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12/31/01:
We apologize for the delay since the last update. In the wake of
the events of September 11th, we found ourselved caught up in other activities
and have only recently been able to get back to updating the page.
We would like to express our sympathies for those who have suffered that
day.
September 11th also had a deleterious effect on the production of Daria & Jane. The day of the attacks, production shut down with the rest of the country. That day and the days immediately following many in Hollywood scrambled to deal with the situation. Many films which figured the World Trade Center, such as Spider-Man and Men in Black 2, were set to be modified. Others with themes that were considered uncomfortable at the time, such as The Last Castle, had their release dates delayed. Daria & Jane, with its megalomaniac out to take over the world and its setting in New York, was uncomfortable enough at the time, and with the production already something of a nightmare, within days of the attack it was decided to cancel the production.
| Many were overjoyed by the end of the
series, particularly the Cinematic Afficionados National Antridegradation
Association (CANADA) and Charlton Heston. Heston, who became upset
by the presense of Sarah Polley on the production, in early September was
making considerable noise about her. Few people will forget his appearance
on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he denounced Polley not only
as a socialist and for her protesting activities, but also for her movies.
He seemed particularly upset about The Sweet Hereafter, in which
she played a teenager who was committing incest with her father but regarding
which the film did nothing to condemn. Following the tirades, Blockbuster
reported an increase in rentals of The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica,
The
Claim, and Guinevere.
So what? Every day there's someone somehwere who's angry
at me.
Having one of those reds in a position to influence our children
is unthinkable.
Isn't red one of the colors of the American flag?
|
Sarah Polley (left) and Jennifer Love Hewitt at an awards show |
Jennifer Love Hewitt Still, you can say to yourself, "At least I wasn't some stupid,
fawning girl who only said what she was supposed to say and dressed the
way she was supposed to. At least I didn't do that."
|
By now most of you not living in caves
have heard of the fuss being made over one of Dreamworks's current projects
in the works, The Guns of the South. Based on the book by
Harry Turtledove, the alternative-history thriller is premised around mysterious
strangers supplying the Confederate States of America with AK-47s to change
the outcome of the American Civil War. The film is supposed to contain
graphic depictions of the horrors of slavery and war. The subject
matter of the film has provoked comments, both for and against, from everyone
from politicians to white supremacist groups to Louis Farrakhan.
The Daughters of the Confederacy wants Dreamworks to cancel the project,
saying the portrayal of the CSA in the book is unfair. (Interestingly,
some historians have complained that the book portrays the CSA as being
too progressive.) Steven Spielberg (A.I., Schindler's List, Amistad)
is set to direct. Several actors have expressed interest in appearing
in it, and at this time William H. Macy appears to be the favorite to portray
Robert E. Lee. Also cast at this time is Hewitt in the role of Molly
Bean, a woman who disguised herself as a man and served in the Confederate
Army. Unthinkable for her a year ago, Hewitt reportedly blew away
her competitors during auditions. The film is now in preproduction
and is scheduled to be released next winter.
This is not Gone with the Wind. There will be no
glorifying people who should be condemned. It is time to see this
period without the romanticism, how ugly it really was--and how ugly the
people who romanticized it really were.
|
8/19/01:
A considerable number of actors have been in the news lately. According
to mainstream entertainment news sources, Leonardo DiCaprio ("Jesse" in
Daria
and Daria 2) has signed a deal with Initial Entertainment Group
that allows his production group, Appian Way, to get financing and first
dibs on potential projects Dicaprio can star in. DiCaprio will serve
as Appian Way's CEO (God help them). Pauly Shore ("Butt-Head" in
the same two movies) reportedly will be starring in a semiautobiographical
film titled You'll Never Wiez in This Town Again, apparently in
an attempt to jump-start his career which has stalled despite being in
two movies with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Jean Claude Van-Damme ("Buzzcut"
in the upcoming Daria & Jane) was recently at Harrod's department
store in London, England to announce the launching of his new line of jeans,
"Dammage7."
| Most people who are not in comas these
days are aware of the phenomenal success of Tim Burton's (Beetlejuice,
Pee-Wee's
Big Adventure,
Batman) remake of the classic Planet of the
Apes. Having great makeup effects, the film sucks in almost every
other way, so much so that we do not feel the slightest bit of guilt revealing
that at the end of the film is shown the Lincoln Memorial with the face
on Abraham Lincoln's statue replaced with that of an ape. The film
stars Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, The Perfect
Storm,
Fear), who portrayed Tommy Sherman in the first two Daria
live-action films. Some members of the Cinematic Aficionados National
Antidegredation Association (CANADA) have been so appalled by Burton's
"reimagining" that there has been one protest rally and several sharply
worded letters to Burton asking him to stop making such garbage.
The Planet of the Apes remake also has Charlton Heston, who appeared in the original, much better film, in a cameo. Heston was also supposed to have a small role in Daria & Jane as "Hank Anderson," signing on back when James Cameron was set to direct. Now, according to "Toady Two Shoes," he appears to have bailed. During the marathon viewing of the original Daria cartoon series being held by Reese Witherspoon ("Stacy"), Heston showed once to consult about his character. He was introduced to the people present, one of those people being forced to excuse herself before the introduction was made. Heston asked "Who's she? She doesn't look famous." Witherspoon replied that she was Sarah Polley, a Canadian actress who wouldn't be appearing in the film but would be on the set as an acting coach, evading the subject of why she felt she had to leave entirely. When Heston left, Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") and Christina Ricci ("Jane") got stuck on the subject of Heston's controversial views. Ryan Phillipe was eventually forced to break up the discussion by doing a bad impression of Heston, starting with the line "Soylent Green is made of dirty apes! They're dirty apes!" |
Tim Roth (left) strangles Mark Wahlberg in Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, perhaps for bad acting. Picture courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox. |
Heston, meanwhile, looked up who Polley was, and when he found out he was furious. In a call to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Heston refused to "work on the same set as that goddamn Red" and demanded she be barred from the set. Bruckheimer did his best to calm Heston down and went immediately to see Ricci, whose deal to appear in Daria & Jane includes the provision for Polley to be Hewitt's acting coach. Ricci responded that Hewitt had made amazing progress under Polley's instruction and refused to budge. Bruckheimer was forced to go back to Heston without a concession, at which point Heston threw a tantrum and refused to appear at all in the film. Whether Heston can be reconciled to working anywhere near Polley is unclear at this time, though "Snazzy17" reports hearing Bruckheimer already has Steve Buscemi (Armageddon, Con Air, Ghost World) lined up to take over the role.
"ImperialSexWax" reports another incident that does not bode well for avoiding the feuds among the actors. The incident occurred two days ago when Sarah Michelle Gellar (Cruel Intentions, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2) made a visit to the set where the actors were doing a read-through of the current version of the script. Although she supposedly is not in the film (she appeared in Daria 2 as Tanqueray after Britney Spears refused to appear), her fiancée, Freddie Prinze, Jr. ("Skyler") is, and she came for her first visit. When she found him, he was talking to "this voluptuous brunette," which greatly displeased her. Approaching, Prinze greeted her and introduced the woman, Christina Ricci. Ricci, as it happens, had been talking to Prinze about his father, the late comedian Freddie Prinze (Chico and the Man), and displayed enough knowledge about him to embarrass Gellar about how little the latter knew of him. Ricci then excused herself, explaining she wanted to look on how Jennifer Love Hewitt was doing, noting she had made considerable progress. Gellar questioned Prinze about Ricci but apparently he only knew her from The Addams Family and was only trying to be friendly. Gellar ended up saying something like "That woman gives me the creeps" and looking angry enough to chew steel. "ImperialSexWax" notes that Gellar has been jealous lately since Tori Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210, Scary Movie 2) made some some rather blatant overtures towards Prinze.
Meanwhile, the rewriting of the script has taken a setback. "DadinagasDaddio" reports that Witherspoon and Phillipe's 2-year-old daughter, Ava, was recently rushed to an emergency room with what turned out to be influenza. While Ava recovered, Witherspoon, who had taken charge of the rewrites, spent most of her time with her daughter. Her costar Alyson Hannigan ("Tiffany") has done some work on the script, but most of it is still not to their satisfaction. Hannigan herself has been distracted by her involvement with promotional activities related to her latest movie American Pie 2, a gross-out comedy in which she returns to the role in which she uttered those immortal words "Say my name, bitch!"
| Filming is set to begin this week on a scene which flashes back to before the first movie. The filming will involve cameos by comedians Ben Stiller ("Keith") and Janeane Garofalo ("Amy"), who appeared in the first Daria movie as the title character's parents, as well as a small part by Hewitt. The "basement of doom" scene is one of the few scenes cleared so far by Witherspoon, Hannigan, and Christina Ricci, who is now being called "the one with mysterious powers over Jerry Bruckheimer" (among other things derogatory to Bruckheimer that would be severely indecent to repeat). Though Hewitt has the smallest part, "Snazzy17" and "Spaz" report she has been very anxious lately, sometimes to the point of hyperventilating, now that she'll have to demonstrate some real acting ability on film. Hewitt's "coach" Sarah Polley has been spending extra time with her, more to reassure her than to work on her acting at this point. "Pat22" claims that Hewitt has approached Garofalo and Stiller for help in getting through the scene. Polley's services are apparently in demand, with "Snazzy17" reporting that Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Upchuck") being so impressed with Hewitt's progress that he has asked her for help with his own role. There is no word if she has agreed yet. |
From left to right: Kel Mitchell, Paul Rubens, William H. Macy, a skull in a transparent bowling ball, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, and Hank Azaria in Mystery Men, one of several films in which Stiller and Garofalo appear together. Picture courtesy of Universal Pictures. |
8/1/01:
Word has reached us on the specific direction in which Reese Witherspoon
("Stacy") wants to take her rewriting of Daria & Jane.
