If you want to contact us, send an e-mail.
CLICK HERE
BACK , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , NEXT
8 DECEMBER 2006.- MEL GIBSON EATS A COOKIE
A nervous-looking Mel Gibson has joked his way through his first major US TV talkshow interview since July's controversial drink-driving arrest. The live audience at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno greeted Gibson with rapturous applause as he walked onto the stage eating a cookie. There had been fears that audience members might boo the Oscar-winner in response to his anti-Semitic tirade during July's arrest in Malibu, California, but the several hundred-strong audience cheered loudly and laughed at his jokes. "It's the defendant look,'' quipped the normally casually dressed Gibson, referring to his conservative black suit and grey striped tie, before taking his seat. And the jokes kept coming. "The security guard told me if I could walk a straight line, I could have a cookie,'' he said, explaining the biscuit in his hand. Gibson, 50, said he has been sober for "four and a half months'' and is a "work in progress'' as he battles his alcohol addiction |
MEL GIBSON AND JAY LENO |
8 DECEMBER 2006.- THE AMUY AFFAIR
ONCE UPON A TIME, There was a naive guy ....
The producer, Ana Roth, affirms that "The Amuy Affair" was a terrible mistake.
"We spent two days in Veracruz shooting the trailer. In fact, what we did was not a trailer, we just shot a "teaser" (whose images were widely distributed and publicized, of course) There were no actors/actresses playing in this trailer"
Apparently, Amuy did not realize that he was not the star of "Apocalypto", and Miguel Angel Galvan did not realize that he was not the High Priest (And WE did not realize that the teaser trailer was a FARCE). Poor GUYS!!!.
Nobody let them know that the director was filming a trailer.
By the way, nobody let the media know that those images were not part of "Apocalypto".
A TERRIBLE CHAIN OF MISTAKES!!!
You can translate the text HERE
Rudy knew that he was the star
Mauricio Amuy fue contratado para filmar los avances de la película "Apocalypto" y no para ser su protagonista, dijo la productora mexicana Ana Roth, quien trabajó junto a Mel Gibson en la realización de la cinta.
"Todo ha sido una confusión", expresó en declaraciones al periódico Milenio.
Explicó que "todo parte de que en una ocasión nos fuimos dos días a Veracruz para filmar el 'teaser' (adelanto), ni siquiera fue un 'trailer' (corto), fue un 'teaser' que no tuvo a ningún actor, no había estelares".
"Después de ese día jamás volvimos a ver a Mauricio. Nunca creímos que pensara que era nuestro protagonista", agregó.
Amuy previamente había dicho a la AP que "todas las personas se merecen un respeto" al demandar explicaciones de su remoción de la película, cuando argumentó que tenía copias de reportajes en internet y de la revista Rolling Stones en los que se le cita como el actor principal del largometraje.
Roth señaló a Milenio que incluso se contrató provisionalmente a una mujer que estaba embarazada
The producer, Ana Roth, affirms that "The Amuy Affair" was a terrible mistake.
"We spent two days in Veracruz shooting the trailer. In fact, what we did was not a trailer, we just shot a "teaser" (whose images were widely distributed and publicized, of course) There were no actors/actresses playing in this trailer"
Apparently, Amuy did not realize that he was not the star of "Apocalypto", and Miguel Angel Galvan did not realize that he was not the High Priest (And WE did not realize that the teaser trailer was a FARCE). Poor GUYS!!!.
Nobody let them know that the director was filming a trailer.
By the way, nobody let the media know that those images were not part of "Apocalypto".
A TERRIBLE CHAIN OF MISTAKES!!!
You can translate the text HERE
Rudy knew that he was the star
Mauricio Amuy fue contratado para filmar los avances de la película "Apocalypto" y no para ser su protagonista, dijo la productora mexicana Ana Roth, quien trabajó junto a Mel Gibson en la realización de la cinta.
"Todo ha sido una confusión", expresó en declaraciones al periódico Milenio.
