Femme Fatale Feast I

"She's going to break your heart in two, it's true
'Cause everybody knows
She's a femme fatale..."
- The Velvet Underground "Femme Fatale" song.

THE LONG PUSH continuation

50. BRENDAN
(shrugs, steps up to her)
I’m convinced.

JODI
That was close, thought I’d have to sap you or something—

He kisses her, just lips, no tongue no arms.

JODI (cont’d)
(breaking the kiss, flushed) So much for wiles.
When you move it’s straight for the kill, isn’t it?

BRENDAN
Just following your lead.

JODI (tugging his hand)
Well come on then, let’s go—

They head over to her car and climb in.

INT. JODI’S SEDAN MOVING – NIGHT
Jodi drives well, Brendan watches her. She bites her lip, distracted.

JODI (finally)
Would it be too much of a tease if I just dropped you off tonight?

BRENDAN
No. Someplace you need to be?

JODI
What? No, no, I just... don’t want to rush it, you know?

BRENDAN
Yeah, fine.

JODI
Are you sure? I’ve been pretty forward—

BRENDAN
It’s okay, really.

She gives him a grateful look, he smiles at her reassuringly.

51. EXT. BRENDAN’S HOUSE – NIGHT
Jodi’s sedan pulls to the curb, the engine shuts off. Brendan opens the car door to get out, Jodi grabs his hand.

JODI
Hey—
She pulls him close and kisses him, long and hot.

JODI (cont’d)
(coming up for air, breathing hard)
So... is tomorrow too soon to see you again?

BRENDAN (also breathing hard)
No.

JODI
Good. You know what they say about girls on a second date—

BRENDAN
What?

JODI (her sly smile)
Guess you’ll have to wait and find out.
(Brendan grins, climbs out) Bye.

He closes the car door, she starts the engine up and drives off, he waves, she turns the corner and is gone. Brendan’s face changes, like a mask falling away to something grim.

INT. BRENDAN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Brendan enters and shuts the door, agitated. He pulls off his tie, balls it up and tosses it on his desk. It lands near the list of contact numbers Nelly gave him for Steve.

Brendan picks up the list, sits on his bed, thinks. He pulls his phone over, dials, it rings at the other end.

STEVE’S VOICE (a recording)
Hi! You’ve reached Bendix Reality, I’m not here to take your call right now, but if you leave a message—

Brendan hangs up. He dials the second number, it rings.

57. STEVE
Sure, that’s okay, that’s entirely okay, Brendan. It’s hard keeping your feelings inside, sometimes you just need to get it all out, you know what I mean?

BRENDAN
Yeah, I do.

STEVE
Listen, I was thinking...

BRENDAN
Uh-huh—

JIMMY SMITH (O.C.)
Hey—

Brendan turns and Jimmy punches him in the face. Brendan drops to the pavement, the phone receiver swings free, we hear little Steve sounds coming from it. Jimmy has wild eyes, whatever’s cooking him he’s barely keeping a lid on it.

BRENDAN (fingering his lip)
Jimmy Smith.

Brendan notices two other boys standing lookout behind Jimmy, all three wear letterman’s jackets.

BRENDAN (cont’d) And crew. Swell.

JIMMY
Got a message for you, punk. From Brad.

BRENDAN
He couldn’t deliver it himself?

JIMMY
(hunkering down and reaching for Brendan)
You’re gonna be way worse off than him in about two seconds—

The receiver has stopped swinging, just dangling now, Jimmy’s head is right near it and we hear—

STEVE
Brendan? What’s happening, Brendan? Brendan can you hear me—

58.
Jimmy freezes. He stares at the receiver, awestruck. He looks at Brendan, awe and fear and hate swirling together. Jimmy stands abruptly and backs up, his boys look confused, he turns and walks away and his boys trot after him.

Brendan stares at the would-be goon squad, his eyes burn with anger. He stands, grabs the receiver – it’s still making Steve noises. Brendan shakes his head, racks the receiver on its hook, he’s about had it with not knowing the what’s going on. A heavy finger falls on his shoulder, he turns.

TRUEMAN
My office. If you can spare the time.

INT. TRUEMAN’S OFFICE – DAY
Brendan and Trueman sit across from one another, Trueman gets right to it.

TRUEMAN
I want to know what you know, and I want it now.

(Brendan rolls his eyes)
I just witnessed a fight between you and that other boy, and that’s an easy one-week suspension.

BRENDAN
What?! That’s a trumped-up charge and you know it, I’d be back in class in a
day, two tops.

TRUEMAN
But it would go down on your permanent record. Last time I checked, it’s not a very admissions-friendly document you have there. (beat) I know you haven’t dropped this... whatever it is that’s going on, it’s not in your nature. Maybe we can help each other out. What have you got?

BRENDAN
Nothing. Yet.

TRUEMAN
That’s it? That’s all I get?

BRENDAN
I’ve got hooks in the water, I’m getting nibbles but no bites.

59. TRUEMAN
Was what I saw today a nibble?

BRENDAN
... maybe.