According to "Snazzy17", "Spaz", and many others, she wants "to recapture
the spirit of the original cartoon series." To this end, she had
a week-long viewing at her place of all 68 episodes of Daria (the
original series), and including the never-finished pilot ("Sealed with
a Kick") and the two cartoon movies (Is It Fall Yet? and the still
incomplete Is It College Yet?), all the time taking a large volume
of notes. Most of the principal cast sat in on the viewing at some
point. Most frequently there was Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria"),
who was seeing the series for the first time for more than a few seconds;
during breaks, she practiced speaking in a monotone and being sarcastic,
much to the approval of her "acting coach" Sarah Polley. Christina
Ricci ("Jane") was somewhat annoyed about how the character of Jane had
been warped by the previous cinematic writers and asked for more clever
lines of her own; she also expressed shock at the total lack of the sexual
interest between Daria and Jane that pervaded the first two live-action
movies. At points Hewitt and Ricci began imitating their cartoon
avatars, sometimes getting disturbingly good. Denise Richards ("Sandi")
claimed to be irritated about the cartoon version of Sandi, but refused
to elaborate. Alyson Hannigan ("Tiffany") was present most of the
time, and told Witherspoon on no uncertain terms that "if you base my character
on this idiot [the cartoon version of Tiffany], I will kill you."
Jonathan Taylor Thomas ( "Upchuck") was fascinated by the cartoon version
of his character and took to leering at all the females in the room, growling,
and saying "Ooh! Feisty!" After watching "Fair Enough" (episode
210)--and too much irritation from Thomas--Richards tried reenacting the
scene where Sandi knees Upchuck, but to her disappointment, Thomas failed
to collapse to the floor; having seen Daria (the original series)
before, he had taken the precaution of wearing an cup. Wes Bentley
("Tom") asked a few times, "Is Tom supposed to be this dull?" and asked
for elaboration. Freddie Prinze, Jr. ("Skyler") showed and stayed
through much of the viewing, even though his character appeared in only
one episode. There was considerable discussion as to who Daria's
soul-mate really was, Hewitt favoring Trent, Polley and Ricci favoring
Tom, Hannigan favoring Jane, and Witherspoon refusing to speculate.
Hewitt: (deadpan) Wonderful. A triumph for the cinema.
Ricci: Don't beat around the bush. What did you really think of Armageddon?
Hewitt: It was the most moving experience ever. How could we ever question Jerry's genius?
Ricci: Must be sheer foolishness on our part.
Hewitt: We must now rent Top Gun and Coyote Ugly so we can bask in his glory.
Ricci: Fine, but you're springing for the barf bags.
Hannigan: Stop it, you two. You're starting to scare me.
Thomas: I like it! Rowr! Feisty!
--Dialogue from the viewing, according to "Snazzy17"
Given the viewing took place at Witherspoon's home, viewing was sometimes interrupted by the need to attend to her toddler Ava, who took a liking to Prinze and spoke only in British English (complete with accent). Witherspoon's husband, actor Ryan Philippe (Antitrust, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions) was also frequently present, sometimes caring for Ava and adding his own critical comments. Also present during the viewing on a few occasions was director Ridley Scott, who came by to see how the script was going. He did not seem to care for the cartoon, often making critical remarks about how the shots were set up and the quality of the animation. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer never showed but called frequently, reminding Witherspoon shooting would begin in mid-August and the script would have to be ready by then; Witherspoon's ideas were typically met with scorn by Bruckheimer, who would then be handed over to Ricci to be reminded of who had script approval.
With the viewing completed, Witherspoon has since been busy working on revising the script. Hannigan has joined her during the revision, having come up with several good lines and ways of adapting material from the cartoons into the script. The revised version is expected to be completed shortly.
Aside from all this, Disney is now courting Witherspoon to play the central character in Sweet Home Alabama, a romantic comedy about a woman in rural Alabama who leaves home and husband to live on her own in New York City, rising through the social strata, only to find her past still haunting her. The main issue at the moment is reportedly how much Witherspoon will be paid; considering how well Legally Blonde is doing, she is demanding between $4,000,000 to $5,000,000
Meanwhile, rumors are now surfacing on
Leonardo Dicaprio ("Jesse" in
Daria and Daria 2) fan-sites
that he is claiming now claiming that the foot he recently injured playing
basketball was really broken by "some crazed blond Canuck bitch."
7/24/01:
Many strange rumors have popped up recently. To begin, it has been
widely reported that Tom Cruise ("Wind") is now dating Penélope
Cruz (Blow, All the Pretty Horses, Belle Epoque),
who he met during the filming of the upcoming film Vanilla Sky.
We have no idea what the significance of this is, but at least their last
names match.
Unlike Cruise, who seems to be making news mostly over his mysterious breakup with Nicole Kidman and his new relationship with Cruz, Reese Witherspoon ("Stacy") is making news for acting--and not just for the currently playing Legally Blonde. Even before Legally Blonde was out in theaters, shooting had wrapped up in London for another film she had starred in, The Importance of Being Earnest, based on an enjoyable play by Oscar Wilde. Since Witherspoon is discriminating about which films she will appear in, this is a very good sign on her part. Her streak of weird movies will continue with Honey West, in which she will play a woman who inherits the family private-eye business; her business card is supposed to list her physical measurements (38-24-36). Though there was a TV series by the same title in 1965 (which might lead one to light up the old-TV-show-movie-remake danger signal [and if there's any doubt that such a signal exists, just watch the excruciating The Beverly Hillbillies]), there is a concerted effort to hearken back to the original series of pulp fiction novels by Skip Fickling. Witherspoon has even met with Fickling's widow, Glori, who inspired the title character. The new film will be set in the present day and be style of Charlie's Angels.
In the mean time, several of our informants
report that Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") is spending much of her time
alone, either being coached by Sarah Polley or practicing by herself.
"DirkDiggler69" claims to have seen Hewitt wandering around Los Angeles,
dressed very plainly and without makeup, almost unrecognizable; it was
suggested this was an exercise in not being her usual self. Polley
herself, according to "Snazzy17," has been preoccupied by the recent G8
summit in Genoa, Italy, which like the Québec City summit, had heads
of state sequestered away from protesters by means of walls and police,
and at which clashes between protesters and police have gotten nasty.
Reportedly Polley and Hewitt have been discussing the protests between
coaching sessions. Polley has shared her Québec experiences,
even showing Hewitt her gas mask to help her understand what the protesters
in Genoa have been going through. Hewitt even asked questions about
what would happen now that de-facto President of the United States George
W. Bush had withdrawn from the Kyoto Accords on limiting the emissions
of greenhouse gasses.
| Further details have emerged about the writing troubles on the set of Daria & Jane, which is still officially quiet. According to "CrazyNumbersHeadMan" and "Snazzy17," last week (15th) producer Jerry Bruckheimer met with several actors dissatisfied with the increasing stupidity in successive versions of the script; the actors were said to include Christina Ricci ("Jane"), Wes Bentley ("Tom"), Witherspoon, Hewitt, Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Upchuck"), and Alyson Hannigan ("Tiffany"). "CrazyNumbersHeadMan" suggested that Freddie Prinze, Jr. ("Skyler") expressed some interest in attending to Ricci but it is unclear if he showed. Polley attempted to join the meeting but was forcibly barred by studio security under Bruckheimer's orders. Bruckheimer tried speaking of the film being "high-concept" (i.e., highly simplistic) and needing to be "free of irrelevancies" (i.e., good dialogue, character development, a sensible plot, etc.), but the actors would have none of it. There was considerable arguing for some time to no end. The turning point was when Witherspoon requested that she be allowed to rewrite the script, presenting a copy which she had already "annotated." Bruckheimer's reaction was to say something about her not worrying her "pretty, little head" and to work on memorizing her lines. That was when Ricci slapped down a copy of her contract and pointed out how she had control over rewrites to make her own character look cool. She then argued that her character could not look cool in a moronic film and let Bruckheimer complete the line of reasoning. Bentley then suggested that if they did not get their way soon, Polley would probably find a reporter on her own and make the conflict very public. The actors soon departed for a nearby bar to celebrate, having won virtually free reign over the dialogue and excision of any material they find offensive. |
Jerry Bruckheimer |
7/15/01:
Preproduction is underway on Daria & Jane (formerly
Daria
3: Fashion Never Dies). "DirkDiggler69" has reported that
most of the major outdoor locations have been scouted out in New York City,
Las Vegas, and Toronto, and sets are being built in a Los Angeles sound-stage.
Many of the principal cast are in training for the fighting sequences.
Both Christina Ricci ("Jane") and Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") are participating
in the training, neither of them showing any of the hostility that plagued
the first two installments. Hewitt especially seemed subdued, at
least when she was not engaged in punching or kicking.
| Mainstream entertainment news sources
report more additions have been made to the cast. Janeane Garofalo
(The Matchmaker, Dogma,
Reality Bites) and Ben Stiller
(Mystery Men, There's Something About Mary, The Suburbans),
who appeared in the first installment as Daria's parents, will be returning
to appear in a flashback. Some of Jane's family will be appearing
as well, with Shannen Doherty (Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed,
Mallrats)
appearing as her sister Penny and Tom Cruise (Magnolia,
Endless
Love, Eyes Wide Shut) as her brother Wind. Cruise, who
in the past few months has had a very noisy breakup with his wife Nicole
Kidman (Moulin Rouge,
Practical Magic, Batman Forever),
has most recently made the news for shaving his head for his next movie,
Steven Spielberg's Minority Report. There is no news if Cruse
will bring his new look to Daria & Jane.