Explicó que "todo parte de que en una ocasión nos fuimos dos días a Veracruz para filmar el 'teaser' (adelanto), ni siquiera fue un 'trailer' (corto), fue un 'teaser' que no tuvo a ningún actor, no había estelares".
"Después de ese día jamás volvimos a ver a Mauricio. Nunca creímos que pensara que era nuestro protagonista", agregó.
Amuy previamente había dicho a la AP que "todas las personas se merecen un respeto" al demandar explicaciones de su remoción de la película, cuando argumentó que tenía copias de reportajes en internet y de la revista Rolling Stones en los que se le cita como el actor principal del largometraje.
Roth señaló a Milenio que incluso se contrató provisionalmente a una mujer que estaba embarazada
|
Mauricio Amuy fue contratado para filmar los avances de la película "Apocalypto" y no para ser su protagonista, dijo la productora mexicana Ana Roth, quien trabajó junto a Mel Gibson en la realización de la cinta. |
9 DECEMBER 2006.- IN "APOCALYPTO", FACT AND FICTION PLAY HIDE AND SEEK
Source: calendarlive.com
A key consultant among several archeologists who served as advisors on Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" said he is disappointed that the film overlooks many of the Mayas' cultural and scientific achievements and portrays the people as "bloodthirsty savages."
As a chase movie, "Apocalypto" is top-notch, said Richard D. Hansen, a professor of anthropology at Idaho State University who has written extensively about the Mayas. The sets, makeup and costumes are also "accurate to the nth degree," he noted. But it's a feature film - not a documentary - which may let down those looking for accuracy at every turn.
"This is Hollywood, first and foremost," Hansen said.
As with any historically based feature, whether it's "Alexander" or "All the President's Men," directors take creative license with the facts. "Apocalypto" is no different.
"The final decision when making a film is, 'What is the right balance between historical authenticity and making it exciting, visually as well?' " said Farhad Safinia, who cowrote the script with Gibson, adding: "The film is an all out entertainment thrill ride, and that is what it was always designed to do. It is a work of fiction."
Gibson and Safinia have said they wanted the film to serve as a reminder to today's world that the precursor to the fall of a civilization is always the same: widespread environmental degradation, excessive consumption and political corruption.
But archeologists point out that nobody knows why the Mayas, who ruled in the Americas for more than 1,000 years, abandoned their cities and allowed their majestic pyramids to become overgrown with jungle. And to watch Gibson's "Apocalypto," one might not realize that the Mayas were in fact a highly sophisticated people: They mapped celestial objects, developed an accurate 365-day calendar, created their own writing system and perhaps most notably had developed the concept of zero in mathematics.
"The calendar [angle] is so rich," Hansen said. "It would have been a marvelous part of the story."
Safinia said that the film's narrative is told through the eyes of the central protagonist, Jaguar Paw, and it is his journey that we follow. "You do see aspects of the Mayan civilization in the background," Safinia said, such as their architecture, their industry and their preponderance to ornament themselves with jewelry, costumes, textiles and such.
Gibson's long-awaited film, which opened Friday to mixed reviews and criticism of its scenes of excessive violence, re-creates with great effect the bloody drama of human sacrifice that took place atop a Maya pyramid.
In one memorable scene, a Maya priest slashes open the chests of frightened prisoners, rips out their still-beating hearts and decapitates them. All the while, the populace screams and gesticulates wildly as each severed head comes bouncing down the steps.
Experts say that although the Mayas did practice human sacrifice, it came late to their civilization and was likely picked up from the Aztecs.
The movie "makes us think that maybe [the Maya] were bloodthirsty savages," Hansen said.
Safinia says that reality was far more intense than the film shows. "The Mayans did engage in decapitation. They did roll bodies down the temple steps," he said, noting there is evidence that the crowds tore the bodies apart limb by limb, but "you can't show that stuff" on screen.
The film's hero, played by actor Rudy Youngblood, is a forest dweller who is taken prisoner by a Maya raiding party. Later, he and other captives are given a chance to run for their lives in a deadly game in which Maya warriors throw spears and fire arrows at them for sport.
Hansen and Safinia can't say for certain that such a game ever existed among the Mayas.