TRUEMAN (shaking his head)
Yets and maybes, yets and maybes. You’ve done good by this office before, Frye, I’ve let you have your leash and you’ve made your moves. But let’s be clear: there’s no leash now. Nine out of ten doesn’t cut it, not on this one. Not for anybody.

BRENDAN (snapping to it)
Your neck’s on the block, isn’t it?

TRUEMAN
It’s not about that, it’s about two students—

BRENDAN
Yes it is—

TRUEMAN
Two students committing suicide on school grounds, and that’s unacceptable. Look, I’m sorry for your friend—

BRENDAN (rising)
We’re done.

TRUEMAN (also rising)
We’re done when I say so—

Brendan moves to the door.

TRUEMAN (cont’d)
You go out that door and you are done here, the suspension will just be the beginning.

Brendan opens the door, turns back to Trueman.

BRENDAN
Jump it. Harvard wouldn’t know what to do with me anyway.

61. LAURA
I wondered if you’d ever show, your name’s been on the list since day one.

BRENDAN
I need your help.

Laura laughs, then laughs some more. Brendan stays flat affect, she finally stops.

LAURA
You’re serious. Just like that. No greeting, no inquiring after my health. Something must be really pushing you, to come here.

BRENDAN
What’s perfection?

LAURA
A rumor. At least when I heard of it.
(shrugs) Why should I tell you?

BRENDAN
I’ll change my story, give a new deposition. I’ll say what I did.

Laura laughs again, quietly.

LAURA
Wow. You’re really something, you know that?

BRENDAN
They can’t do anything to you if I tell them I planted the brick—

LAURA
They can’t do anything to me now. Why do you think I’m still here and not tried, convicted, and Sing-Singed? Daddy may not be speaking to me, but he buys me the best attorneys. Worst case scenario, I get two years’ probation. And that’s if they don’t toss the case entirely. A jilted lover’s tale, a locker anyone could crack, and little old A-student me. I could get sprung tomorrow –

got any plans? She smiles a wicked smile at him, Brendan’s façade cracks, his brows knit with furious thought.

62. LAURA (cont’d)
You looked shocked. I can’t help it if you don’t read the papers.
Brendan takes out the scrap of paper and holds it to the glass: the complete list of names is written out, Laura glances at it.

LAURA (cont’d)
I read the papers.
You want to know what they have in common, what links them. (studies the names)
Brad and Jimmy are on the football team, the baseball team, etcetera. May is major royalty. Heidi was royalty till she dropped out of school. Pete. (sighs) Pete had a crush on me in fifth grade, I used to walk past his house, make him crazy. His little sister would say, shame on you. Scamp.
(leans back, done) I don’t know about any of the rest.

BRENDAN (pushing)
What else?

LAURA
You want a lot for your nickel. (ponders, shrugs)
Brad has two brothers, both younger. Jimmy has a little brother too, or is it... May is one of four girls, one older, two younger. I don’t know what good family histories will do you, these kids are from all over the map, unless you’ve got something else—

Brendan takes out the rubber ball, holds it up, turns it so she can see. Laura’s eyes glitter like a slot machine coming up cherries.

BRENDAN
What’s perfection? Why is it worth dying for?

LAURA
Perfection is sex, kind of, but it’s not the why. It’s what you have to do—

Laura stands and knocks twice on the door to the cells.

64.
She holds the door open, Brendan enters.

INT. THE BRAIN’S HOUSE – CONTINUOUS
Brendan steps inside the foyer, Chloe closes the door.

BRENDAN
Thanks.

CHLOE
Um, can I get you anything? Coffee—?

BRENDAN
I wanted to ask you a favor.

CHLOE
Yes?

BRENDAN
Could I... could I see his room, please?

A beat, Chloe tries to process this, fails.

CHLOE
Yes. Of course.

Brendan nods, there’s an awkward silence, he finally turns to go up the stairs.

INT. THE BRAIN’S BEDROOM
Brendan pushes the door open, the room is unchanged. He steps inside, his eyes traveling slowly around the small, cluttered space. He moves to the desk, looks over the books and papers scattered across it, opens drawers. Brendan sits on the bed, his gaze still darting all around. Sidney pokes her head in the doorway, her eyes shoot bullets at him. The front door opens and closes, voices carry up the stairs. Sidney doesn’t move but her face changes to pure panic. Slowly, Brendan brings a finger to his lips: quiet. Sidney’s eyes grow big, she nods solemnly and runs off.

STEVE (O.C.)
Brendan?

Footsteps sound in the hallway and Steve appears at the door, Brendan looks up at him with puppy dog eyes. Steve steps into the room.

STEVE (cont’d) (concerned)
How’re you doing?
(IT WILL CONTINUE...)

Jake & Kendra In Scene

"MIFFED: Agents, as I’m sure PG told you. The one on the right is Kendra and on the left is Phoebe. Jake’s about to place his order. Watch and learn, kid.
JAKE walks up to the counter and smiles at KENDRA and PHOEBE. It’s obvious he’s a regular. By now, it is only the agents and JAKE left in the building.
JAKE: I’ll have (pauses dramatically) The Usual.
KENDRA: Coming right up. Phoebe?
PHOEBE: I got it.
KENDRA: Can I help whoever’s next in line?
JAKE looks over his shoulder and frowns seeing as how there is no one behind him in line. He sidles over to the counter and watches while PHOEBE makes his drink. He starts talking to her.
JAKE: So, you work here long?
PHOEBE: A few months.