I just want to say that I look forward to making one kick-ass
appearance in this film.
|
|
There was one additional condition which Disney/Touchstone was initially reluctant about but ultimately agreed to (probably because they were getting Ricci at such a bargain): Hewitt will have an "assistant" who will get full access to the set, "no matter how much it annoys Ridley Scott or Jerry Bruckheimer or anyone else." The title of this person is misleading, especially considering who it will be. According to "89Rover2002" (who claims to have gotten the story from Hewitt's housekeeper), during the week or so that Hewitt was in seclusion, Ricci made at least one visit to the Hewitt residence, where she initially did not recognize her. During a break from working out the terms they would present to Disney, Ricci questioned Hewitt about why she was "not her cheery self." Hewitt was initially hesitant to discuss the subject outside of Polley's "inspiration," but with a little prodding it eventually came out that the Hewitt the public knew was an act. Hewitt had been told at an early age (by whom was unspecified) that men's interest in her would lead to popularity, and there was a certain way to dress and act to get men's interest. Ricci, noting how the "unpackaged" Hewitt looked so ordinary, remarked she must have been a better actor than anyone realized to make so many men think she was almost a supermodel. That was when Ricci made the proposal: to have Hewitt, under supervision, work on her acting, getting her to do the role "directly" rather than filtered through the ingrained act of being a bimbo. Hewitt and Ricci together did a little coaxing, guilt-tripping, and made mention of how improved Milla Jovovich was in The Claim just from whom she had been around. And that is why next month when the filming for Daria & Jane begins, Hewitt will coached on the set by none other than Sarah Polley.
Many of our informants report that there has been a revolt against producer Jerry Bruckheimer among some of the actors. "Snazzy17" claims that many of the principal cast severely dislike the current version of the script written by Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeffrey "J. J." Abrams to the point of threatening a walkout. Christina Ricci ("Jane") and Wes Bentley ("Tom") are reportedly to be among the most vocal of the dissenters. Supposedly the script has reached an advanced state of stupidity that is typical of a Bruckheimer film. Daria has been made into an idiotic piece of eye candy who stands around for two hours screaming and whining. The presence of an African-American character whose sole purpose was to scream obscenities whenever things went wrong is also said to have given offense. (This is the nice phrasing. "15min" gave us a description which, if we posted, we would risk having our site forcibly removed from the server.) Bruckheimer, in an extremely foul mood, is said to be meeting with the dissenting actors today to discuss the problem.
Bruckheimer is also reportedly facing opposition from director Ridley Scott, who according to "Snazzy17" and "DirkDiggler69" hates the current version of the script as much as the revolting actors. Scott and Bruckheimer have been seen in at least one shouting match over script revisions. Scott favors going back to earlier versions of the script, closer to the treatment written by James Cameron, where there was some semblance of plot and character development. Higher-ups at Disney/Touchstone seem content at the moment to let the two fight it out among themselves.
Last Friday (13th) the movie Legally Blonde opened in theaters. Starring Reese Witherspoon, the film depicts Elle Woods, a young woman in a sorority who is dumped by her boyfriend because he doesn't consider her an asset to his future political aspirations. Upset, she manages to get into Harvard Law School and follows him there. Critics generally have complained that the plot is rather standard and predictable; we would have to say that the writing is about a notch or two above that of the recent Heartbreakers. Unlike Jennifer Love Hewitt, Witherspoon brings enthusiasm and gusto to her role, making the movie watchable and fun rather than the dull, stupid wreck it could have been. We hope this bodes well for the upcoming Daria & Jane, in which she will be reprising her role of Stacy from the first movie.
7/8/01:
Mainstream entertainment news sources report that on July 3rd, a tentative
agreement was reached between the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation
of Television and Radio Artists, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers. The three-year agreement is supposed to address
such issues as residuals and increasing pay for "middle-class" actors who
earn $30,000 to $75,000 a year. This effectively eliminates the possibility
of an actors strike, which means the chances of Daria 3: Fashion
Never Dies going down in the midst of preproduction Hell are significantly
lessened. In the words of "Fluffy," "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!"
I think we have focused on the middle-class actor, who has needed
some relief and help to be able to live a life in this industry, and we
have done that.
--William Daniels, SAG president, July
3rd, 2001
| By all accounts, the past
week has been unusual. During that time Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria")
has remained mostly secluded at home, leading to speculation about what
is happening to her. "Tommy" claimed to have heard that someone was
staying over with her during that time, probably a friend. Entertainment
news sources such as the National Inquirer have mentioned "mysterious
visitors," most of whom took pains to keep their identities secret.
The one exception mentioned was an unidentified "blond woman who looks
like she shops at the Gap," who has been seen coming and going several
times.
Two days ago "the Gap woman" was credited in the incident which got attention of Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood. (Some of the details of the below were provided by "Cassius199" where the mainstream reports were lacking.) Since Hewitt's very public breakdown last week, a small group of tabloid photographers and reporters have camped out near the Hewitt residence, sometimes getting rather close and obnoxious. More than a few times the Gap woman has been seen at windows with binoculars, looking back at photographers with telephoto lenses. Finally two days ago Hewitt emerged from the building, still sporting a "wild" look that has been compared to Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day or Lara Croft strung out on drugs. Hewitt approached the reporters, who immediately gathered around and barraged her with questions. Hewitt finally got out something like, "Look, I don't care, it doesn't matter, so could you all just leave?" The reporters failed to leave, so Hewitt sighed and resignedly began to answer questions. Yes, she was still going to be in Daria 3. No, she was not aware of any plans by Disney to replace her with Shannon Elizabeth. Yes, her mother was still staying with her. No, the mother would not be granting an interview. No, she was not seeing Alec Baldwin or some guy appearing in a musical. |
Jennifer Love Hewitt confronts the paparazzi. |
|
"Do you really want to know?" |
Finally a reporter asked if she was receiving psychiatric help. This was when she straightened up and for the first time smiled. She asked, "What?" and when the reporter repeated the question, she asked, "Do you really want to know?" This was when she began to discuss how she was having her "psychiatric disorder" treated "under the supervision of Dr., um, Kubrick," listing a vegetarian, sugar-free diet, feng-shui adjustments to her living space, mutilating stuffed animals, meditation on the works of Dr. Seuss (she claimed to have gotten an important insight on life from If I Ran the Zoo), and only wearing loose, all-cotton underwear. Noticing the reaction this was getting, she claimed she was successfully dealing with her anxiety problems by reaching an extremely relaxed state, this being achieved by having sex six times a day ("I'm feeling much better now!"). |
"I'm feeling much better now!" |
MYSTERY WOMAN DEFENDS LOVE IN BALLOON ASSAULT!
--New York Daily News headline
We have gotten more than a few requests to know the current status of the poll on how people would like to see the Mandela situation resolved. Here are the results:
|
|
|
|
| Sarah Polley (pregnant) |
|
Heh, have the character be pregnant. In a movie about
grrrrls, a pregnant Jane would be the ultimate liberation statement (i.e.,
pregnant women CAN have lives!).
--Kara Wild |
| Drew Barrymore |
|
Drew Green [sic] can really kick ass, she would be great!
--"Jcknthbx" |
| Lynsey Bartilson |
|
I want it to be Lynsey. She could really use a part like
this. Let it be her!
--"IM4U2Nite" |
| Thora Birch |
|
Thora! Thora! Thora!
--"Spaz" |
| Aaron Carter |
|
I always knew Jane had a secret.
--"CrazyNumbersHeadMan" |
| Rachael Leigh Cook |
|
No, it should be recasted with Rachael Leigh Cook. I feel
she is a perfect fit for the role of Jane--of course I'm one of many fans
of RLC.
--"Rachael_e-Zine_Webmaster" |
| Kirsten Dunst |
|
Kirsten Dunst should do it!!!!
--"CWebbJWillSK455" She's so talented! I hope they pick her! --"Party_Aminal" |
| Angelina Jolie |
|
Angelina Jolie is who I want to play as Jane because she has
the self-esteem to do it.
--"CannibalVampyra" |
| Jodie Lyn O'Keefe |
|
Ever see Devil in the Flesh 2? Need I say more?
--"MagicRoyG" |
| Chloë Sevigny |
|
An indie queen like her? I'd love to see that but it'll
never happen.
--"Santiagojf" |
| other |
|
I think Sandra Bullock or Nicole Kidman should be Jane because
they are the best at acting in any movie they play in so I think you should
pick one of them!
--"Masterlock" |
As the table shows, Kirsten Dunst is the favorite, narrowly beating out Sarah Polley, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Angelina Jolie. We would like to remind people that we just report things; we have no influence over the actual decision-making process.
All these would have made for interesting possibilities and would have been fun to see Disney/Touchstone look into. However, as the August start date for filming looms, the issue of who will play Jane has finally been settled. The announcement was made at a surprise press release yesterday held at an hour's notice. Summoned to the ballroom of a Hilton, a speaker read a brief statement regarding the casting of the roles of Daria and Jane. For Daria, she indicated that Hewitt had been having "personal problems" but was fine. There would be no recasting of that role, Hewitt being expected to do perfectly well when filming begins next month. For Jane, the news was a little more complicated. Sarah Polley was reported to have "professional differences between her and the studio," and so by mutual agreement would not be appearing in that role. The question of who would be taking over the role, however, was finally cleared up, when, looking a little smug and amused, the speaker said:
Finally, I would like to say how glad I am that we, the studio
and I, could come to an agreement over my appearance in the next Daria
film. I hope you will all come see me starring in Daria &
Jane when it hits the theaters next year. Thank you.
