December, 2005

Lack of News and site updates - Our web site will  move !!!

July 12, 2005

Black Snake Moan : The last news

Ricci's 'Prozac' finally gets delivered -- years later
The Kalamazoo Gazette -  July 01, 2005
By J. Sanford

Picture this: You're a fast-rising young actress who has finally garnered enough box office clout and racked up enough awards to get your dream project produced. At last you can bring Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir "Prozac Nation" to the screen in all its gloomy glory.

The movie premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September 2001. Early reviews are encouraging, particularly about your performance as the clinically depressed Wurtzel, a young writer who seems to have everything going for her, but can't get her act together.

Then, days after the movie debuts, the World Trade Center is destroyed and, shortly thereafter, Wurtzel gives an interview to the Toronto Globe and Mail that terrifies executives at Miramax, the studio that's getting ready to launch "Prozac."

New Yorker Wurtzel describes what she felt as she watched the towers collapse. "It was a most amazing sight in terms of sheer elegance. ... It just slid, like a turtleneck going over someone's head," the author is quoted as saying. Then she notes that afterward she "just felt, like, everyone was overreacting. People were going on about it. That part really annoyed me."

Wurtzel's comments (which she apparently and naively did not think would be picked up for publication outside of Canada) quickly leak into the American press. So now you're faced with a frightening challenge: How do you go out and sell a movie about someone nobody wants to know?

That was the situation faced by Christina Ricci, who co-produced and starred in "Prozac Nation," which was quickly shelved by Miramax. After more than three years in limbo, "Prozac" finally got its American premiere
on the Starz! Cable network last winter and it will be released on DVD Tuesday.

Even if Wurtzel had never made public her unusual observations about Sept. 11, "Prozac" would have had a difficult time at the box office. It's a well-made, but almost relentlessly downbeat portrait of self-destruction
-- it makes Winona Ryder's similar "Girl, Interrupted" look like "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" -- that most viewers will find difficult to sit through, much less appreciate.

Still, there's no denying that Ricci gave everything she had to this project, creating an incendiary performance that's startling in its starkness. She refuses to soften up the tart-tongued, often obnoxious Wurtzel, nor does she comfort the audience with little "Can you believe how nasty I am?" asides the way many actresses do when they're called upon to play unlikable characters.

Set in the mid-1980s, "Prozac" chronicles Elizabeth's downward spiral into drug abuse and depression as a freshman journalism student at Harvard. Although she wins awards for her music criticism and is courted by Rolling Stone, Elizabeth can't savor her success: She is paralyzed by writer's block and unable to hold on to friendships (with her kindly roommate, Ruby, played by Michelle Williams) or possible romances (with sympathetic Rafe, played by Jason Biggs).

Instead, she lashes out at everyone and everything in her universe in a series of scenes that all too accurately detail what it's like to deal with someone in the grips of an all-consuming, personality-poisoning illness. Elizabeth gets no sympathy from her pushy, neurotic mom (Jessica Lange, who is also quite good at showing abrasiveness), and she eventually alienates Ruby by "accidentally" seducing Ruby's boyfriend and turns off Rafe by making disgusting accusations about his relationship with his sister.

Director Erik Skjoldbjaerg (who made the original version of "Insomnia") presents these caustic encounters without much pity for the actors involved. The almost nonstop screaming, crying and outright awful behavior is admittedly hard to endure after awhile, but that's the point of the movie: Depression frequently makes its victims impossible to be around, even though what many of them desire most is emotional support and comfort.

On the page, "Prozac" often seemed like the self-absorbed rantings of a privileged princess. Although the movie doesn't exactly make Elizabeth embraceable, her condition is a bit easier to understand, thanks mostly to
Ricci's on-the-mark portrayal.

Wurtzel, for her part, has denounced the film as "horrible." In keeping with the spirit of the 1980s, perhaps the filmmakers could have sent her a copy of that New Wave classic by Holly and the Italians: "Tell That Girl
to Shut Up."

Source : The Kalamazoo Gazette

Documenting true life :
Oklahoma’s own The Flaming Lips release documentary, ‘Fearless Freaks’
Oklahoma State University - The Daily O'Collegian -  July 6, 2005
by Colin Fleishacker

Fake-blood smearing, costume-wearing Oklahomans The Flaming Lips have released “The Fearless Freaks,” a documentary portraying the band’s rise to cult-status superstardom in the underground music scene.

The director of the film, Bradley Beesley began documenting the group’s psychedelic adventures in 1991, shortly before the Lips released the hit single, “She Don’t Use Jelly.”