JAKE: You’ve made my drink everyday this week.
PHOEBE: Yup.
JAKE: You’re really good at your job.
PHOEBE: Yup.
JAKE: Hey, this is kind of off-topic, but do you know where I could buy some decent socks?
PHOEBE: Actually…
At that moment two more HENCHMEN (I’ve lost count by now) come charging into the shop in what must be an attempt to kidnap Jake (as previous scenes with Marrakesh would indicate). PHOEBE hands JAKE his drink and shoves him to the side and out of the way. MIFFED pulls a puggle out of her purse and sends it scampering over to JAKE. JAKE is immediately distracted and notices nothing of the intense fight going on around him.
PHOEBE and KENDRA beat the HENCHMEN up.

As a last resort, KENDRA throws scalding hot coffee on both of the HENCHMEN. They’re incapacitated and fall to the ground in defeat. JAKE, sadly, is in the line of fire and his shirt is ruined. He turns his attention away from the puggle and, not thinking, he takes his shirt off. He suddenly feels self-conscious and throws an awkward look at the sign behind the counter, “No socks, no shirt, no service.” PHOEBE comes over and snatches his coffee cup away from him. The puggle comes trotting back over to MIFFED.
JAKE: I’m sorry! I’ll put my shirt back on!
KENDRA pulls an “Obey the Puggle” shirt from under the counter.
PHOEBE (still holding his drink): It’s OK; I’ll give this back to you when you're dressed.
KENDRA: Try this on for size.
JAKE puts it on and PHOEBE hands him his cup back.
JAKE: Thanks.
JAKE turns to KENDRA and nods.
JAKE: Kendra.
PHOEBE: She’s Kendra.
JAKE: No, I know. Phoebe.
KENDRA: No, she’s Phoebe.
JAKE: Right. That’s what I said. Phoebe.
KENDRA: No, I’m Kendra.
JAKE: No, I know you’re Kendra. And she’s Phoebe. And I’m Jake.
PHOEBE: Oh, is that your name?
JAKE: Thanks, girls. See you tomorrow!

KENDRA walks over and gives the postage shirt to MIFFED. A couple of customers come in, see the HENCHMEN lying on the floor, and simply step over them.
MIFFED: I’d better find a way to get rid of these guys.
KITTY looks thoughtfully out the window but jumps back when JAKE and a bunch of cyclists go whizzing by.
KITTY: Was that Lance Armstrong?
MIFFED rolls her eyes.
MIFFED: That’s the fifth time this week. The agent we put in his spa says you wouldn’t believe how in shape he is. It’s, like, inhuman.
KITTY (off in her own little world): How did he drink all that coffee so quickly? "
This scene belongs to the PART THREE B of JAKE WATCH THE MOVIE : SCRIPT, GALLERIES, SOUNDTRACK...

Ready to Kiss

"In a poll taken by its clients, UK's NetFlix-like service LoveFilm.com determined that the thirsty-for-it kiss between Gyllenhaal and Ledger in the gay-cowboy love story Brokeback Mountain, is the number-one favorite on-screen kiss of all time. And it's not the only man-on-man smooch on the list, btw. "

1. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain"

2. Audrey Hepburn & George Peppard in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

3. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in "Mr and Mrs Smith"

4. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in "Gone With the Wind"

5. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair in "Cruel Intentions"

6. Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in "From Here to Eternity"

7. Al Pacino and John Cazale in "The Godfather"

8. Colin Firth and Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones' Diary"

9. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in "Spider-Man"

10. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing".
Source: http://worldofwonder.net

An enthusiastic "Zodiac" review

"David Fincher's Zodiac (Paramount, 3.2) is a knockout. I felt pleasantly drugged (like I'd taken an art-film quaalude) after seeing it. It's my idea of entertaining and then some -- it's absorbing, sharp, edge-of- the-seat stuff -- although it's not really "entertainment." Not in a hoi polloi, whoo-whoo, pass-the-popcorn sense. Which is why certain voices on the Paramount publicity team have been skittish about showing it.

What it is, most definitely, is a commercial art film of the highest order -- an existential police procedural about one of the most notorious "cold" investigations in U.S. history.

Zodiac is based on two best-sellers by Robert Graysmith, "Zodiac" and "Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed," which are first-hand accounts about the hunt for the Zodiac killer who terrified the San Francisco area in 1968 and '69.

Is there such a thing as being too determined to stop evil? At what point do you ease up and say, "I've done all I can." Is it always essential to finish what you've started? Should never-say-die always be the motto, even at great personal cost?

The victims, in other words, aren't just the ones who get shot or stabbed or otherwise killed.

Zodiac isn't just about sleuthing. Deep down I think it's a metaphor piece about obsessions wherever you find them, and how the never-quit theme applies to heavily-driven creative types (novelists, painters, architects, musicians) as much as cops or cartoonists or stamp collectors or baseball-card traders.

