24 NOVEMBER 2006.- ABC, "MEL GIBSONīS APOCALYPTO"
VIDEO: Moviemaking with Mel Gibson
VIDEO: Apocalypto a new beginning to Gibson
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/
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25 NOVEMBER 2006.- NEXT WEEK, MEL GIBSON ON UNIVISION
Mel Gibson will appear on a prime-time special on Univision's weekly news magazine show "Aqui y Ahora" ("Here and Now") on Nov. 30 with co-host Teresa Rodriguez as part of a promotional blitz aimed at Latinos.
One night before "Apocalypto" debuts in theaters, Gibson is scheduled as a guest on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
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27 NOVEMBER 2006.- GIBSON SPEAKS OUT
Mel Gibson and Diane Sawyer
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In a rare interview, actor Mel Gibson has admitted that his arrest for drunken driving was a "scandal".
Speaking to Empire, Gibson said that it was "just scandal and human frailty".
"That'll go; that's my thing," he added, before shifting the focus to his new film 'Apocalypto', an action epic focusing on the decline of the ancient Mayan culture.
Despite the fact that Gibson's popularity has plummeted in recent months, critics expect the film, which the 'Braveheart' thesp funded with his own money, to do fairly well at the box office.
Gibson said of the project: "I think history has a habit of repeating itself. These things have always been the same - political corruption, all these various enterprises that we engage in. Really we're speeding towards our own destruction."
"It's an action-adventure and it's breakneck," he added. "It's a chase movie. It's like...boy, it's like nothing...It has another line running through it that is a big commentary on the human condition...but on the surface of it, it's just pure popcorn."
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28 NOVEMBER 2006.- APOCALYPTO AND GOLDEN GLOBES
'Apocalypto' has been included in the Golden Globe race for best foreign language pic.
Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto," featuring dialogue in the Mayan language, will be eligible for a Golden Globe award in the foreign-language category.
The HFPA has deemed Clint Eastwood's 'Letters from Iwo Jima' eligible for a foreign-language Golden Globes award.
The awards season saw a new plot twist Monday as the Golden Globes included "Apocalypto" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" on its shortlist of foreign-language films -- though neither is eligible for an Oscar in the foreign-language category.
In an already-confusing awards season, this development points up one constantly befuddling factor: the rules of the various voting orgs.
Unlike AMPAS, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has no limits on how many films can be considered from one country. So in the Globes shortlist of 56 pics, there are multiple titles from Italy, France, China, Germany, Spain and India under consideration.
The Hollywood Foreign Press considers any film submitted by its producers, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has a complicated system. Each country can submit only one film, to be determined by a voting body in that country -- and the Academy has to recognize that voting body.
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"APOCALYPTO"
2006
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However, the U.S. has no org to submit foreign-language films and would not recognize any ad-hoc group that formed to submit a film.
If a film is made in the States in a foreign language -- whether it's a Native American tongue or French or Urdu -- it will not be eligible for a foreign-language Oscar. (If a group of Native Americans formed to submit a film to the category, the Acad would not recognize it.)
That's what happened with Mel Gibson and "The Passion of the Christ" a few years ago. It was nominated for cinematography, score and makeup but was ineligible as a foreign-language film.
At the time, Acad critics again brought up the idea of a floating category for foreign-language films that do not easily fit into any category, but the Academy has not budged.
In Hollywood's early days, many foreign directors crossed the pond to direct over here. These days, it's relatively rare for a foreign director to helm a film in English, though some have done it, such as Roman Polanski, Lasse Hallstrom and Ang Lee.
It's far rarer for an American to work in a foreign tongue, but this year features two high-profile offerings. The Globes list the Mel Gibson-helmed "Apocalypto" and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima" as being from, respectively, the U.S. and Japan.
Both will be eligible in most Oscar categories, including best picture. In the Globes, it's a different story. Foreign-language Globe contenders are eligible in all categories except picture. Its two best-film categories (divided into drama and musical or comedy) are reserved for English-language pics.
That means neither "Letters From Iwo Jima" nor "Apocalypto" will be competing for the top prize at the Globes.
Twenty-eight of the 56 films up for the Globe are also in contention for the foreign-language film Oscar. These include "After the Wedding" (Denmark), "Black Book" (the Netherlands), "Cinema, Aspirins & Vultures" (Brazil), "Curse of the Golden Flower" (China), "Days of Glory" (France), "Golden Door" (Italy), "The Lives of Others" (Germany), "Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico) and "Volver" (Spain).
From www.variety.com
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29 NOVEMBER 2006.- GIBSON AT THE 25th INDIO POWWOW AND NATIVE AMERICAN FESTIVAL
Mel Gibson and John A. James
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Mel Gibson made a surprise appearance at the 25th Indio Powwow and Native American Festival on Saturday at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.