--Christina Ricci
7/2/01:
With the day to begin filming in August looming, the script for Daria
3: Fashion Never Dies is still to be finished. "CrazyNumbersHeadMan"
reports that producer Jerry Bruckheimer, not satisfied with the writing
of Stephen E. de Souza and Bruce Feirstein, has brought in two new writers,
Jonathan Hensleigh (Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Jumanji, The Saint)
and Jeffrey "J. J." Abrams (Taking Care of Business,
Forever
Young, Armageddon), to "polish" the script. In "CrazyNumbersHeadMan"'s
words, "At this rate the script will be ready just after the film is shot."
This brings the total of people who will get some kind of writing credit
to five, not atypical for a Hollywood film these days.
Sarah Polley:
Activist actor sensibly declines to debate Ontario Health Minister Tony
Clement on the future of medicare, offering to put up a panel of experts
and patients instead. How about it, Tony?
--Maclean's, June 11, 2001
Multiple informants have reported that Sarah Polley has been in Los Angeles recently to discuss her future in the Daria 3 production. "Spaz" and "Doctor Death" claim that she is so annoyed by all the flack she's getting from Disney/Touchstone (such as demands that she not be involved in any protests or talk to the press) that she's ready to walk out. "Jhanson3000" claims she has sent John Malkovich a dozen dead roses with a note about how there will be no way in Hell she will ever play poker with him again. "23skidu" claims to have overheard Polley taking with someone on her cell phone with someone in what sounded like a "negotiation to play the part of Jane."
| "UB46T92" reported on an incident that
should make Polley happy that she was not around for the first two movies.
The other night Polley was at a bar with Milla Jovovich (Return to the
Blue Lagoon, The Fifth Element, Messenger: The Story
of Joan of Arc), who she met during the filming of The Claim.
At one point, Jovovich got up to go to the bathroom, at which point Polley
was accosted by Leonardo DiCaprio ("Jesse" in Daria and Daria
2). DiCaprio started with a lame pickup line (licking his fingertip,
touching her shoulder, and saying "Let's go somewhere and get you out of
those wet clothes"), which only got him a brief, profane rejection.
DiCaprio then continued to make a fool of himself despite Polley pointing
out she already had a significant other and being completely uninterested.
He then switched to questioning her sexual orientation and bragging about
who he was and his own abilities when horizontal, which ended up with him
inadvertently spitting on her. It was then that she dumped her drink
in his lap and said very loudly "Leonardo DiCaprio, you'd better go somewhere
and get yourself out of those wet pants." "UB46T92" reported her
words to Jovovich as she left him totally stunned and red-faced:
You know, Love Hewitt doesn't seem all that bad now.
|
Leonardo DiCaprio (left) is caught being a pest in front of Sarah Polley (right) by a security camera. Picture courtesy of "UB46T92" |
Several people have reported a rumor circulating that Jennifer Love Hewitt has "multiple personalities." Supposedly Hewitt, traumatized by her early experiences of being a child star, had a mental split. A cheerful, fun, sexy personality came to dominate, while the negative emotions and rational aspects became buried. Having encountered others who embodied combinations of these aspects, Hewitt became sufficiently stressed to allow the Dark Half to manifest. The idea that Hewitt is being taken over by a suppressed personality has even spawned her a new nickname, "Jennifer Love Hyde."
The change in Hewitt, and the expected end of her career, has resulted in one potential new opportunity. "Space_Zombie_29" reports that a new distributor has taken an interest in her: Troma Entertainment. Famous for such independent classics as The Toxic Avenger, Killer Condom, Cannibal! The Musical, and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., Troma allegedly has approached Hewitt to star in several upcoming B-movies. The lure of catching a major star on the way down is so great that they have even offered to pay for breast implants for when she would do nude scenes. Troma executives further claimed that Pterodactyl Woman of Beverly Hills had actually helped the career of Beverly D'Angelo. Hewitt is supposed to have rejected the offer, but not after first thinking it was a bad joke.
| The speculation about Hewitt's condition
has, if anything, gotten worse since the news of the very public breakdown
emerged three days ago. Hewitt was being taken shopping by Sarah
Michelle Gellar ("Tanqueray" in
Daria 2) in a vain attempt to cheer
her up, ostensibly to "do something about this creepy Linda Hamilton thing."
Hewitt was barely going through the motions and found herself frequently
distracted. Then at some point she began crying, first just the tears
breaking though, then some very loud vocalizations as Gellar found her
collapsing on top of her. When this got the attention of everyone
around them, Gellar began to use some of her very real martial-arts skills
to clear people away and even threw a pair of shoes she had just purchased,
saying a few unkind things at the onlookers. Hewitt may have been
crying something out, though reports are inconsistent on this point.
Finally Gellar was able to get Hewitt to her feet and got her out of the
store and onto the street, where they quickly caught a taxi. It is
unclear why Hewitt suddenly burst out crying, but "IG-88" claims the trigger
was the song being played on the overhead speakers, Garbage's "Stupid Girl"
(lyrics
| audio
sample).
Hewitt has not left her home since then. I just want to be like Meg Ryan, or Julia Roberts! They
never go far from what their audiences want to see them do! Why can't
I be like that! Why can't I be like that!
|
Jennifer Love Hewitt (left) and Sarah Michelle Gellar during the filming of I Know What You Did Last Summer |
6/24/01:
Your site sucks!
--"Carol"
Just as the term "Mandela situation" has sprung up (after the alleged name of Sarah Polley's equally alleged unborn child), it is not entirely clear if the Mandela situation even exists. Recently several members of the Sarah Polley Fan Club noticed that some of the news items were definitely fakes. The stories in question were largely plagiarized from other stories with the names changed. This included a pregnancy announcement taken from one for Cate Blanchett, a story about Polley and Michael Winterbottom's sex life which was lifted from a story about that of Mick Jagger, and one about a nude scene in the upcoming film No Such Thing which drew heavily from one about Kirsten Dunst in crazy/beautiful. The truthfulness of other stories, such as the alleged wedding of Polley and Winterbottom in Cuba and the baby being named "Mandela," have also been questioned. Given we have far more informants in Hollywood than in Canada, the United Kingdom, or Cuba, we can say little is certain other than she may not be pregnant or married at this time, and the mad dash to deal with the situation in Hollywood has probably been totally unwarranted. A downside of this situation is that we must apologize to Tony Clement for reporting comments he did not make in the last installment; however, it is still the official position of this page that he is a jackass. (For editorials in the Toronto Star by people who aren't buying what he says any more than Polley does, look here, here, and here.)
We have, however, gotten a few unconfirmed
rumors. "Castor432" pointed out that most of the suspect and fraudulent
articles are supposed to come from the Reuters news service and suggests
someone there has been planting them to discredit Polley, perhaps someone
working for her archenemy, Tony Clement. On the surface this make
sense, as some of the claims in the questionable articles are not flattering
(such as that Polley has had "toy-boys" flown out to her on shoots).
The problems with this hypothesis include many of the articles being obvious
plagiarisms (thus easy to discredit) and that some are attributed to sources
other than Reuters. Furthermore, that the articles in question actually
came from Reuters has not at this time been confirmed. "Spaz" picked
up on many of these problems and suggested, half-jokingly, that since they
were done incompetently, the author of these stories is none other than
Clement himself! Another possibility, which "Fidget" swears is true,
is that the author of the articles is actually Polley. According
to an earlier rumor, Polley tried out for and accepted the part of Jane
as fulfillment of a poker bet she lost to John Malkovich. By circulating
stories she is pregnant and other things which will get her bad publicity
in the United States (especially the Cuba story), Disney will be forced
to release her from her contract. Supporting this idea is that Polley
has done nothing to discredit these claims. However, Polley could
have done a much better job, though "Fidget" claims the poor quality of
some of the fakes is to allow Polley to discredit them later once Daria
3 has been released. And then the most unexciting but perhaps
most likely possibility, which no one submitted, is two guys made the phony
stories up on their own and spread them for the fun of it.
| Whatever the truth is, Polley
may get her wish to be dropped from the production. According to
"DieHardest," producer Jerry Bruckheimer has told others that he is "going
to get rid of that Polley freak, pregnant or not" and a few other things
with profanity in them. Director Ridley Scott is also supposed to
be "nervous" about Polley's political views. Even Disney CEO Michael
Eisner has supposedly said that "Sarah Polley is a pack of trouble who
we'd be better off without. Get rid of her." Eisner is said
to be very upset to learn she is such a "noisy" activist, the same one
who a decade ago irked Disney executives by wearing a peace symbol to a
function during the Gulf War. He fears Polley will use the press
attention the movie will attract to spout views which will reflect badly
on Disney. ("Nibzif" claims Eisner already had the responsible casting
people fired and blacklisted from future Disney projects.) "Spaz"
also reports that Polley has voiced reservations about some of the things
Disney/Touchstone wants to do to promote the film, which has done nothing
to endear her with them.