It's the most masterly film of Fincher's career. He doesn't seem to be pushing or selling or manipulating anything here -- he's just got a good grip on the material, and is letting it play itself out according to its own rhyme.

All I know is that I couldn't get enough of it -- it ticks like a metronome and sucks you in without really delivering anything stand-out spectacular in the way of mind-blowing finales, pull-out-the-stops performances (which isn't to take anything away from the actors, who are damn near perfect) or shocking plot turns. It scores primarily by just being a great piece of filmmaking.

A critic friend is calling Zodiac's 3.2.07 release "the most ridiculous [call] for a major Hollywood film that I've ever observed -- certainly in our era where, in general, the first four or so months of the year are a dumping ground for crap."

I think that's the key to the film's extraordinary intelligence, and why Fincher jettisons nearly every stylistic device and post-modern inclination he's previously loved (I'm thinking especially of Fight Club, of course, but also Se7en, which this film will be endlessly compared and contrasted to...)

One small beef: Graysmith is a very strongly written guy with a lot of struggle and frustration inside -- the pressure on him just builds and builds. But in a script I read last year, Graysmith had a great "release" scene at the end when he delivers a spellbinding 12-page oratory that ties up all the loose ends about who and what Zodiac is and was. (I was reminded of Simon Oakland's this-is-what-actually- happened speech at the end of Psycho.)

This scene acted as a kind of climax, but Fincher hasn't used it. The finale -- the film itself -- would have been stronger if he had." -by Jeffrey Wells.
Read the full review in Hollywood-elsewhere.com

And a new "Zodiac" Video clip: ZODIAC - BOAR HOUSE,
courtesy by Jake Watch.

Lights, Bogeyman, Action

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
NEW ORLEANS

DAVID FINCHER, impolitic as ever, is ridiculing the notes he’s been getting from the studio executives overseeing his latest film, “Zodiac.”

“‘It’s easy to get lost in all the details,” he intones, reading their critique of one scene from his laptop. “ ‘Are there any trims you could make here to cut down on the information and focus it even more’ ” on two main characters?

“I love this,” Mr. Fincher says, leaving no doubt as to his sarcasm. “It’s this weird shell game where they go, ‘Can you focus it more on the people by making it be less of them?’ And of course what it really gets down to is that they want me to audition their cuts to them.”

But he won’t. Instead, he says, “you just rope-a-dope.”

That same uncompromising attitude extended to his relationship with the cast, led by Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal, who endured multiple takes of 70 shots and beyond. Mr. Downey affectionately called him a disciplinarian, while Mr. Gyllenhaal, saying that as a director he “paints with people,” added, “It’s tough to be a color.”

At 44, Mr. Fincher remains Hollywood’s reigning bad-boy auteur, and his impatience with meddling has become as famous as his tendency to test his actors’ patience, stamina and preparation. But not as famous as his films, the most celebrated among them “Se7en,” the 1995 thriller that grossed $350 million worldwide, and “Fight Club,” his over-the-top answer to young male anomie.

“People ask me, ‘When are you going to make your ‘Amarcord?’ ” Mr. Fincher added, with a little laugh at the comparison to Fellini’s autobiographical tour-de-force. For now, he said, “It’ll have to be ‘Zodiac.’ ”

For Jake Gyllenhaal, who stars in the movie as Mr. Graysmith, Mr. Fincher’s attentiveness was a mixed blessing.

Mr. Gyllenhaal said he came from a collaborative filmmaking family: “We share ideas, and we incorporate those ideas.” He added: “David knows what he wants, and he’s very clear about what he wants, and he’s very, very, very smart. But sometimes we’d do a lot of takes, and he’d turn, and he would say, because he had a computer there” — the movie was shot digitally — “ ‘Delete the last 10 takes.’ And as an actor that’s very hard to hear.”

Mr. Gyllenhaal, 26, partly blamed culture shock; he’d just finished “Jarhead” for Sam Mendes, who gave him a much freer rein. Mr. Gyllenhaal stressed that he admired and liked Mr. Fincher personally. And he noted that other members of the “Zodiac” cast had far more experience, adding: “I wish I could’ve had the maturity to be like: ‘I know what he wants. He wants the best out of me.’”

That said, Mr. Gyllenhaal spoke candidly about his frustration with Mr. Fincher’s degree of control over his performance.

Told of Mr. Gyllenhaal’s comments, Mr. Fincher half-jokingly said, “I hate earnestness in performance,” adding, “Usually by Take 17 the earnestness is gone.” But half-joking aside, he said that collaboration “has to come from a place of deep knowledge.” While he had no objections to having fun, he said, “When you go to your job, is it supposed to be fun, or are you supposed to get stuff done?”

He later called back and said he “adored the cast” of “Zodiac” and felt “lucky to have them all,” but was “totally shocked” by Mr. Gyllenhaal’s remark about reshoots.

Robert Downey Jr., impeccably cast as a crime reporter driven to drink, drugs and dissolution, called Mr. Fincher a disciplinarian and agreed that, as is often said, “he’s always the smartest guy in the room.”

