known for his political and charitable work, which has taken him to Iran and to the post-Katrina New Orleans. Penn has also been known to act on occasion.

Sergio Castellitto has appeared in several films in Competition, including 2001's Va Savoir and 2002's The Religion Hour (My Mother's Smile). Once referred to by Screengrab favorite Mike D'Angelo as "maybe the most underrated thesp alive," he also starred in the popular Mostly Martha, better known as No Reservations, Except Good. Castellitto has also directed two features, including the 2004 film Don't Move, in which he exercised his director's clout in order to give himself several love scenes with Penelope Cruz.

Natalie Hershlag, alternately known as Natalie Portman, made her big-screen debut at age 13 in Luc Besson's The Professional, sometimes referred to as Léon by various talkbackers on Ain't It Cool News. Since that time, she has become one of the most sought-after actresses of her generation, particularly among horny fanboys who despair that she will never get completely naked onscreen. Hershlag is set to make her directorial debut in this year's omnibus film New York, I Love You, where her short film will appear alongside new works by such acclaimed filmmakers as Brett Ratner and Scarlett Johansson. She also wants you to know that the Shins will totally change your life.

Alfonso Cuaron first gained international critical attention with his 1995 film A Little Princess, and subsequent films like Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men have proven him a formidable talent (he also allegedly made a low-budget adaptation of a little-known English fantasy novel, but no one knows what became of this). In 2006, his high-profile friendship with fellow Mexican filmmakers Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu let to the trio briefly becoming known as "The Three Amigos" for several months before they were sued by Chevy Chase, Martin Short and Steve Martin.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul has such a long name that I run the risk of hitting my character limit simply by typing it. Luckily for me, he prefers to simply be called "Joe." Joe has garnered widespread critical acclaim for his whimsical, magical-realist films, which include Mysterious Object at Noon, Blissfully Yours, and Syndromes and a Century. His 2004 film Tropical Malady won the Jury Prize at Cannes, and Roger Ebert called the film "a meditation on portentous but incoherent themes." By which we're guessing he meant "awesome."

Alexandra Maria Lara, a ravishing Romanian who moved to Germany at age 4, made her movie debut at 16. However, the role that brought her international acclaim came in 2004's Downfall, in which she portrayed Hitler's personal secretary Traudl Junge. Since then, she costarred in Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth and in last year's Ian Curtis biopic Control, where she met current boyfriend Sam Riley (isn't that cute?). Lara will next appear in Stephen Daldry's The Reader, as well as taking a supporting role in Spike Lee's WWII drama Miracle at St. Anna, a role you won't find out about by looking her up on IMDb.

Rachid Bouchareb is a French director-producer who last appeared at Cannes with his 2006 drama Days of Glory. In addition to his own films, he has also produced the work of numerous other filmmakers, including all four features to date by Bruno Dumont. Sorry, I have nothing humorous to say about this guy.

So there you have it. Seven jury members, down from nine last year. How will they vote? Will Penn insist on a political bent, or at least something appeals to his artier side? Will Cuaron stump for his fellow Latin Americans? Which Bouchareb will show up- the one who directed the rousing WW2 or the guy who produces Bruno Dumont movies? Will Joe gravitate to fellow talking-primate lover Charlie Kaufman? Will the paparazzi devote most of their attention to Portman and Lara (yes, they will)? Let the blind prognosticating commence in 5, 4, 3...

"Elizabeth" Director Picks Up the Gauntlet for Anthony Minghella

Phil Nugent — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Before his untimely death last week, Anthony Minghella had signed on to contribute a segment to New York, I Love You, an anthology film consisting of short films designed as tributes to the city and its romantic possibilities, along the lines of the recent Paris, Je T'Aime. Now Shekhar Kapur, the director of Bandit Queen and the Elizabeth films starring Cate Blanchett, has announced that he will step in for Minghella, directing the script that Minghella had prepared for his segment. On his own website, Kapur wrote that "I will direct the film with Anthony in my heart and in presence of his soul," adding, "He told me his film was about the value of life, and how people sometimes just throw away their lives unable to look beyond into the real beauty of it." Kapur says that Minghella spoke with him about the project before he entered the hospital where he died of a cerebral hemorrhage after surgery. The movie is also scheduled to include work by Mira Nair, Allen Hughes, Fatih Akin (Head-On), Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return), Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace), and, in their directorial debuts, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.

Morning Deal Report: Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen in "The Road"

Peter Smith — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:30:00 GMT

With No Country for Old Men topping many a critic's list, the next Cormac McCarthy adaptation is just around the corner; Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen are set to star in the film version McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel The Road.

Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen are both contributing to New York, I Love You, an anthology film along the lines of Paris je t'aime, which collected twelve stories of love in Paris by major directors. But apparently Johansson will be directing her own segment, not starring in Allen's.

With Harry Potter 6 still to come, debate (among fans, if not filmmakers) rages over whether Harry Potter 7 should be one film or two.