"The process of using these individuals as target practice is a real possibility," Hansen said. "I couldn't say it did happen, but I couldn't say it didn't either. [Gibson] wanted to have some reason to have the guys go after Rudy Youngblood, to go after the hero….That was entirely Mel's scenario - but it's highly reasonable."
Some question why Gibson included that scene instead of a sport for which the Mayas are truly famous: ball games.
Jim Brady, who teaches archeology at Cal State L.A., said he has never heard of the Mayas staging a target practice game with prisoners, but they certainly staged sporting events on ball courts using rubber balls and stone rings. Brady, who has not seen the film, noted that there are indications that the captain of the losing team may have been sacrificed, "but we don't know how much that happened."
In the film, Jaguar Paw and other prisoners appear awed by the grandeur of the pyramids as they are led into the Maya city to meet their fate.
But Brady notes that anyone living in that region certainly would have been aware of pyramids.
In another much talked-about scene, Jaguar Paw comes upon a giant pit filled with hundreds of sacrificial bodies.
Hansen said it is "conjecture" whether those pits existed. "All [Gibson was] trying to do there is express the horror of it."
"Apocalypto" depicts the latter days - the post-classic period - of Maya civilization, but the main pyramid where the human sacrifices occurred actually comes from classic period, when the Mayas were at their zenith. "There was nothing in the post-classic period that would match the size and majesty of that pyramid in the film," Hansen said. "But Gibson was trying to make a story here. He was trying to depict opulence, wealth, consumption of resources."
Safinia said the mixing of architectures was done for aesthetic reasons.
About 25 members of the Maya community in Los Angeles were invited to an advance screening of Gibson's film last week. Two of those who attended came away impressed, but added that they too wished Gibson had shown more of the Maya civilization.
"It was a great action film that kept me on the edge of my seat," said Sara Zapata Mijares, president and founder of Federacion de Clubes Yucatecos-USA. "I think it should have had a little bit more of the culture," such as the pyramids. "It could have shown a little more why these buildings were built."
Still, she said, it was a "great picture."
Alfonso Escalante, who teaches folk dancing, said the movie was "very exciting" and the costumes were stunning, but for people who don't know anything about the Maya culture, "It's going to be a little tough because there was more about killing than about the culture. But definitely, they are going to see how they looked at that time, how they lived."
|
|
A key consultant among several archeologists who served as advisors on Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" said he is disappointed that the film overlooks many of the Mayas' cultural and scientific achievements and portrays the people as "bloodthirsty savages."
As a chase movie, "Apocalypto" is top-notch, said Richard D. Hansen, a professor of anthropology at Idaho State University who has written extensively about the Mayas. The sets, makeup and costumes are also "accurate to the nth degree," he noted. But it's a feature film - not a documentary - which may let down those looking for accuracy at every turn.
"This is Hollywood, first and foremost," Hansen said.
As with any historically based feature, whether it's "Alexander" or "All the President's Men," directors take creative license with the facts. "Apocalypto" is no different.
"The final decision when making a film is, 'What is the right balance between historical authenticity and making it exciting, visually as well?' " said Farhad Safinia, who cowrote the script with Gibson, adding: "The film is an all out entertainment thrill ride, and that is what it was always designed to do. It is a work of fiction."
Gibson and Safinia have said they wanted the film to serve as a reminder to today's world that the precursor to the fall of a civilization is always the same: widespread environmental degradation, excessive consumption and political corruption.
But archeologists point out that nobody knows why the Mayas, who ruled in the Americas for more than 1,000 years, abandoned their cities and allowed their majestic pyramids to become overgrown with jungle. And to watch Gibson's "Apocalypto," one might not realize that the Mayas were in fact a highly sophisticated people: They mapped celestial objects, developed an accurate 365-day calendar, created their own writing system and perhaps most notably had developed the concept of zero in mathematics.