Mr. Ruffalo too survived some 70-take shots. He said Mr. Fincher was equally demanding of everyone — executives, actors, himself. “He knows he’s taking a stab at eternity,” Mr. Ruffalo said.”
Read the full article in www.Nytimes.com/

I Became a Blogcritic

If you remember my review of the film "Brick" in January: "Another Matriarchate Theory", I have motives for feeling proud of that it has been considerated and finally published in Blogcritics.org site, under the title: "An Allegorical Interpretation of Brick", so it seems I've given a step forward the film critics territory.

But I don't want to say definitely goodbye to those days (and nights) of pretentious wannabe reviewer, that was fun! Basically, the article stays in essence as the original, but I had to add a more personal insight, and crop out a little of the "Nocturnal Portrait of the femme fatale" extracts.

The added part: "This article sheds some light on an overlooked figure, perhaps the most memorable icon from the noir genre, the femme fatale, whose route of greed and moral breakage is so well captured by Nora Zehetner's performance, the upper-crust high-school doll, exploiter, master of astuteness, who tries to gain the teen shamus' heart at any cost, forcing him in a casual way to turn his back on Emily's (Brendan's junkie "Dulcinea") memoirs, wishing for one moment she had been Miss Kostich, the angelical doomed girlfriend she won't ever be, whom Brendan will likely continue to yearn for ad infinitum.

Both antagonist female characters, Emily and Laura, confront Brendan in the same scenario, the football field, in a perceptible transposition by Rian Johnson of the angel/sinner figures, in a twist of male-centric climax. The suburbanite Johnson proves the new millenium loner is just the same as the gallery of Chandlerian/Hammettian antiheroes — they are saved from the downfall of the peons around them, they somehow escape the matriarchy, hiding in the return journey a broken heart."

"Spiderman 3" Teaser

"Beverly Hills, CA — Actress Kirsten Dunst will present at the 79th Academy Awards, telecast producer Laura Ziskin announced today. [...]

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

The Oscars® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour red carpet arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars.”
Source: www.Oscars.org

Here you will be able to watch a a short video advancing the third installment of "Spiderman" saga, courtesy of "Antiegos" Blog.

THE LONG PUSH

I am presenting to you, dear readers, some excerpts from an excellent script entitled "The Long Push", a continuation from the "Brick" story, which I asked him for permission to be published here. I read it, and I thought you could enjoy of some "noir-genre" reading. I must say Jason's story blew me away, for its literary definition and cinematographic echoes.

Note: for questions of time and structuring text pasted into the blog I've selected the highlights scenes, if someone was interested contact the author, Jason's e-mail: lost2@easystreet.com, and he'll send the interested readers a copy from the full novella, a real "Piper-Heidsieck" of detective tale, smart as a whip:

"The Long Push" by Jason Ferté.

Based on characters created by Rian Johnson

Copyright 2007 © Jason Ferté

1. FADE IN:
EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – EARLY MORNING
A big empty field behind a high school.
Mostly empty -BRENDAN FRYE stands stiff as a board in the middle of the field, staring down at the body of a young man. His shell-shocked eyes take in: A GUN Lying a few feet from the body.

EYEGLASSES
With fat glass slabs for lenses sticking out from the dead face, vacant eyes staring at nothing. A red-rimmed hole shows starkly on the young man’s temple.

TITLE CARD OVER BLACK: “2 DAYS PREVIOUS”

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – DAY
A mail box. Quick hands open the mail box, toss something in and close it. A lone figure trudges down the street to the mail box, opens it. A something falls out. Brendan catches the something – a black rubber ball. He looks up and down the street, looks at the ball: a small hole is drilled through it. He closes the mail box, stuffs the ball in his pocket and walks on.

EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE – DAY
Brendan knocks on the front door. A young girl opens it, she’s eating toast and has jam all over her face.

BRENDAN
Hi, Sidney. Is your brother home?
The girl opens her mouth and shows him more jam and toast. Brendan brushes past her.

INT. THE BRAIN’S BEDROOM
Brendan knocks and opens the door and walks in, he flicks the light switch.

BRENDAN
Brain—?

9. BRENDAN
Uh, yeah sure, Brain. I thought you might know about—

THE BRAIN (screaming)
JUST DROP IT AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!

Brendan drops the phone like it’s lava. He picks it back up: dial tone.

LATER
7:19 by the clock. Brendan paces. It’s a small room, back and forth.

LATER
9:27. Brendan lies on top of his bed fully clothed, staring at the clock. His eyes smolder – suddenly he’s up from the bed and grabbing his jacket and bolts from the room.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET – NIGHT
Brendan lies stretched out on his stomach, chin cradled on the back of his hands, under a pickup truck parked across the street one house down from the Brain’s house. He yawns. The Brain’s house is completely dark. Brendan twists his wrist to see the time on his watch: 12:45.

A rat darts out from under a shrub across the street, Brendan watches it run up the block and scurry behind a garbage can left out on the curb. The Brain’s garage door swings open and the rat takes off. Brendan peers intently.