After nearly 15 years of filming, Beesley has finally released his emotionally-epic documentary to the public, allowing viewers inside the deepest annals of the band members’ lives.

“The Fearless Freaks” tells the story of founding members Wayne Coyne and Michael Ivins as they deal with the highs and lows of being in a successful indie-rock group.

Beesley’s camera displays brutally realistic moments that occurred throughout the latter part of the band’s career, such as their signing to Warner Bros. Records and the awe-inspiring “Fiery Freakout” concert, in which Coyne lit a cymbal on fire before beating it senselessly.

“The Fearless Freaks” contains footage both die-hard Flaming Lips fans and newcomers can enjoy. The documentary pulls the viewer into infamous experiments the band attempted while perfecting their sound, including car stereo concerts and audience-participating performances with boom boxes.

Coyne’s own film-in-progress, “Christmas on Mars,” is also discussed in Beesley’s documentary, which will star Christina Ricci and Adam Goldberg, as well as Coyne’s family and friends.

The protagonist for Coyne’s directorial debut is band member Steven Drozd, also a key figure in Beesley’s documentary. Drozd allows Beesley to capture his struggle with heroin on film, including the climax of the movie in which Drozd shoots up and then describes his descent into a drug-fueled lifestyle.

It is revealed later on in the film that Drozd was able to kick his addiction and carry on with The Flaming Lips as they continue to entertain and move audiences with their own unique brand of pop music.

“Fearless Freaks” is a wonderful documentary that reveals the soft underbelly of an inspiring group of musicians who attempted to change the face of music one album at a time with undeniable success.

If all you need is a little inspiration to help you realize your dreams are within arm’s reach, simply watch this documentary and thank me later. Even Oklahomans can achieve the impossible; just look at The Flaming Lips.

Source : The Daily O'Collegian

Ricci still upset by Gallo's attack
Contactmusic.com - Burley in Wharfdale,Ilkley,UK
June 27, 2005

CHRISTINA RICCI is still reeling from attacks BUFFALO 66 co-star VINCENT GALLO made on her when she was a teenager.

The 25-year-old actress was stunned when Gallo criticised her weight issues and accused of her being addicted to cough medicine.

She says, "He waited quite a few years before he slandered me, which I appreciated. (He said) some of the most horrific things I've ever heard said about myself. He said so many horrible things.

"He said that I was a 17-year-old who was addicted to cough syrup and that I was really fat. But I was 17 and I was not addicted to cough syrup."

Source : ContactMusic

RICCI GIVES UP ON PLUCKING EYEBROWS
Contactmusic.com - Burley in Wharfdale,Ilkley,UK
June 03, 2005

MONSTER star CHRISTINA RICCI has given up on plucking her eyebrows - because she finds the beauty regime "too high maintenance".

The brunette beauty has decided she now wants to have hairier eyebrows after years of plucking at them.

She says, "I was plucking my eyebrows like crazy for a while, but it was too high maintenance. So now I'm growing them back.

"I like that old movie star look, but my boyfriend was like, 'You look crazy.'"

Source : ContactMusic

Webmaster note (1) : Ms. Ricci, you have my total support in your decision !!!!   ;-)
Webmaster note (2) : You don't look crazy, you look very beautiful with hairier eyebrows !!!

CANTON, Mass. - Reebok (NYSE: RBK - News) announces today the newest celebrities to be featured in the brand's "I Am What I Am" global advertising campaign -- film favorites Christina Ricci and John Leguizamo, World Series winning Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, and NFL All-Pro Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. The stars perfectly embody Reebok's "I Am What I Am" brand position by being truly authentic individuals who have the confidence to simply be themselves. The multi-faceted campaign links all of the brand's marketing and advertising efforts under the "I Am What I Am" umbrella, and is supported by the company's largest advertising spend in nearly a decade.
Created by New York advertising agency mcgarrybowen, the "I Am What I Am" campaign encourages young people to embrace their own individuality by celebrating their contemporary heroes including music icons, athletes and entertainers. Ricci, Leguizamo, Schilling and McNabb are the newest members to join the Reebok "I Am What I Am" family which includes Lucy Liu, Allen Iverson, Kelly Holmes, Jay-Z, Yao Ming, Nicole Vaidisova, 50 Cent, Stevie Williams, Iker Casillas and many more.