"The calendar [angle] is so rich," Hansen said. "It would have been a marvelous part of the story."
|
|
Safinia said that the film's narrative is told through the eyes of the central protagonist, Jaguar Paw, and it is his journey that we follow. "You do see aspects of the Mayan civilization in the background," Safinia said, such as their architecture, their industry and their preponderance to ornament themselves with jewelry, costumes, textiles and such.
Gibson's long-awaited film, which opened Friday to mixed reviews and criticism of its scenes of excessive violence, re-creates with great effect the bloody drama of human sacrifice that took place atop a Maya pyramid.
In one memorable scene, a Maya priest slashes open the chests of frightened prisoners, rips out their still-beating hearts and decapitates them. All the while, the populace screams and gesticulates wildly as each severed head comes bouncing down the steps.
Experts say that although the Mayas did practice human sacrifice, it came late to their civilization and was likely picked up from the Aztecs.
The movie "makes us think that maybe [the Maya] were bloodthirsty savages," Hansen said.
Safinia says that reality was far more intense than the film shows. "The Mayans did engage in decapitation. They did roll bodies down the temple steps," he said, noting there is evidence that the crowds tore the bodies apart limb by limb, but "you can't show that stuff" on screen.
The film's hero, played by actor Rudy Youngblood, is a forest dweller who is taken prisoner by a Maya raiding party. Later, he and other captives are given a chance to run for their lives in a deadly game in which Maya warriors throw spears and fire arrows at them for sport.
|
|
Hansen and Safinia can't say for certain that such a game ever existed among the Mayas.
"The process of using these individuals as target practice is a real possibility," Hansen said. "I couldn't say it did happen, but I couldn't say it didn't either. [Gibson] wanted to have some reason to have the guys go after Rudy Youngblood, to go after the hero….That was entirely Mel's scenario - but it's highly reasonable."
Some question why Gibson included that scene instead of a sport for which the Mayas are truly famous: ball games.
Jim Brady, who teaches archeology at Cal State L.A., said he has never heard of the Mayas staging a target practice game with prisoners, but they certainly staged sporting events on ball courts using rubber balls and stone rings. Brady, who has not seen the film, noted that there are indications that the captain of the losing team may have been sacrificed, "but we don't know how much that happened."
In the film, Jaguar Paw and other prisoners appear awed by the grandeur of the pyramids as they are led into the Maya city to meet their fate.
But Brady notes that anyone living in that region certainly would have been aware of pyramids.
In another much talked-about scene, Jaguar Paw comes upon a giant pit filled with hundreds of sacrificial bodies.
Hansen said it is "conjecture" whether those pits existed. "All [Gibson was] trying to do there is express the horror of it."
"Apocalypto" depicts the latter days - the post-classic period - of Maya civilization, but the main pyramid where the human sacrifices occurred actually comes from classic period, when the Mayas were at their zenith. "There was nothing in the post-classic period that would match the size and majesty of that pyramid in the film," Hansen said. "But Gibson was trying to make a story here. He was trying to depict opulence, wealth, consumption of resources."
Safinia said the mixing of architectures was done for aesthetic reasons.
About 25 members of the Maya community in Los Angeles were invited to an advance screening of Gibson's film last week. Two of those who attended came away impressed, but added that they too wished Gibson had shown more of the Maya civilization.
"It was a great action film that kept me on the edge of my seat," said Sara Zapata Mijares, president and founder of Federacion de Clubes Yucatecos-USA. "I think it should have had a little bit more of the culture," such as the pyramids. "It could have shown a little more why these buildings were built."
Still, she said, it was a "great picture."
Alfonso Escalante, who teaches folk dancing, said the movie was "very exciting" and the costumes were stunning, but for people who don't know anything about the Maya culture, "It's going to be a little tough because there was more about killing than about the culture. But definitely, they are going to see how they looked at that time, how they lived."
9 DECEMBER 2006.- GIBSON IS SIXTH MOST POPULAR
Source: Mirror.co.uk
Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks is America's favourite film actor, according to a poll by Gallup. He was still America's favourite among the 13 actors.
But while 44 per cent of people surveyed would make a "special effort" to see a Hanks movie, Tom Cruise headed the list of actors whose films they would avoid.