A darkened sedan backs out of the garage and stops and a tall figure, a man, gets out on the driver’s side – when the map light clicks on Brendan can see someone slumped in the passenger seat, he can just make out the top of their head but not who it is. The tall man swings the garage door shut and climbs back behind the wheel, the map light clicks off.

The sedan backs into the street in front of the pickup, its backup lights illuminate Brendan like a spotlight. Brendan holds his breath. The brake lights come on and paint him deep red, the sedan’s gearbox thumps and the dark car glides forward. Brendan watches as the sedan approaches the cross street, its headlights finally coming on and its right blinker flashing like a neon sign.

11. EXT. NEXT BACKYARD
Brendan dances along the side rail of a deck, jumps down.

EXT. FEEDER STREET
Brendan slides down a weedy slope to the unfinished edge of a curvy four-lane feeder street, the headlights of an oncoming car pinning him as he looks to: THE NEXT INTERSECTION

It’s signal-lighted – and the signal changes and the sedan pulls out to turn but in the opposite direction from Brendan.

The oncoming car passes Brendan and he races across the first two lanes to the raised meridian, keeping the sedan in sight. He glances over his shoulder – and headlights coming from the other direction blind him, he tries to stop but his momentum carries him into the lane, he raises his arms and skids – KA-THUMP!

BLACKNESS

Brendan opens his eyes: he’s lying on his back in the street, a coming-into-focus and frantic woman is running up to him from the car stopped just ahead. Brendan has only been out a few seconds. His glasses lie next to him, twisted and one lens popped out, he grabs them. He stands and immediately drops to one knee, clutching his left arm and grimacing in pain. The frantic woman helps him up, her mouth moves but he can’t hear her. He raises his glasses to his face and looks up the street: It’s empty, the sedan is gone.

Brendan pushes the woman away and staggers across the last lane and breaks into a gimpy jog. Cars drive silently by. Brendan reaches an unlighted side street. He stops, bent over and sucking wind, he looks up the side street, glances back up the feeder street – and a big truck blows by him at full volume. He tumbles over and lands on his hurt arm and screams. He rolls onto his knees, gets one foot up, the other foot and he’s standing and gulping big mouthfuls of air. He turns and trudges up the side street.

EXT. SIDE STREET
The side street is steep and curves off and the houses are set back from it. Brendan struggles along, past hedges and low brick and stucco boundary walls. He peers up driveways, not seeing the sedan.

12.
Brendan trips on a curb, catches himself on a mailbox pillar, a name in iron scrollwork with a little decorative rocket ship blasting off above it: “THE BRAMISH’S”.

Brendan glances up the circular driveway, the backend of a car shows at the bend. He hikes up the driveway, more of the car is revealed – it’s the sedan. Brendan approaches it slowly, he scopes out the house: all quiet, a far portico with a light left on. He reaches the sedan and cups his hands and looks in the passenger window but the car is empty. He straightens, sees a figure coming up behind him reflected in the window and turns – THWACK! BLACKNESS

EXT. BRENDAN’S HOUSE – EARLY MORNING
Brendan opens his eyes: daylight, birds are singing. He sits up in his own front yard, his jacket and jeans are soaked with dew. The paperboy rides by on his bike and tosses a newspaper onto the porch. Brendan fingers his lip, it’s split but scabbed over, he moves his left arm and nearly screams, sucks in air through his teeth. He gets stiffly to his feet cradling his arm.

EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD – EARLY MORNING
Brendan walks along the edge of the field, he looks over at something lying in the middle of the field. He stops, stares at it. Brendan walks up to the Brain’s body. He takes in: THE GUN A small automatic, lying a few feet from the body.

THE BRAIN’S EYEGLASSES
Black plastic frames sticking up at an angle and looking like a tarantula crawling over the Brain’s dead face, vacant eyes staring

at nothing. A red-rimmed hole shows starkly on the Brain’s temple. This is almost too much for Brendan, his face contorts and tears well up in his eyes and he hyperventilates. After a moment he gets himself back under control, breathes deep. He stares at his friend, his eyes glimmer wetly then focus in, he makes a decision: Brendan picks up the gun and wipes it clean, sets it back down. He turns and stares at the school’s various buildings like they’re alien structures.

20.
She writes her phone number on his cast. JODI (cont’d)
When you’re better, and you can take me to coffee. And pie. (waves) Bye. She leaves.
Brendan smiles a quick small smile but it fades just as quickly.

INT. BRENDAN’S BEDROOM – DAY
Brendan slowly dresses, putting his casted arm carefully through the sleeve of a dark suit jacket. His face is still discolored and with a couple bandages stuck to it. The rubber ball sits on his desk half-covered by random paper.

EXT. CEMETERY – DAY [...]

36. BRENDAN
Okay. (turns to go, turns back) Thanks.

Steve smiles at him. Brendan smiles back sheepishly, he turns and walks down the driveway, angles into the street, walks on. His hands shake uncontrollably, he stuffs them in his pockets.

INT. BRENDAN’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Brendan – still shaking, an all-over shake now – strips off his jacket and heels off his shoes and crawls into bed. He pulls the blanket up to his chin, closes his eyes.