Perhaps the only reason that Polley has not been dropped from the project yet is the difficulty in finding a replacement. There have been a few reports of people coming in to read for the part, both alone and opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria"), with mixed results. "OU812" and "DirkDiggler69" elaborated on the mention made on Entertainment Tonight that Drew Barrymore will not be taking over the role of Jane, claiming she was asking for $12 million. "You tell them my name and I will kill you!" claims that Tori Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210, The House of Yes, Co-ed Call Girl) made a laughable attempt at reading for the role and got yelled at by Hewitt for being a "talentless plastic freak," which left her crying. According to "DirkDiggler69," Rachael Leigh Cook made a comparatively good impression, but Bruckheimer got scared when she began removing the blue M&Ms from the bag she was eating, said they were "wrong," and then insisted she had to eat something salty because she had just eaten something sweet. Other potential candidates seem to have ruled themselves out. Angelina Jolie, appearing on The Tonight Show on June 11th to promote Tomb Raider, denied she had any interest the part of Jane. (She also reported that for her first marriage anniversary to director Billy Bob Throrton that they signed legal documents pledging their lives to each other in blood, got tattoos, and watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.) |
Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney |
Tori Spelling |
"Nibzif," "Spaz," and "TheNookieMonster" all reported on the activities of Stephen E. de Souza and Bruce Feirstein, who have been trying to finish the script. Just before the Mandela situation became known, they had just finished a draft with which they were satisfied and were about to pass it over to Ridley Scott. Then came the news, followed by profanity, and now they are reportedly hiding in a hotel room, diligently trying to write around any possibility that could happen.
On June 10th, Melissa Joan Hart ("Brittany") shamed herself by appearing in Voyage to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a special that not only promoted Disney's upcoming cartoon Atlantis: The Lost Empire, but used what may be jokingly be called evidence, and in many cases outright distortions and lies, to claim that Atlantis really existed. (That the same technology that decades ago revealed the existence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge failed to reveal the presence of a sunken continent made the entire exercise rather trying.) In the words of "Spaz": "Never have I seen a celebrity make such a shameful spectacle of oneself since Charleton Heston's appearance in The Mysterious Origins of Man, the activities of Dan Aykroyd and the Fox channel excepted, of course. Hart, every other person involved, and Disney should be ashamed of themselves." A good albeit basic site on Atlantis, for those who are interested, is Atlantis - Fact, Fiction or Exaggeration? (As for the film itself, it's largely plagiarized from a Japanese cartoon series Nadia of the Seas of Wonder/The Secret of Blue Water. Check out the comparison page Nadia vs. Atlantis.)
On June 12th it was announced that Shannon Doherty's replacement on the WB show Charmed would be Rose McGowan. McGowan played Andrea in Daria and Daria 2, as well as having stared in a number of independent films and Scream. "Spaz" voiced the hope that this will boost her career, which has recently included such flops as Ready to Rumble and Monkeybone. This is the same role turned down by Jennifer Love Hewitt, whose career is in similarly marginal shape.
We are truly fortunate to have the
opportunity to work with Rose McGowan and believe she will bring a new
and different dynamic to Charmed.
--Jordan Levin, WB copresident, as quoted
by E! Online
Alright! A wild exhibitionist
who'll beat the crap out of that poseur Phoebe!
--"Spaz"
| All this news, however, has of course been overshadowed by what has been referred to as a suicide attempt on Jennifer Love Hewitt's part. "Fathead" reported on the incident, giving us details that Liz Smith and Entertainment Tonight failed to mention. Hewitt and Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Upchuck") showed up at the Sky Bar at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles the night before last and somehow managed to get in. "Fathead" described this venue as being "weird, with people lying on mattresses around a pool with funny Christmas trees all around." Hewitt was looking even worse than the horrible she has been looking lately, and Thomas had taken it upon himself "to cheer her up." There were several other celebrities there, and Hewitt, being in a very foul mood, was telling Thomas her unedited opinions about them all. Worried she might get them kicked out, Thomas was trying very hard to get her relax and be quiet, plying her with drinks and using what passed for soothing words. Thomas noticed on the next mattress over was Courtney Love (member of the band Hole, also in The People vs. Larry Flint, 200 Cigarettes, Man in the Moon), and invited her to join Hewitt and himself. The topic of music naturally came up, and Love, to Thomas's horror, spoke of her own problems with recording contracts and how the music industry in general screws over musicians. When she asked Hewitt about her own recording contract, Hewitt revealed she really didn't know anything about it, that being handled by her manager. Love started dispensing advice to a stunned Hewitt and talked about her own legal troubles with her record label in trying to break an unfair contract. When Thomas tried changing the topic, Hewitt said it was okay and then jumped in the pool. This is where Liz Smith started reporting, how Thomas and Neve Campbell (the Scream trilogy, Wild Things, Panic) fished her out, how director Oliver Stone (Platoon, JFK, Nixon) started making accusations, and Campbell spouting some venom of her own back. Fortunately Hewitt was okay and was promptly removed from the situation. According to "Fathead," the accusation that Love gave Hewitt heroin before the plunge is totally baseless. Aaron Spelling reportedly got an idea from the incident for a soap opera about rock stars and the greedy people who take all their money. |
Courtney Love |
|
| Aside from the bad publicity the Sky Bar has gotten, the incident has also brought some unwanted attention on the Daria 3 production. Oliver Stone vented his ideas directly to Liz Smith, perhaps one of his strangest conspiracy theories. Stone, who has been following the production, was alarmed by the casting of Sarah Polley as Jane. He suggested that her presence was part of a plot to undermine the film industry. By placing a socialist in the middle of a Hollywood production, she would corrupt other actors and crew, disrupting work and making film production impossible. He also suggested her casting could only be explained by the actions of a secret organization within the United States government which, once the industry was hopelessly crippled, would be able to use the disruption as an excuse to do a crackdown on Hollywood and suppress free speech. |
Oliver Stone |
| 6/10/01:
So far there is no resolution over what will happen to the
Daria 3:
Fashion Never Dies production now that one of the lead actors, Sarah
Polley ("Jane"), is known to be pregnant, though we have received many
rumors. A few people have suggested that this is really the
end of the Daria 3 production, and we have all been invited again
to party in Las Vegas this upcoming weekend. Huey Spiller, an activist
with the Cinema Aficionados National Antidegredation Association (CANADA)
has even begun a petition, the letter to be sent to Disney/Touchstone beginning:
"Daria 3's not meant to be!" However, this does not seem likely
to happen given everything else the production has survived, with it instead
going forward with some modification.
"JAK412" has suggested that Polley will continue in the role of Jane, with the pregnancy merely hidden. This is unlikely since Polley should be at least five months along when filming is scheduled to begin in August, and the expected amount of action would make such a strategy complicated, even with body doubles and creatively putting things in front of her. One popular suggestion is that the pregnancy will be written into the script. In fact, we have received at least a dozen reports that the writers are actually doing this. "Spaz," "ImperialSexWax,", "CNW," and "MJones3914" all reported that one storyline will involve Daria and Jane being split-up because Jane cheated on Daria with Tom, with the very visible result. There are other rumors popping up as well. "Rory" claims that Jane will be pregnant by Daria by means of genetic engineering, "Kgjne20fj489" says that the father is Upchuck, "Lulu222" says the father is Trent by way of artificial insemination from frozen semen in a sperm bank, and "Povichrox" suggests that Jane will have been impregnated by aliens. "Spaz" claims that Polley has been spending a small fortune calling Los Angeles to talk about her future with the project, which was interpreted as there being some chance the pregnant-Jane option will be taken. |
|
Drew Barrymore |
Rachael Leigh Cook |
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe |
Lynsey Bartilson |
Thora Birch |
Aaron Carter |
Kirsten Dunst |
Angelina Jolie |
Chloë Sevigny |
Whether or not the pregnancy makes it into the film, the name of Polley and director Michael Winterbottom's baby is known: "Mandela." According to a Reuters article (June 7th), the name was announced by Polley at a press conference in Manchester, England, after the Canadian parliament declined to grant honorary citizenship to the South African activist and former president, which displeased her no end. ("Mandela Winterbottom"?!?)
"Token278," noting Polley's leftist orientation,
sent us a link to a page about Misconceptions,
Confusions, and Conflicts Concerning Socialism, Communism, and Capitalism.
The page is surprisingly balanced and intelligent, dealing with the issues
from the varied sides. This is definitely worth reading.
| Love Come Down indeed. Soon she'll be feeling The
Weight of Water. Sorry, I just can't resist.
--Tony Clement, Ontario Minister of Health. Polley's pregnancy and marriage has been giving her nemesis, Ontario Minister of Health Tony Clement, plenty to blab about. The Canadian News quoted Clement trying to sound clever and failing miserably at that on June 3rd. The tirade dragged on for some time to the point of becoming severely annoying. He apparently did not realize that working the titles of Polley's films into his speech would get tired almost instantaneously. Miss Polley soon will know that the crisis in the medical sector
is no White Lie. She'll have Straight Up experience
of why this government is pushing for common-sense solutions to the problem
of health-care finance.
The same article also mentioned details of Polley's recent marriage to director Michael Winterbottom. Supposedly the two were married in Havana, Cuba on January 1st in a mass ceremony lead by Raul Castro, Cuban Defense Minister. Polley reportedly even read at the ceremony the poem "Chiapas, Zapatas y Che" by Enrique Cisneros and was broadcast on Cuban radio. (It should be noted that some have questioned whether this information is true.) Some authorities in Ontario such as Attorney General David Young have questioned the validity of the marriage and object to Winterbottom getting a work visa. Clement, of course, found a way to comment on the situation in the most annoying way possible. That kind of Exotica is not an issue for the Health Ministry,
nor is this a case of Dave's So Mean to Sarah, but a matter of immigration
law... As an opponent of globalization, Miss Polley should be sensitive
to foreign nationals entering this country and laying claim to jobs from
good, law-abiding Canadians, shouldn't she? Oh, dear, there seems
to be a taint of hypocrisy, now, doesn't there? Oh, well, I'm sure
it will all be settled, one way or another, Any Day Now.