Angelina Jolie was next, with 18 per cent shunning her movies. Mel Gibson scored 15 per cent in the Gallup survey in trade magazine Editor and Publisher.
Next came Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts, Will Smith and Sandra Bullock. Reese Witherspoon was No 7.
Source: Mirror.co.uk
|
|
10 DECEMBER 2006.- THE PYRAMIDS
A CRUEL FATE.
The famous Pyramids have been demolished, according to Ana Roth "for security reasons". The fragility of the materials and all this stuff..
Their fans will miss them very much.
R.I.P
A CRUEL FATE.
|
|
11 DECEMBER 2006.- GIBSON´S EPIC TAKES IN $14.2 MILLION
Source: Variety.com
"Apocalypto" turned out to be one hell of a date movie.
Helped by couples who made up 82% of the pic's Saturday audience -- a number that surprised even tracking experts -- Mel Gibson's subtitled Mayan movie rose above the director's recent off-set controversy to top the weekend's domestic box office among plenty of competition.
Pic took in $14.1 million in 2,465 engagements for a per-screen average of $5,747.
That was enough to edge out Sony's traditional romantic comedy "The Holiday," from director Nancy Meyers, which opened at No. 2 with $13.5 million from 2,610 playdates.
In other new openers, Warner Bros. -- which has been on a roll with its CG-animated "Happy Feet" -- opened political adventure "Blood Diamond" in 1,910 engagements for a take of $8.5 million. Per-engagement average for the pic, about the mining of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone, stood at $4,458.
Studio also sent out family pic "Unaccompanied Minors" in 2,775 playdates to bring in $6.2 million.
"Apocalypto" dug into "Diamond's" shimmer as both pics aimed to draw primarily male auds. But Disney won the weekend by also bringing in more females than the studio had been anticipating. Before the weekend, a Mouse House rep had described "Apocalypto's" demographic as "all male," in part because of pic's violent content.
"We see this as the blog conversation or water-cooler conversation of the week," said Disney distribution head Chuck Viane of the pic's crossover appeal. "This film is so creative, so fresh and different. There's so much competition that in this marketplace you have to delineate yourself."
Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" bowed to $83 million-plus in 2004, after major studios snubbed the pic and Gibson went with an indie release. Project wound up grossing more than $370 million domestically.
"Apocalypto's" appeal left "Diamond" flawed, and Warners' domestic distribution head Dan Fellman said the tally for the pic -- starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connolly and Djimon Hounsou -- was slightly less than the studio had been hoping.
But he added that Warners had purposely released the pic in a more limited run to start, and that biz would build through the holidays as awards nominations and critics' best-of lists are unveiled.
|
|
"Apocalypto" turned out to be one hell of a date movie.
Helped by couples who made up 82% of the pic's Saturday audience -- a number that surprised even tracking experts -- Mel Gibson's subtitled Mayan movie rose above the director's recent off-set controversy to top the weekend's domestic box office among plenty of competition.
Pic took in $14.1 million in 2,465 engagements for a per-screen average of $5,747. That was enough to edge out Sony's traditional romantic comedy "The Holiday," from director Nancy Meyers, which opened at No. 2 with $13.5 million from 2,610 playdates.
In other new openers, Warner Bros. -- which has been on a roll with its CG-animated "Happy Feet" -- opened political adventure "Blood Diamond" in 1,910 engagements for a take of $8.5 million. Per-engagement average for the pic, about the mining of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone, stood at $4,458.
Studio also sent out family pic "Unaccompanied Minors" in 2,775 playdates to bring in $6.2 million.
"Apocalypto" dug into "Diamond's" shimmer as both pics aimed to draw primarily male auds. But Disney won the weekend by also bringing in more females than the studio had been anticipating. Before the weekend, a Mouse House rep had described "Apocalypto's" demographic as "all male," in part because of pic's violent content.
"We see this as the blog conversation or water-cooler conversation of the week," said Disney distribution head Chuck Viane of the pic's crossover appeal. "This film is so creative, so fresh and different. There's so much competition that in this marketplace you have to delineate yourself."
Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" bowed to $83 million-plus in 2004, after major studios snubbed the pic and Gibson went with an indie release. Project wound up grossing more than $370 million domestically.
"Apocalypto's" appeal left "Diamond" flawed, and Warners' domestic distribution head Dan Fellman said the tally for the pic -- starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connolly and Djimon Hounsou -- was slightly less than the studio had been hoping.
But he added that Warners had purposely released the pic in a more limited run to start, and that biz would build through the holidays as awards nominations and critics' best-of lists are unveiled.
12 DECEMBER 2006.- MEXICAN DIRECTOR ACCUSES MEL GIBSON OF STEALING SCENES
Source: www.entertainmentwise.com
Mel Gibson has come under fire from a Mexican film director who claims that Gibson stole his ideas to use in his new film 'Apocalypto'.
Juan Catlett claims that Gibson stole scenes from his film 'Return To Aztlan' to use in 'Apocalypto' after he paid just 100 pesos for a copy of the film.
Catlett said of the 'Apocalypto': "There are images very similar to those in my film.
According to Catlett, they contacted him last year and solicited a video of his film and, though he wanted to give the video as a present, they insisted on paying for it.
"It seems my movie served as a consultancy and a reference - and they only paid me 100 pesos."
Both films deal with the subject of ancient civilisations dying out; however, Gibson's film has made millions while Cateltt's 1989 film is all but forgotten.
Mel Gibson has come under fire from a Mexican film director who claims that Gibson stole his ideas to use in his new film 'Apocalypto'.
Juan Catlett claims that Gibson stole scenes from his film 'Return To Aztlan' to use in 'Apocalypto' after he paid just 100 pesos for a copy of the film.
Catlett said of the 'Apocalypto': "There are images very similar to those in my film.
According to Catlett, they contacted him last year and solicited a video of his film and, though he wanted to give the video as a present, they insisted on paying for it.
"It seems my movie served as a consultancy and a reference - and they only paid me 100 pesos."
Both films deal with the subject of ancient civilisations dying out; however, Gibson's film has made millions while Cateltt's 1989 film is all but forgotten.
12 DECEMBER 2006.- BFCA NOMINEES
"Babel," "The Departed," "Dreamgirls" and "Little Miss Sunshine" earned seven nods each to lead the nominations for the Broadcast Film Critics Associations' 12th annual Critics Choice Awards, the organization announced Tuesday.
The four films were all on the BFCA's list of 10 nominees for Best Picture. Also up for the honor are "Blood Diamond," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Queen" and "United 93."
Missing from the list is the critically acclaimed World War II drama "Flags of Our Fathers," director Clint Eastwood's companion film to his "Letters from Iwo Jima."
"Letters" also set a BFCA first, but earning a nomination for Best Foreign Language film. Also up in that category is director Mel Gibson's Mayan epic "Apocalypto."
Awards are handed out by the BFCA in 19 categories.
|
|
The four films were all on the BFCA's list of 10 nominees for Best Picture. Also up for the honor are "Blood Diamond," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Queen" and "United 93." Missing from the list is the critically acclaimed World War II drama "Flags of Our Fathers," director Clint Eastwood's companion film to his "Letters from Iwo Jima."
"Letters" also set a BFCA first, but earning a nomination for Best Foreign Language film. Also up in that category is director Mel Gibson's Mayan epic "Apocalypto."
Awards are handed out by the BFCA in 19 categories.
13 DECEMBER 2006.- "IT´S NOT THAT BAD"
Source: The Age, Australia
THERE is violence and there is violence, said Mel Gibson.
"It's not that bad," he said of the film, set in the closing days of the Mayan Indian empire, 500 years ago. "You didn't see a hand going into a chest cavity. Yeah, you saw a beating heart, but I was merciful."
This was a reference to a human sacrifice scene
Gibson's promotional appearances have been few and far between.
Last night was a rare exception, with a public Q-and-A following a screening for the Australians in Film group.
Gibson was asked if he felt vindicated by his film's early success. "No, that's not it," he replied. "I'm just glad people are responding to it. It's really gratifying.