Each execution in the latest "I Am What I Am" campaign gives the consumer a unique insight into Ricci, Leguizamo, Schilling and McNabb. "Reebok has definitely struck a chord with our 'I Am What I Am' brand message," said Brian Povinelli, Reebok's vice president of global integrated marketing. "Being aspirational and inspirational is key to the campaign's success. Christina, John, Curt and Donovan have intriguing stories to share and they truly embody our brand attributes of authenticity and individuality."

The "I Am What I Am" campaign launched globally in February, 2005 on TV, cinema, in key print publications and on billboards in target cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London and Tokyo. Shot by some of the world's best photographers, the print and billboard ads feature portrait shots and insightful quotes. The ads give each celebrity the opportunity to break through the fiction that surrounds their public persona.

This spring, to further support the movement to celebrate authenticity, Reebok will launch an online forum on http://www.rbk.com where consumers will have the opportunity to create their own "I Am What I Am" ads or nominate someone who they feel truly embodies the campaign message.

Reebok International Ltd., headquartered in Canton, MA, is a leading worldwide designer, marketer and distributor of sports, fitness and casual footwear, apparel and equipment under the Reebok, Rockport, CCM, KOHO, JOFA and Greg Norman Brands and footwear under the Polo Ralph Lauren Brand. Sales for 2004 totaled approximately $3.8 billion.

Would you like to help produce an IMAX film ? Filmmaker Nirvan Mullick has conceived the ultimate fundraiser, The 1 Second Film, and is looking for producers, executive producers and associate producers to help finance it. For as little as $1, your name could be in the credits up on the IMAX screen with celebrities such as Kevin Bacon, Pierce Brosnan, and Christina Ricci !!

The 1 Second Film is a nonprofit animated collaborative work. The central concept of this work is the idea of the perfect moment, since such moments of perfection are often few and fleeting. There are 12 giant frames. Each are painted with its own director and at an all night long event. The 12 frames are filmed twice to create a 24 framed 1 second piece. After it's premiered, the paintings will be on exhibit and sold to raise money for the Global Fund for Women, which is a nonprofit organization that supports women's human rights around the world.

The film climaxes with one second of a Woman's Orgasm.

Source : http://www.the1secondfilm.com/

Real life is entertainment for the masses
by Tyler Thompson published on Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Christina Ricci will have to lose 10 pounds to act the part of Terri Schiavo. The movie will recount Schiavo's early life when she struggled with bulimia, and her later years in a bedridden state, when she survived only with the aid of medical support (the current topic of legal, moral and political debate).

"Hope" will be the title of the Schiavo film. It will tell the tale of a woman who struggled with subconscious feelings about her weight when she was younger, once losing 100 pounds on a diet in high school. The movie will detail how Schiavo retained her slim and petite body only by vomiting.

In "Hope," the director will show -- through graphic animation -- how the loss of oxygen to Schiavo's brain after cardiac arrest caused her permanent damage. In role, Ricci will lie in a hospital bed for much of the movie. Like Schiavo, she'll be capable of reflexive actions like coughing and changing facial expressions, but without cognitive ability. But the movie will not remind us only of Schiavo, but also the right to die (or live, if you prefer).

Source : http://www.statepress.com/

Hipster irony and zany humor have largely been replaced with an abstract assortment of dark memories, current disappointments, and downright devilish prospects. The mood is bleak even as Beck rips out of the gate into a nostalgic scrapheap of rock guitars and salvaged beats on ''E-Pro," the album's lead track and first single. ''Que Onda Guera" is, quite literally, a walk through the barrio, where Beck -- still on the outside looking in -- plays geeky white boy over recorded traffic noises, the shouts of vegetable vendors, and snippets of Spanglish conversation. We get ambient bossa nova (''Missing"), narcotic R&B (''Earthquake Weather"), broken-down country blues (''Farewell Ride"), and itchy dance raps (''Black Tambourine" and ''Hell Yes," featuring a kitschy uncredited cameo by Christina Ricci).

Source : The Boston Globe

February 28, 2005

'Prozac Nation': A Prescription for Trouble
By KATE AURTHUR / Published: February 27, 2005

Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir "Prozac Nation" - about sex, drugs and depression at Harvard - certainly seemed like good material for a movie. So a movie was made. Next month, nearly five years later, that movie will be shown to the public on the Starz pay-cable network, which licensed it from Miramax. Does Starz swear that "Prozac Nation" will finally appear? "It will be on March 19," said Stephan Shelanski, the Starz senior vice president of acquisitions. Pinkie swear? "We have the physical materials in-house, and we're going to play it."