For those of you who are curious to learn more about Tony Clement's past, the Tenant Advocacy Group has drawn up a report card for the time he spent as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. It is little wonder after reading it that he has gotten in so much trouble as Minister of Health. |
Tony Clement, Ontario Minister of Health |
The cracking of Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") may be worse than feared. "Nibzif" sent us an article from the National Enquirer dated April 29th (why the delay?) which relates Hewitt betraying the very things which have gotten her where she is. It seems while shopping in a store on Melrose Avenue, two boys stared at her chest, first through a window, then going inside and trying to hide among the clothing on sale while oggling her. Once caught, Hewitt confronted them and yelled at them, causing them to leave, embarassed. Hewitt's words:
Cut it out, for God's sake! I'm a person, and they're just boobs!
Regarding the breakup between Hewitt and now ex-boyfriend Rich Cronin, Cronin recently told the New York Post that he broke up with her because he could not handle all the rumors of her paired with various other men.
By now most of you know from gossip columnists and Entertainment Tonight that the night before last Hewitt and Melissa Joan Hart ("Brittany") were seen running and screaming outside a nightclub. Unfortunately, these sources don't explain why she was doing this short of "someone" scared them. Fortunately for us there were a few witnesses, and one of them, "PrettyNPunk," was kind enough to inform us of the details.
To start, Jennifer Love Hewitt looked like crap. She was wearing jeans and a baggy top and no makeup, and I wouldn't have recognized her at all if it wasn't for Melissa Joan Hart with her, and then I thought at first she was some loser friend of hers. They didn't come out of the club so much as Melissa dragged a very sick-looking Jennifer out of the club and into the alley nearby. Then Melissa stood by while Jennifer was doubled over and threw up longer than anyone else I've seen. A few people are standing about, and Melissa looks nervous. Jennifer said something like "Let them watch." After a few coughs and getting a breath mint from Melissa, Jennifer announces she's ready to leave when this guy says in a really creepy voice, "I know what you did last summer." And this guy comes towards her, totally drunk and with a weird look in his eyes, and points straight at Jennifer. And then he says something like "I saw that movie you did and I know who you are." Melissa looks ready to run, but Jennifer grabs her and does some posturing, says she's not going to be scared off. So the guy says he knows her future, that in a few years she'll lose everything, she'll be forgotten and be stuck doing plays and B-movies. And so Jennifer says something like, "And how would you know that?" That's when the guy looks even scarier than before. He says he is her, that he was where she is, that he had so much more to give but Hollywood shut him out. Then he came close to them, and he said, so softly that I could barely hear, "They're going to put on my gravestone 'star of Weekend at Bernie's'" And then Jennifer went from looking confused to horrified and got out of there as fast as she could run and letting out a deafening scream. Melissa tried to run too, but she nearly fell because she was wearing pumps instead of sneakers like Jennifer. And the guy was yelling at her, "You can't run! You hear me! You're already dead!" That's when he stepped under a streetlight where I could get a good look at him. It was Andrew McCarthy!
Andrew McCarthy (right), Terry Kiser (center)
and Jonathan Silverman (left) relax on the beach in Weekend at Bernie's
(1989). Picture courtesy of McCarthyism.
6/3/01:
"Spaz" pointed us to a recent column by Cindy Adams where someone asked
Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") why she split with her last boyfriend, Rich
Cronin. Her reply:
He's an idiot. All my boyfriends have been kind of idiots. I can't be friends with them.Michael Starr of the New York Post reported in its June 1st issue that Hewitt will not be replacing Shannen Doherty in the WB series Charmed. Starr suggested it was because Hewitt was more interested in doing films right now; however, given her last attempt at television (Time of Your Life), that may not be the case. According to "Spaz," her refusal had to do with her not wanting "to do anything so amazingly stupid anymore." The New York Post article can be seen here.
The New York Post also reported that Alec Baldwin (The Shadow, Pearl Harbor, State and Main, Thomas and the Magic Railroad) has been causing trouble for Hewitt's latest movie, The Devil and Daniel Webster. Reportedly he has quit as director, putting completion of the movie's editing in jeopardy. The full story can be found here.
And as if the Daria 3 production hasn't been threatened enough with a possible writers strike, an actor having a breakdown, a possible future actors strike, and a writer-director going into space, it now has to face the possibility of replacing recasting the same role twice. The Reuters news service reports that Sarah Polley ("Jane") is pregnant, the baby due "late this year." The father, director Michael Winterbottom (The Claim), is, according to Reuters, also Polley's husband, their marriage never having been previously reported. What this means for the production is uncertain, though most likely the pregnancy will either be written into the story (as she should be showing by the time filming starts in August) or there will be a second recasting for the character of Jane. "Fuzzball" claims that producer Jerry Bruckheimer does not like Polley personally and has only tolerated her because James Cameron liked her audition and her activism has been limited to Canada, where the United States media has largely ignored her. Now that Cameron has been replaced as director by Ridley Scott, a pregnancy may be enough to get her dropped from the production. Other Disney/Touchstone executives have reportedly not been happy with the choice of Polley, noting an incident which happened about a decade ago. If Bruckheimer doesn't get rid of her, the studio may.
When I was eleven I was at an event
in Washington during the Gulf War and there were senators sitting at the
same table. I was wearing a peace symbol and I started talking about
the war and how I thought it was atrocious and disgusting. And later
I received a phone call from a Disney executive wanting to know if I was
a communist! I was eleven! I didn't hear from them for a while
after that, though I had been hearing a lot from them previously.
--Sarah Polley
5/31/01:
I was really proud to be the subject
of Tony Clement's first joke ever.
--Sarah Polley, as quoted in the Toronto
Star, May 25th, 2001
There isn't going to be an apology
[for Clement's earlier sarcastic comment about Polley] because what was
said was said in jest.
--Gord Haugh, press secretary to
Tony Clement, Ontario Minister of Health, ibid.
To be sarcastic when you say you
are welcoming someone's views is a pretty terrifying thing to do as a politician.
--Sarah Polley, ibid.
The thing I'm proudest about Canada
is that this is a country where there is universal access to health care.
When my mom was diagnosed with cancer, when I needed spinal surgery for
scoliosis, the first question wasn't, "Where's your credit card?"
But this government is stripping that away.
--Sarah Polley, as quoted in the
Globe
& Mail, May 29th, 2001
Sarah Polley ("Jane") has declined Ontario Minister of Health Tony Clement's request to personally debate him on the subject of health care. According to the May 29th issue of the Globe & Mail, Polley said the previous day
Challenging me to a debate is idiotic. There are people who have been waiting around for a long time, people whose field this is, to have that debate.Polley instead proposed Clement debate with an actual health professional. Several media outlets have offered to host the debate, but only if Polley herself debates Clement. Dismayed by the media's putting celebrity over substance, she was quoted as saying "I wasn't aware of how much of the news the media in fact creates themselves."
Meanwhile, back in the United States, Daria 3 was threatened again. Although the current draft of the script reportedly pleases the studio executives, the state of the lead actor did not. That Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") has gone from being bubbly to being a surly grouch over the course of a month has not escaped the notice of the Disney/Touchstone executives. "Spaz" reports Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie, Jack Frost, Tomcats) was being seriously considered to replace Hewitt. (Emphasis on was.) Word got back to Hewitt, who then went to see the producer of Daria 3, Jerry Bruckheimer (Gone in 60 Seconds, Armageddon, Coyote Ugly, Pearl Harbor). After breaking a door, Hewitt, still in a rage, explained very forcefully that she already had a contract and that she would bring serious bodily harm on anyone who tried to dump her from the film. Bruckheimer then burst into applause, told her that she had demonstrated the kind of attitude he wanted to see in Daria for the film, and pledged to do everything to make sure no one questioned whether she would be in the film again. He also commented that he liked the "Linda Hamilton look" she now sported. Hewitt left being very confused.
Entertainment Tonight did a short piece two days ago on the official breakup between Hewitt and now ex-boyfriend Rich Cronin of LFO. As expected, absolutely nothing of substance was said and Cronin appears to have been oblivious to what's been happening with his girlfriend.
I don't get it. One minute
she was this hot girl and she was like the best thing ever. And suddenly
for no reason she's yelling and throwing cake at me. I can't believe
I was with this girl.
--Rich Cronin
5/27/01:
Sarah Polley at Music Alert
Sarah Polley ("Jane") is continuing with her social activism. Last Thursday (May 24th) she cohosted Music Alert, a benefit concert towards opposing privatized health care in Ontario. Unlike the United States, Canada has universal health care, though in recent years it has been threatened, much as other social programs have been cut back. Polley encouraged the attendees to contact the relevant government officials and distributed their e-mail addresses and phone numbers. More detailed articles in the Toronto Star can be found here and on Canoe ("Canada's Internet Network")here.
There was no public debate.
It's a lack of information that there isn't a huge fight right now against
the private cancer care clinic. Once people have the information...
once they knew what was going on they were saying "of course" and felt
the urgency of the situation.
--Sarah Polley
Reactions to Music Alert did apparently reach all the way into the intended political circles. It was reported in The National Post that Ontario Minister of Health Tony Clement commented Wednesday (May 23rd) that
I'm very glad that Miss Polley was able to take some time off being in Cannes to be here on such an important matter of public policy, and I welcome her views.Member of the provincial parliament for Niagara Centre Peter Kormos saw this as a slight against Polley's priorities and responded to Clement in a letter, saying
I read your snide comment about Sarah Polley in the National Post. As Health Minister, you have no business making my stomach churn so early in the day.Those wanting to see the full National Post article can find it here.