Gibson arrived about 7 p.m. and met privately with members of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, including Tribal Chairman John A. James. The actor-director then dined at The Bistro restaurant and spent the night in a suite.
It was Gibson's first-ever powwow according to publicist Jhane Myers, who was a judge at the event and invited him to attend.
From www.thedesertsun.com
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29 NOVEMBER 2006.- GIBSON WILL UNVEIL "APOCALYPTO" IN OKLAHOMA
Actor and director Mel Gibson plans to unveil his new movie "Apocalypto" during a special screening Friday in Oklahoma
The movie, set for a broader release on December 8th, will be shown in a 15-hundred-seat theater at the Riverwind Casino.
Gibson visited the casino in September for two private pre-screenings of the film.
Gibson is expected to attend the event, which is being hosted by the Chickasaw Nation.
His Oklahoma City publicist, Jhane Myers, says that Gibson previously has released his films in New York or Los Angeles. She says his decision to unveil "Apocalypto" in Oklahoma is his way of giving back to the Indian people.
She says Gibson will use the screening as a fundraiser and plans to match every dollar raised through ticket sales and corporate sponsorship, with proceeds to go to the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, the Lupus Foundation-Oklahoma City Chapter, the Indian Health Care Resource Center of Tulsa and the Mayan people of Mexico.
Tickets for the show cost 55 dollars apiece.
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30 NOVEMBER 2006.- "EW" INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE: MEL GIBSON
We have extracted some paragraphs from the interview published by Entertainment Weekly.
Please, click link below in order to read the complete article.
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His skin is less pasty. His blue eyes shine a little brighter. Today, on a breezy afternoon in late November, Mel Gibson is looking a lot more like his old megastar self than he did six weeks earlier, when he went on the air with Diane Sawyer to apologize for the most disastrous performance of his career - the one involving a DUI bust and some anti-Semitic ramblings on a highway near his home in Malibu. ''Well, you know,'' he notes of that puffy-looking appearance on ABC's Good Morning America, as he swivels in an office chair at his company, Icon Productions, in Santa Monica, ''the camera does add 10 pounds.''
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EW: Some of the people in Apocalypto - like Rudy Youngblood, who plays Jaguar Paw - have never been in a movie before. In fact, all the actors you cast are total unknowns. How come?
MEL GIBSON: It's much easier to believe a character who doesn't have any baggage. And Rudy - he's an amazing person. We saw all these other guys, and we made them run around the conference-room table, just to see how they moved. Everybody [flailed their arms] like Jerry Lewis, but Rudy was a real athlete. And then I had a movement teacher work with the cast to knock the 21st century right out of them.
EW: Can you teach anybody to act?
MEL GIBSON: Yeah. It's about breathing. Breathing the rhythm of whatever emotion you're trying to emulate. I swear anybody can do it if they become familiar with a particular type of breath pattern that emulates a particular emotion. That's the foundation.
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EW: Earlier, you mentioned visiting the Mirador Basin. Is that where the idea for Apocalypto came from - a trip to the Mayan ruins?
MEL GIBSON: Oddly enough, I just wanted to fashion a really exciting chase. I wanted something fast and exhilarating. And I thought, What kind of chase? Cars? Nah, I'm sick of cars. Trucks? Planes? Been done before. Foot chase? I haven't ever seen a really good foot chase. A foot chase could be really primal, with animals and all sorts of stuff. So I ran an idea past my assistant at the time - Farhad Safinia, who ended up writing Apocalypto's script with me - about a Native American guy who gets captured. Because we always have this conceit that history started when Europeans got here, but the history of these indigenous people goes back thousands of years.
EW: So the original concept was just a foot chase. Were you trying to invent some new sort of stripped-down action movie?
MEL GIBSON: Yeah, the idea was to pare things down, but also to really push the envelope and make something that didn't let go of you. And with characters that you were really invested in. That was absolutely necessary. In the action genre, you're not always allowed to vicariously identify with the characters. You just watch some guy you can't relate to doing things.
EW: Okay, but wouldn't it be easier to relate to them without subtitles? People gave you a hard enough time about the subtitles in The Passion of the Christ.
MEL GIBSON: The Passion of the Christ needed subtitles because that story had been around for so long and you had to adhere to accuracy in the dialogue. But to me, the perfect film is one with no words at all. I just love the idea of being minimalist in that way, because film is mainly a visual medium. And with this movie, there's not as much need for dialogue. The intention was to keep ripping the dialogue out and see what we could get away with.
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Interview Exclusive Q&A Mel Gibson Click Here
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