BLACKNESS
Jodi moves towards us out of the blackness, a sly smile painting her lips. She beckons and we follow her back into the blackness, it swirls around us and we see: A SCHOOL HALLWAY

Students stare at us accusingly as we glide past, Jodi blithely leading us on. The Brain steps up and speaks, his voice is out of sync with his mouth.

THE BRAIN
This isn’t for you—

Sidney pokes her head out from behind the Brain, that accusing stare again. We glide on, Nelly turns her back on us, Trueman shakes his head at us. At the end of the hallway we come to:

A WALL OF RED VELVET
Jodi, still smiling, leads us into the crushing redness, the red swirls to purple and Jodi looks back at us but it’s not Jodi it’s Laura and we’re at: THE FOOTBALL FIELD

It’s early morning and Laura is walking away from us. We look down at: A BABY
It’s wrapped in a blanket at our feet. We look up again at: STEVE

Standing beside us, smiling at the baby, he smiles at us.

48. BRENDAN
You know it.

JODI
I do, a bit... I remember who you had eyes for, heard you were together. For a time.

He struggles for something to say here but he’s too slow.

JODI (cont’d) When she... died, were you still in love with her?

Images flip through Brendan’s head: EMILY Smiling in the sun;

EMILY AND BRENDAN Together in a laughing embrace; EMILY Dead
in the stream in front of the runoff tunnel, water swirling through her hair.

BRENDAN
Yes.

JODI
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that—

BRENDAN
It’s alright.

JODI
I’m so stupid sometimes, I don’t think about—

BRENDAN (grabs her hand)
Hey. You’re not stupid. It’s alright, really. I loved her, but we weren’t... together, at the end.

(she looks a question at him) She wanted something else.

JODI
I find that hard to believe.
(IT WILL CONTINUE...)

From Drew's arms to Kirsten's?

"Is This It?" The Strokes Album

"Moretti, 26, and Barrymore, 32, split last month after nearly five years together, and a source tells Us Weekly the Strokes drummer wants a reconciliation.

According to the publication, Moretti was overheard talking about the actress at Los Angeles' Chateau Marmont hotel, saying he "would do anything to get her back."

The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti reportedly has been left devastated by his break-up with Drew Barrymore and is desperate to win her back.


Moretti has recently been romantically linked with "Spider-Man" star Kirsten Dunst."
Source: Sfgate.com

"Our review of the Arcade Fire's first sold-out show at Judson Memorial Church last night is brief: [...] And then we realized who he was: Fabrizio Moretti. And we noticed a cute blonde in a hoodie next to him: Kirsten Dunst.

Now, we're not saying that we saw them engage in any couple-y behavior. They were clearly there together. Maybe they're just friends. But we couldn't think of a situation in which their social circles might overlap, unless it involves that Strokes song that was on the Marie Antoinette trailer. All we're saying is that we saw them together and we thought it was odd, and that we cursed Kirsten Dunst for ruining our game." —Jada Yuan.
Source: http://Nymag.com/daily

Maggie in a Batman sequel?

No Katie Holmes, Penguin in Dark Knight

"Good news: Warner Bros. decides to remove the one factor that slowed down Batman Begins. Bad news: There'll be no Penguin!

Katie Holmes will not appear in The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins. Also, there will be no Oswald Cobblepot (a.k.a. The Penguin) in the sequel, Latino Review says. There are no details on why Holmes will not return as Rachel Dawes, but Latino Review confirms that the character will return in the film without her. It also reports that Matt Damon passed on a role in the film; that of Harvey (Two Face) Dent. Other actors who have been approached with the role of the Gotham City D.A. turned psycho-criminal are Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx and Ed Norton.

Pre-production began Jan. 11 according to Production Weekly"
Source: www.Comicbookmovie.com

"El Mayimbe here with news from THE REAL DARK KNIGHT CENTRAL or as we Latinos call it THE DARK KNIGHT BODEGA!Anyway...WE first reported Eckhart...WE first reported Maggie...I won't even bring up Heath......and now it looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal will be the new Rachel Dawes! Confirmed by two of my strongest on the money sources."
Source: www.Latinoreview.com

New Zodiac Interview

Watch the New "Zodiac" Interview to Jake HERE!!
Thanks, Penny Lane, for sending me this exciting link.

Mark in "Zodiac"

Mark Ruffalo has played his fair share of cops, so why are another one? That and many other questions were put to one of Hollywood's hardest working actors, as he and Paul Fischer talked serial killers, cops and Hollywood.

Question: What research did you feel necessary to do or do you think everything was pretty much ....

Ruffalo: Done for me?

Question: Done for you.

Ruffalo: I actually ended up doing quite a bit of research. The one thing I wanted to do was get together with Dave Toschi. And so I went to San Francisco for a few days and spent some time with him at his work and hanging out with him. And that was a big part of the whole performance, was that time I spent with him.

Question: Now you've played a cop a number of times, a few times. What is about that profession that's intriguing and what do you do to try and make ...

Ruffalo: Those different?

