Annie Leibovitz Shoots Aaron Sorkin on Set of 'Newsroom'

Vanity Fair has the spread. More in May.

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Vanity Fair Rolls out the Hollywood Issue

On the cover: Rooney Mara, Mia Wasikowska, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Elizabeth Olsen, Adepero Oduye, Shailene Woodley, Paula Patton, Felicity Jones, Lily Collins, and Brit Marling -- all wearing shiny, really shiny, dresses.

The most interesting thing? To me, it's the fact this wasn't shot by Annie Leibovitz. Mario Testino was behind the camera this time (the first time). Is there anything to read into that? Who knows...

Here's the shot. Click image for larger version. Go here for some videos (Rooney Mara talks a bit).

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Friends with Benefits, Biel, Shooting Sex Scenes, etc

Yeah, that's how I relax on a Sunday afternoon.

Vanity Fair with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis:

Gluck, who calls Timberlake “fiercely normal, in a good way,” gave the duo a choice: they could film their sex scenes, which feature graphic acts in which one or the other’s head is under the sheets, at either the beginning or the end of production. They chose the last possible moment. “We figured that by then we’d really, hopefully, be friends, which is what happened,” says Kunis. “It’s always uncomfortable to do those scenes—it doesn’t matter if it’s with a same-sex partner or opposite-sex partner,” she says, referring to her lesbian scenes with Natalie Portman in Black Swan. “You have to be in these crazy positions for 12 to 16 hours. I’ll never forget when Justin had to be on top of me with his right hand on my left pasty and his left hand on my right pasty—my feet were getting numb, and I think his hands were giving out on him. It was a workout.”

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James Franco's 'The Broken Tower'

Vanity Fair on James Franco's (feature-length) directorial debut 'The Broken Tower'

Marathon Behind The Scenes Twilight Shoot Footage

From Vanity Fair's 'Twilight' cast shoot. I'm sure we'll see a spread when picture opens. At over an hour this is the longest behind-the-scenes feature I've seen.

Twilight Cast Interviews

VF has interviews with the cast of 'Twilight'. This from Kristen Stewart's:

What was your initial impression of the project?

I thought it was really ambitious, this portrayal of the ultimate, most epic love story that could be. Also, Bella is not a typical female lead. The power balance between her and Edward is really skewed. Edward is this confident, perfect, idealistic man, although deep down he's actually really afraid. Bella is naive but also sure-footed. Whatever it is inside of her that drives her is stronger than she is. She just trusts the shit out of herself.

Vanity Fair Covers Paul Newman

Patricia Bosworth has penned a lengthy appreciation of Paul Newman.

It's refreshing to find a well researched thoughtfully written long-form piece vying for attention in an internet filled with clipped shoot-from-the-hip blogs. (You can still find such well-crafted work [online] but, usually, it's not concerned with movies or movie stars). This piece has the charm of a long lost era. Check it out when you have the time to enjoy it.

Here's a taste:

Born in 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a prosperous sporting-goods-store owner named Arthur Newman, Paul was raised, with older brother Arthur junior, by their mother, Theresa (a great cook), to be polite, read books, and appreciate music. Idealism and the Golden Rule came naturally to Paul, as did a taste for beer and a love of practical jokes.

He joined the navy during World War II (the war America believed in), and it was while he was in the Pacific serving as a radioman (after being dropped from flight-training school because he was color-blind) on a torpedo plane that he experienced his first brush with "Newman's luck." One afternoon his aircraft was grounded because the pilot he regularly flew with had an ear problem. The rest of his squadron was transferred to another aircraft carrier, which was subsequently hit by a kamikaze, killing the members of his team.

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Every Tuesday and Friday, Newman showed up at the Actors Studio for class. He was bowled over by the creative diversity of the place--from the gnarled ancient actress Tamara Dakahanova, who had worked with Konstantin Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre, to Martin Ritt, a Group Theatre alum who would later direct Newman in six movies, including Hud. Newman would always credit the Studio as the major influence on his acting. "[It] was fabulous in those days," he told Rolling Stone. He would watch Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Kim Stanley, and Geraldine Page work on scenes. "I learned so much," he'd say. Years later, when he was president of the Actors Studio, in the 1980s, Newman would talk to us members about what good acting is --"not acting. It's reacting. You gotta be in the moment," he would say, "and always ask yourself the key questions an actor asks: Who am I? What am I doing here? Where am I going as the character?"