SEPTEMBER 1994
"Prozac Nation" is published. Ken Tucker writes in The New York Times, "It would be possible to have more sympathy for Ms. Wurtzel if she weren't so exasperatingly sympathetic to herself." Despite such reviews, it sells well, and Ms. Wurtzel is credited with capturing a certain (blue) segment of Generation X.

NOVEMBER 1998
After the book is optioned several times - at one point, the actress Mare Winningham wants to direct - Galt Niederhoffer, a producer and writer, obtains the rights and Christina Ricci (at left above, with Michelle Williams) eventually joins the project.

MAY-JULY 2000
The movie, directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg ("Insomnia"), is filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, with Ms. Ricci, Jason Biggs, Jessica Lange and Anne Heche.

SEPTEMBER 2001
Three days before the Sept. 11 attacks, "Prozac Nation" bows at the Toronto Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter says it ends "any doubts that Christina Ricci is one of the most interesting, resourceful and hugely watchable young actresses of her generation." Variety says her character "spends most of her time making life miserable for everyone around her, but there's little reason the public should have to pay for the same privilege."

OCTOBER 2001
Miramax buys the distribution rights. The Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein says: " 'Prozac Nation' is a very powerful, emotional film with amazing performances by this outstanding cast. We are thrilled to be distributing it."

FEBRUARY 2002
Ms. Wurtzel talks to The Toronto Globe and Mail about the Sept. 11 attacks: "I just felt, like, everyone was overreacting. People were going on about it. That part really annoyed me."

MAY 2002
The release is moved for the first time, to December 2002.

MARCH 2003
Ms. Ricci appears on the cover of Psychology Today to promote the movie. A new release date of March 14 comes and goes.

JUNE 2003
A June 6 release is missed. The film is moved, vaguely, to the "fourth quarter."

SEPTEMBER 2003
Ms. Ricci tells Entertainment Weekly she is resigned to the delays. Mr. Biggs says, "I just don't know that the center of the story is a very endearing and likable character."

NOVEMBER 2003
A New York Times article quotes Ms. Wurtzel as saying, "As you should have figured out by now, it's a horrible movie." In the same article, a Miramax spokesman attributes the initial delays to Ms. Wurtzel's comments about Sept. 11.
(Webmaster note : A petition was created requesting Mirarax to release the movie)

APRIL 2004
The next release date announced by Miramax comes and ... nope.

FEBRUARY 2005
Miramax announces that it has sold "Prozac Nation" to Starz. Miramax can sell the DVD rights a few months after the broadcast. Foreign DVD's are available on eBay but may have unremovable Chinese subtitles.

Source : The New York Times

PROZAC NATION (USA, 2005, R, 1h39m) US Theatrical Premiere Engagement! PROZAC NATION had its world festival premiere at Toronto International Film Festival the weekend before September 11, 2001. The one-week run starting March 4, 2005, at Starz FilmCenter in Denver is the film's first full theatrical enagement in the U.S.

Showtimes :
Starts Fri Mar 4, 2005, daily at (4:50) and 7:20 plus additional weekend times, through Thu Mar 10

Exclusive at Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, 9th & Auraria, Denver, 303-820-FILM

$5.50 Denver Film Society member; $6.50 student, senior; $8.50 non-member ($6.50 non-member before 6:00pm)

Source : Starz Filmcenter  

February 10, 2005

Prozac Nation News

Miramax sealed a deal this week to send "Prozac Nation," the movie adaptation of the controversial bestseller, to John Malone's Starz! pay TV network.

Source : Variety.com

Christina Ricci on "Joey"

Drea de Matteo (Emmy winner, "The Sopranos") says Christina Ricci will be joining Joey as the sister of the Tribbiani siblings. Christina Ricci will appear in an upcoming episode of NBC's Joey. She'll be Mary Teresa, little sister of Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Gina (Drea de Matteo).

Sources : USA Today

January 31, 2005

Cursed Screenings

ComingSoon.net and Dimension Films have teamed up to give away passes (each good for 2 people) for screenings of Cursed. The thriller, from "Scream" creators Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, opens in theaters on February 22. The screenings will take place on Thursday, February 17 in Houston and San Antonio, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The screenings are only open to residents of the four cities and to those who live within a 50 mile radius. Only one entry per family is permitted, multiple entries by the same person/family will be discarded. Entrants are not guaranteed a pass. Seating at the screening is on a first come, first serve basis. ComingSoon.net and Dimension Films are not responsible for a lost pass and will under no circumstance replace a pass.

Go to Comingsoon.net Screenings and get your pass !!! The number of pass are limited !!!

Source : Comingsoon.net Screenings