Question: Yeah, to try and give it as much interest as possible.

Ruffalo: They're as close to being bad guys as you can get without being a bad guy so they're walking a very fine line, you know. And I mean they're certainly in the realm of good and bad and black and white and all that. So it usually has some dramatic stuff around it. It isn't like I choose it - those are the only jobs they're giving me too you know, that they offer me. There's this projection that we like go around like, 'Oh yeah I'll take that'. No. They're the only jobs they give you. You'd be surprised how little there is of choosing. And it's ended up that I've been a cop a few times now and how that's happened, I don't know. I've been running from cops most of my life. But how that's happened .....

Ruffalo: Yeah. He's a real guy and I feel like I owe it to him to be as honest about who he was and what it cost him and what he went through as I can for the movie. And that's basically what I said to him when I went to meet him. He's like: 'I just don't know why you're here to talk to me'. And I said 'I'm here because I want to honour you, man'. 'I want try and be as honest about your life as I possibly can in the context of this film. [...]

Question: What about the obsessive nature of his character. Could you relate to that?

Ruffalo: To Dave? Dave Toschi? Well I mean shit, I've been doing this for twenty something years and you have to be a little obsessed I think to keep going. I don't relate to it - I don't have that kind of obsession. I guess I do in my acting and what I want and what I'd like my career to look like and all that and I keep hammering at it and this was like a career defining moment for him. And actually when it all blew up in his face it destroyed him and his family.

Question: I would imagine you're at the point in your career where you would have said no to another cop movie at this point. What made you say yes to this one?

Ruffalo: The first thing is the calling part of it, is that David Fincher rang and I'd like to work with him. And then I pretty much go by the material. I mean that's pretty much first and foremost. Then I read it and I just thought it was - there's a whole metaphorical side to this movie about where we are in the world today and about the way we treat evidence and law and presumptions and so that also struck me as well. Sociologically where we are today in the world because of a lot of presumptions, because we didn't follow the letter of the law in evidence, because we weren't as thorough maybe as some of these cops were back then. And so there was that aspect of it too. There was the metaphorical aspect as an artist. And then there's me just playing this guy, this real guy that really took this journey. And I saw a picture of him and I was like 'I have never played that. I have never played that guy'. So that was another thing. Have I done it? I

Question: So what are the challenges for you. You were sort of joking about what the offers are or what have you but you still have a very respectable career.

Ruffalo: I hope so.

Question: You still get great roles. What are the challenges for you to find characters and find projects that you can really sink your teeth into?

Ruffalo: Well there's not a lot of great writing you know. What happens now is that there's, it's writing by committee and they want - even this movie, the release of this movie, OK? This movie could have been released in November. It stands up with anything that's out there right now I think. But because it's a serial killer movie that they don't catch the serial killer in the end, everyone's like freaked out. They don't know ... 'What do we do with this movie?' you know. And it's that sort of mentality that is making the world a much smaller place. It's just the surer thing, the surer bet, you know. So characters are less interesting, stories are less risky.

Question: Are you a cynic?

Ruffalo: Listen. Not only is that glass half empty - it's also a little glass.

Question: Do you see this movie getting under the skin, I mean this case has a way of getting people wrapped up in it. Did you see it happening with the film makers? Did it happen to you?

Ruffalo: It's like the perfect snake eating its own tail. Fincher, who became obsessed with this case makes a movie about obsession - about people's obsession about the case. It just keeps going around and around and around.

Question: So Fincher is obsessive is he?

Ruffalo: Fincher is, when he's working on something, becomes obsessed with it. He wants to know every little detail about it. He is so detailed oriented. Only because he doesn't want to be the guy who shows up and knows less than anybody else there. He is an incredibly conscientious film maker. As far as his work ethic, and I mean I have never worked with him before. But he steeped himself in this material. He steeped himself. I mean we probably came closer to solving this case than anybody has. I mean, we had the resources, we had the people, we had the technology. I mean we've been able to do stuff with ... he'll talk to these cops and they'll say 'I never knew that'. He'll spit out pieces and they're like 'I never knew that' - guys that worked on this case, whose whole life was this case.

Question: What are you doing next now?

Ruffalo: I'm hanging out with my kids.

Question: You are taking a break?

Ruffalo: Yeah. I'm looking for a job.

Question: I thought you were going to do The Brass Wall.

Ruffalo: They're still writing it. You know, God help us, that happens. Yeah, they're in the middle of writing it and I'd like to do it but that's months and months away.

Question: You didn't make anything after this?

Ruffalo: I did Reservation Road, yeah.

Question: Fincher's movie Seven kind of defined a certain kind of serial killer genre movies for years. Was he consciously trying to show the opposite side of the real life frustrations?

Ruffalo: I think he said to himself 'If I'm going to do this I'm going to totally, you know, just recreate it for myself'.

Question: What will you and your wife be doing for Valentines Day? Anything fun?

Ruffalo: We're going to try and get a room at the Chateau. and I'll get in. No I don't know what we're doing.

Question: Don't get the one next to Lindsay Lohan.

Ruffalo: No is she still there?"
Source: www.Darkhorizons.com