How can you resist that?

Photos By Mark Seliger

Vanity Fair has a tribute to the work of Mark Seliger.

What's Up With Superheroes (And Super-Villains)? Or: The Birth Of A New Genre...

Have the bad guys taken over?

Over at Vanity Fair, Julian Sancton has an analysis of why superhero movies are so hot lately entitled 'Why America Worships Superheroes'. One of the most interesting things about his write-up is the inclusion of The Joker from 'The Dark Knight' in the photo used to illustrate the piece. Joker, of course, is not a superhero but a super-villain. Of the four characters in the photo, the only one that isn't a superhero is The Joker. More to the point, conspicuously missing from the photo is...Batman.

Read the rest

Sex And The Somewhat Crabby Yet Observant And Funny Columnist

I don't plan on seeing 'Sex and the City' but I know it'll be a hit. Women are going on about this picture. They can't wait to see it. Ned Zeman over at Vanity Fair has a few choice comments:

...every time I turn on a TV, I'm bombarded by that god-awful theme music, plus the latest snippet of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, or Charlotte trying to look as if she's not trying to look 30.

It's no revelation that women have always been as funny or funnier than men. The problem with Sex and the City is that it validates the long-held argument that they are not--and that the range of both their humor and their interests is limited to the distance between strapless shoes and strap-on vibrators.

About Carrie's love interest:

The woman who marries a guy like that hates herself, secretly desires to be Page Six fodder, and pretty much counts the days before he bangs one of her best friends.

Vanity Fair Shoot

I posted a link to this video earlier but now it's available on YouTube so I'm putting it up. These girls are funny.

Funny Girls

Here's VF's April cover by some photog named Leibovitz. From left to right are Sarah Silverman (who I feel certain has a crush on me), Tina Fey (a mutual friend told me she likes me), and Amy Poehler (we were married just a couple years ago [sorry Sarah and Tina]).

Okay, here's a behind-the-scenes shot by Kathryn MacLeod of the so-called 'funny women'. The sophisticated one (without the rubber chicken) is Leibovitz. More pix by MacLeod.

Here's a making-of video -- it's funny as hell. The April issue of Vanity Fair, gonna be good (not like the last one).

Vanity Fair's Women Of Hollywood

Here's Amy Adams shot by Kathryn MacLeod for Vanity Fair as Amy preps to shoot a cover for Annie Leibovitz. More of Kathryn's behind the scenes shots. VF cover making-of video. Who knew shooting a cover for VF was so much work?

The Gang's All Here

Story at Vanity Fair, pics by Annie Leibovitz -- can't beat it.

Redstone vs Geffen

Vanity Fair has some light reading.

Photo Shoot

Here's video of William Waldron's shoot of Diane von Furstenberg for the next Vanity Fair.

Killer Portfolio

Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz have teamed to produce a set of noir photographs for the 2007 Hollywood portfolio called 'Killers Kill, Dead Men Die'. Above is Kirsten Dunst during production on the Universal lot.

Other stars involved include: Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Jessica Alba, Pedro Almodóvar, Alec Baldwin,Adam Beach, Jessica Biel, Abigail Breslin, Jennifer Connelly, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., Aaron Eckhart, James Franco, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Hudson, Anjelica Huston, Rinko Kikuchi, Diane Lane, Derek Luke, Tobey Maguire, James McAvoy, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Jack Nicholson, Bill Nighy, Ed Norton, Peter O'Toole, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Kerry Washington, Naomi Watts, Forest Whitaker, Bruce Willis, Patrick Wilson, Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood.

Annie Leibovitz writes about the project. Here is a behind the scenes making of video. Here is an excerpt with narration. Here is a behind the scenes slideshow.

This stuff is, you'll pardon me...killer.

Meanwhile, Over At Vanity Fair

There's a look at some of Annie Leibovitz's VF covers. (Can you guess who's pictured)?

Michael Douglas makes faces for Howard Schatz's book In Character: Actors Acting.

And Leo DiCaprio with icebergs.

How Much Work?

How much work does it take to do a photo shoot? Here's a look. Vanity Fair has footage of "Dreamgirls" Beyonce Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, and Jennifer Hudson taken during a session for photographer Mark Seliger.