Stop being a pissant poseur
and show some class.
--MPP Peter Kormos in a letter
to Minister of Health Tony Clement
On Friday (May 25) Clement himself publicly challenged Polley to a debate on health care. Polley at this time has not yet responded. More of Clement's comments can be found here.
If she wants to participate
-- and, again, the Canadian way to participate is not through illegal protests,
is not through subjecting protesters to situations that we saw in Quebec
City... [or] in Seattle -- I welcome her to it and I'd be happy to engage
her in that
--Minister of Health Tony Clement,
May 25, 2001
For those wanting an unusual memento of Jennifer Love Hewitt's ("Daria") past roles, an unopened Audrey Hepburn doll with its packaging signed by Hewitt is up for auction at All Star Charity.com. All the money from the winning bid will go directly to the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.
5/20/01:
It's official: The director of Daria 3: Fashion Never Dies
will be Ridley Scott. Ridley, whose film Gladiator was the
toast of the last Oscars, reportedly got an extra million dollars in his
contract after he found out about the nasty comment someone made about
Alien
which was previously posted on this page. As for writers, the script
will be finished by Stephen E. de Souza (Judge Dredd, The Flintstones,
Street Fighter, Die Hard 2) and Bruce Feirstein (The World Is Not
Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies, Goldeneye). The collaboration is
a first for de Souza and Feirstein, who reportedly first met at a function
and decided to pitch their ideas for Daria 3 together. In
the words of "KillerBod2000", "This is bound to get interesting."
And for those of you wanting to check out Daria 2: The Curse of the Misery Chick in the privacy of your own homes (where no one else can see you), remember that it will be out on video and DVD on May 22nd.
"Imallthat" pointed us to an Associated Press article dated March 5th noting that Freddie Prinze, Jr. ("Skyler") ended up getting cortisone injected into his arm by a physical therapist. Prinze hurt his arm pitching baseballs for four nights straight as part of filming his current project Summer Catch, in which he plays a minor league pitcher. "Imallthat" made a few rude comments about Prinze, including about how he really hurt his arm.
It's like injecting Vaseline;
it just does not want to come out of that needle at all.
--Freddie Prinze, Jr.
Maybe Freddie should switch
antidepressants.
--"Imallthat"
For those who are wondering if Christina Ricci ("Jane" in Daria and Daria 2) is still alive, given she's seemingly disappeared since Daria 2 came out, she will appear June 7th on the MTV Music Video Awards. Ricci is scheduled to be a presenter, more than enough to let people know she still exists. "OZPINHEAD" informs us that her latest film, Prozac Nation, hasn't been released yet because of problems with distribution but it will be out "any day now." (In comparison, we are sure Alyson Hannigan ("Tiffany") can defintely be seen in American Pie 2, opening August 10th.)
Some Daria cast members seem to be making interesting career moves. On Mother's Day (May 13th) ABC showed Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, which was executive-produced by none other than Melissa Joan Hart ("Brittany").
"Spaz" wanted us to know that when Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") pitched the idea for Cupid's Love back in 1998, New Line Cinema bought it from her for $500,000. Remember, this was for something that was never made. "Spaz" also reported the rumor that Hewitt would be replacing Shannen Doherty on the WB show Charmed. Doherty, who has been playing one of a trio of sisters with magical powers, has quit the show, her last episode showing May 17th. To quote her costar Holly Marie Combs, "Yeah, she's pulling another 90210. We're never going to see her again." Hewitt was mentioned as one possibility to replace Doherty in a poll on SafeSearching.com, a family-friendly search engine started by Alyssa Milano. Last time we checked, Hewitt was the favorite, taking in slightly over half the votes.
More than a few entertainment "news" sources have reported on the recent public incident between Hewitt and her boyfriend, Rich Cronin. Last Sunday night (13th) at Jerry's Famous Deli in Los Angeles, Hewitt and Cronin were having a late snack when the two got in a heated argument, some cheesecake got flung, and Hewitt stormed out. "Dragonflies" claims to have actually been there at the time and filled in a few details for us:
To begin, Jennifer looked like crap. I have never seen her look so unperky, not even in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. She and Rich came in, placed their orders. Rich just went on and on and on, he wouldn't shut up. Jennifer was really quiet, politely nodding at first, not saying much, obviously not terribly interesting in what he was saying, which was mostly about himself. Finally Jennifer said "Can you shut up for a moment?" and Rich was shocked. And so now he's being indignant, Jennifer is berrating him, and finally she just yells something like "You have nothing to say, so just shut up, you f***ing moron!" And that's when she lobbed her cheesecake in his face and Hewitt slammed the door as she stomped out.
Many of our informants tell us Hewitt has been keeping to herself mostly, seeing only a few close friends and her mother. "Spaz" tells us she's also been trying to have heart-felt discussions with her housekeeper, who in turn has threatened to quit if Hewitt "doesn't stop being a creepy pest."
Somewhat less publicized is what Sarah Polley ("Jane") has been doing. Aside from her political work (she reportedly got tear-gassed in Quebec City), several of our informants tell us that Polley will be taking a year off to study directing at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. This decision probably was made some time before some of her recent experiences with the Daria 3 project. "DinoMan2" and "BillyBob" claim Polley showed up in Los Angeles just to see Hewitt on the 8th, a few days before the breakup with Cronin (not to mention cutting it close before showing up at Cannes). Wary of causing a scene, she convinced Scott Wolf to visit Hewitt first. (Wolf, who costarred with Polley in Go, also costarred with Hewitt on the series Party of Five.) Wolf got admittance to the Hewitt residence, but found her "grouchy, no makeup, her hair a mess, not giving a damn about the giant fashion faux pas she was wearing." The discussion was brief, and Wolf left with a message to Polley to "stay the f*** away." "Anonymous" claims to have seen Polley at the airport trying to get a flight out that evening, looking clearly unhappy.
5/6/01:
As of March 4th, a tenative agreement was reached between the Writers Guild
of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Although the agreement still has to be voted on by the members of the WGA,
a strike has most likely been averted. Regarding the strike that never
was, "ImperialSexWax" says, "Anything which keeps them from making more
reality shows is a good thing." Industry watchers hope this bodes
well for when the contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which expires June 30th.
Daria 3 is not dead yet. Disney/Touchtone executives seem determined to keep the project alive at any cost. (One wonders what sort of odd contract they have with MTV.) One of the big problems now, of course, is in replacing James Cameron, who was supposed to write and direct the thing. The studio still isn't very forthcoming about what's going on, and many conflicting rumors are popping up. Most of our informants insist Ridley Scott (Alien,Hannibal, Gladiator) has been tapped be the director, but, having done so well at the Oscars with Gladiator, he is slowing negotiations by asking for more money. Not everyone agrees this is what's going on, though. "SirDancealot" claims that Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, the French version of La Femme Nikita) will write and direct Daria 3. "Sicko_de_Mayo" has suggested that Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, the upcoming Planet of the Apes remake) has expressed some interest in the project. Other possibilies suggested, some of which we find rather unlikely and perhaps wishful thinking on certain people's parts, include McG (Charlie's Angels), David Cronenberg (The Fly,Crash, eXistenZ), Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Malcom X,Bamboozled), Sam Raimi (the Evil Dead trilogy, The Gift, the upcoming Spider-Man), Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spinal Tap,North), Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski (Bound, The Matrix), Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Deep Blue Sea, Driven), and Ron Howard (Splash, Backdraft, Ransom, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas).
Who will write the script is still uncertain as well, though "Spaz" claims the executives like the treatment James Cameron wrote enough that they want to use it as the basis for the film. Reportedly they have approached John August (Go, Charlie's Angels) to complete the script, but there is no word if he will sign on.
"DirkDiggler69," while looking through some old issues of the CANADA Bulletin, found an interview of Alyson Hannigan ("Tiffany") during the making of Daria 2: The Curse of the Misery Chick. The article contains a first-hand account of the feud that existed between Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") and Christina Ricci ("Jane" in Daria and Daria 2), confirming some of the rumors that have been circulating. You can find the entire article here.
"Bird_of_Paradise" told us, referring to an issue of TV Guide, that Hewitt's self-conceived movie project about a wedding planner falling in love with her client (titled Cupid's Love or Marry Me, Ms. Jane) is dead. Quoting from TV Guide:
Hewitt is developing other projects through her production company, Love Spell Entertainment; they include a spy comedy and a drama set against the backdrop of Kent State University in Ohio in 1970, when National Guardsmen fired on student demonstrators, killing four of them.
"The_Hook" sent us this article from Wall of Sound about the current state of Hewitt's music career; apparently she is going to be putting out another album. Says "The_Hook," "Jennifer Love Hewitt is to Japan as David Hasselhoff is to Germany. May God bless their music careers and keep them far away from us."
"Spaz" sent us this snippet from a recent issue of GQ that would seem to settle one rumor that's been going around:
[Jennifer] Love Hewitt once dared a journalist to check for silicone. 'Go back and tell everyone you felt them,' she suggested.
"Spaz"'s commentary: "Duh! Why would anyone with fake boobs wear a push-up bra?"
On a truly scary note, we regret to note to note that Napalm Krigbaum, talentless main author of the awful Daria: The Motion Picture, has continued producing bad Daria (the animated series) fan-fiction, namely the dull "D: The Talk Show", and has recently released Daria!!, described as being a "D: The Talk Show" movie. (OK, it's no so recent, more like three weeks, but Nails has been too busy with the real world to write a review.) Unfortunately, this movie script is no better than the first, including bad stereotyping, a blatant rip off from Aaron/Nails's "New Nightmare", and the superunfunny Tom Green. We beg you, Napalm, stop writing. We could use a good Daria movie, but you don't seem to have the talent needed. Leave it people like Kara Wild and C. E. Foreman, who know what they're doing.
Finally, we would like to note that the rumors from 2000 have been moved to another file because this file had gotten over 100 KB.
5/2/01:
Multiple sources posted the news Sunday (April 30th) that bodes poorly
for the future of the Daria movie franchise. In the light
of the recent visitation to the space station Alpha by Dennis Tito, who
paid the Russian Space Agency $20,000,000 to fly him there and back, policy
on space tourists is being revised. Chief among those planning to
visit Alpha is writer-director James Cameron, who wants to film an IMAX
film and specials there. Right now NASA and RSA are working out the
details. Cameron could be in space as early as late 2002. Many
of our informants tell us that Cameron doubted he would get into space
so soon but he prepared for it anyway. Given the need to spend perhaps
eighteen months training beforehand, he ensured his agreement to make Daria
3 included what has been jokingly referred to as "the escape-velocity
clause." In short, Cameron is out, and the people at Disney/Touchstone
have to go find themselves a new writer and director. "LordDorko"
states a list of replacements for Cameron are already being contacted and
is confident that the project will begin filming this fall as planned.
Not everyone is so certain, though, and "Spaz" claims one Disney/Touchstone
executive has spoken openly of cancelling the project. Most pessimistically,
"DirkDiggler69" claims that this will probably kill
Daria 3, thanked
us for the page, and invited everyone to come celebrate in Las Vegas this
weekend; Dirk asks that those who wish to join the party please meet in
the lobby of Caesar's Palace at 8:00 PM on Saturday.
Of course, even if a new director can be found, the film still can't be made if it's never written. Today (May 2nd) at 12:01 AM PDT the contract for the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) expired. There were talks last night which continued to nearly 3:00 AM, followed by a break with talks continuing today at noon. Issues under discussion include not only money (minimum pay, residuals, and video sales) but also involvement in making movies and that "A Film by" line the directors like to claim for themselves. So far there is no strike, but unless the two sides agree upon a new contract soon, the WGA members are expected to ballot on whether or not to strike. The potential crippling effects of a writers strike are made worse by the AMPTP's contract with the Screen Actor's Guild being set to expire on July 1. Mayor Richard Riordian of Los Angeles has claimed a combined strike lasting through October would result in a loss of $6,900,000,000 for the area. Several productions being developed in the midst of this mess, including the unnecessary Basic Instinct 2, are threatened, and Daria 3 is no exception.
Time is running out.
I call on the producers and writers to work together in a spirit of compromise
and save tens of thousands of Los Angeles jobs from the cutting-room floor.
--Richard Riordian, mayor of
Los Angeles, May 1, 2001
At this hour the talks are
continuing, and we're working very hard to reach an agreement. That's
it.
--Cheryl Rhoden, WGA spokesperson,
May 2, 2001, right after the WGA-AMPTP contract expired
Right now the studios have
enough movies to take them through next February or March
--Jack Valenti, Motion Picture
Association of America, May 1, 2001
According to Valenti, there's
another ten months of crap in storage.
--Gillian Cantell, Cinematic
Afficianados National Antidegredation Association, May 2, 2001
"Poobah" claims that discussions are (possibly were now) underway to add one more star to the cast with a cameo from Charlton Heston (The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes,Soylent Green, True Lies) as a government official.
Since our last posting, we have gotten several rumors about Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria"). "Fathead," "Spaz," "Bird_of_Paradise," and "Tom" claim Hewitt has been spending a lot of time clubbing lately. According to "Fathead," supposedly a few days ago she was seen in a bar with her current beau, Rich Cronin of the group LFO. Hewitt, who claims to have had a mere three sips of alcohol in her entire life, said she needed a drink. At Cronin's suggestion she ordered a fuzzy navel, which she downed in about thirty seconds. The result was instant drunkenness, and she had to be helped out while saying some incoherent things, including "Damn you Soho bitch!" "Bird_of_Paradise" reports hearing that Hewitt is now screening her calls and has been seen not answering several on her cell phone. "ImperialSexWax" sent us a rumor which we found "weird" for some reason. We quote:
"A friend of mine who works on Rodeo Drive told me she saw Love Hewitt shopping there. Love was coming out of a store when my friend decided to approach her and get an autograph. Love suddenly turns around and ducks back into the store. So my friend decides to go in after her, and immediately this person working there comes up to her and starts talking down to her as if she wasn't good enough to shop there. She did, however, manage to overhear Love talking to another employee. Love had just bought this pair of shoes, but she'd changed her mind. The employee she was talking to asked if she wanted a different style or color, stuff like that. Love said the shoes were fine. What was wrong was that "I just don't need them." And then this employee started going on about the merits of the shoes, what they went with, where it would be great to be seen in them, things like that. Unfortunately this other person my friend was dealing with got severely obnoxious and she had to leave before she found out if Love ever kept the shoes."
4/22/01:
The news since the last update has been, well, varied and wierd. As most
of you know by now, Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Tanqueray" in Daria 2)
and Freddie Prinze, Jr. ("Skyler" in Daria 3) are now engaged. The
announcement was reportedly made April 14th at Gellar's birthday party.
"Merton" lists this as one of the signs of the end of the world and cited
one of Nostradamus' quatrains as evidence.
"Mr_Fuzz" reports the news that Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Upchuck") will be returning to television on Fox in a show called American Soap, where he plays a freshman in a New England college town in which everyone harbors a secret. "Mr_Fuzz" suggested, given Thomas's near-invisibility since Home Improvement ended, that his character's secret is that he needs a better agent.
Ifilm has posted a list of actors classified as "cruisers" and "losers." On the list of "cruisers" is Reese Witherspoon ("Stacy"), who is reported to have turned down the lead role in that film which launched Jennifer Love Hewitt to her current status, I Know What You Did Last Summer. On the "losers" list they put:
1) Wes Bentley (who had a cameo as Tom in Daria 2),
2) James Van Der Beek (one of the three J's),
3) Denise Richards ("Sandi"), who they've declared doomed because of The World Is Not Enough,
4) Leonardo DiCaprio ("Jesse"), who they report has been so into partying in Italy that he doesn't show up on time on the set of Gangs of New York
5) Freddie Prinze, Jr. (to be "Skyler" in Daria 3), and
6) Heather Graham (who had a cameo as Theresa in Daria 2.
The list can be found here.
Sarah Polley (left) and Naomi
Klein in Quebec City. Picture courtesy of the Ottawa
Citizen
And in more serious news, "LordDorko" wrote in about events revolving around the Summit of the Americas which took place last weekend in Quebec City. Supposedly about two weeks before Jennifer Love Hewitt ("Daria") called Sarah Polley ("Jane") to ask her to join her at a party, trying her best to be friendly. Polley declined because she was going to be protesting the summit at the time. When Hewitt asked why Polley was protesting, the latter stated a few reasons, such as that it only served the interests of major corporations and that the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas would constitute undemocratic government. Hewitt was still confused, prompting Polley to explain at much greater length the issues of relevance to her. It eventually became clear that, while with some effort Hewitt could understand what Polley said, none of these issues had ever occurred to her. Hewitt became exceedingly upset halfway through the explanations, excused herself, hung up, and spent the rest of the day being "freaky" and refusing to talk to anyone. Polley was among a group who protested the security measures taken during the summit, arguing this violated people's right of expression and assembly. She was one of those who originated a petition to this effect which was delivered to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretein with five-thousand signatures. The security measures included a wall four meters tall around a large portion of Quebec City and the deployment of six-thousand police officers.
As other news sources have reported, the summit did not go smoothly. Friday the start of the summut was delayed an hour when some of the more militant protesters tore down sections of a security fence; violence ensued between police and protesters, police with batons and tear gas, the protesters throwing cans, rocks, and bottles. Most of the estimated 30,000 protesters were by all accounts peaceful.
These individuals, these
people do not represent the vast majority of those who have come to Quebec
City in order to express peacefully and calmly their legitimate concerns.
--Jean Chretien, Prime Minister
of Canada, April 20th, 2001.
Trade not only helps spread
prosperity but trade helps spread freedom. So I would disagree with those
who think that somehow trade is going to negatively affect the working
people and people for whom hope doesn't exist in some places.
--George W. Bush, de facto
President of the United States of America,
April 20th, 2001. (He has apparently forgotten what has been happening
in China, which has extensive trade with the USA but still has little political
freedom and has "labor camps.")
It seems crazy that to voice
your opinion you've got to come out with a gas mask.
--Jezebel McDonald, protestor, April
21st, 2001.
It is ironic to hear lessons
from the foreign minister of a government which today is brutally repressing
in the streets of Quebec the voices of a very important segment of its
population.
--communique to the Canadian Foreign
Ministry from Cuba, April 21st, 2001.
Incidentally Polley's latest film,
The
Claim, went into limited release on April 20th.
4/17/01:
Shooting hasn't even begun and the production of Daria 3: Fashion
Never Dies is in trouble. Entertainment news sources are reporting
that with the looming deadlines and possible strikes for the Screen Actors
Guild (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), Touchstone has decided
to delay production until August, supposedly because the project is more
complicated than originally anticipated.
The actual story, of course, may be more complicated. "DirkDiggler69" claims to have been stifled in his attempts to get a copy of the script by its lack of existence; supposedly James Cameron is lagging behind where he thought he would be in the