"It's like being a chef, and you want people to eat your stuff."
"Violence?" he echoed, in tones of mock surprise. "I try to avoid it a lot. I don't think it is any more violent than Braveheart. Look at Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
"I think the reason people think it's more violent is because I let them care about the character, whereas you don't care about a pimply-faced teenager hanging from a meathook in Chainsaw."
Nothing he had done, Gibson added, could be called excessively gratuitous. An audience member reminded him of a scene in Apocalypto in which blood pulsates from a massive neck wound.
"I know it's over the top," he replied, "but it's medically accurate."
|
|
THERE is violence and there is violence, said Mel Gibson.
"It's not that bad," he said of the film, set in the closing days of the Mayan Indian empire, 500 years ago. "You didn't see a hand going into a chest cavity. Yeah, you saw a beating heart, but I was merciful."
This was a reference to a human sacrifice scene
Gibson's promotional appearances have been few and far between.
Last night was a rare exception, with a public Q-and-A following a screening for the Australians in Film group.
Gibson was asked if he felt vindicated by his film's early success. "No, that's not it," he replied. "I'm just glad people are responding to it. It's really gratifying.
"It's like being a chef, and you want people to eat your stuff."
"Violence?" he echoed, in tones of mock surprise. "I try to avoid it a lot. I don't think it is any more violent than Braveheart. Look at Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
"I think the reason people think it's more violent is because I let them care about the character, whereas you don't care about a pimply-faced teenager hanging from a meathook in Chainsaw."
Nothing he had done, Gibson added, could be called excessively gratuitous. An audience member reminded him of a scene in Apocalypto in which blood pulsates from a massive neck wound.
"I know it's over the top," he replied, "but it's medically accurate."
14 DECEMBER 2006.- RUDY YOUNGBLOOD SURPRISED TO BE STAR
Source: The Wichita Eagle
When Rudy Youngblood went to an open casting call in Los Angeles last year for Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto," he didn't know what to expect.
He was a 25-year-old Native American from Texas, an award-winning grass dancer with no acting experience.
"When I got there, Mel Gibson sat down and talked with me, then asked me to run around his conference table. He said, 'You move like an animal, a cat.' Three days later, I was on a plane to Mexico to film," he said.
"Everything happened so fast. I thought I was going to be a featured extra. When I asked, Mel just laughed. He said I was the star."
Youngblood will be in Wichita this Friday for public appearances at the east-side Warren Theatre and the Mid-America All-Indian Center, as well as a private meeting with Native American children.
------------
Youngblood grew up in Belton, a town of about 13,000 people in central Texas, about 90 minutes north of Austin. He was a football and track jock and had no interest in school plays.
"But I loved movies because I could lose myself in them," he said. "I grew up without a father, so I wasn't taught a lot of things. I'm not even sure I'm shaving right. But I am the man I am."
He appeared in a 2005 music video about native American music and dance and went to California to see what else he could do. He met Gibson, and his life changed.
"As far as labor jobs, I'd done them all -- construction, carpenter, plumbing, electrician, landscaping. I know about hard work," he said.
"Now I want to pursue acting. I want to make it work. It puts me in a position to give back to my family, my people."
He considers Gibson more than just the director who gave him his big break.
"Me and Mel are friends. We clicked on a certain level. He became my mentor and father figure. He taught me a lot. I will always do right by him because he believed in me."
Of Gibson's recent troubles stemming from drunken driving and charges of anti-Semitism, Youngblood said only that "Mel works so hard. He needs a vacation."
-------------
Youngblood said he identified with his character in "Apocalypto."
"It wasn't just my heritage. I am a lot like Jaguar Paw. He is who I am: caring and loving. He's an athlete, a golden boy not yet a man. It was easy for me to relate. What you see is who I am."
He started in a starring role, but Youngblood isn't taking his career for granted.
"Absolutely not. There are so many things for me to learn. It put me at a certain level, but it's up to me to rise to each challenge. I have to work to be better. Each performance has to be better," he said.
Working in movies has taken a bit of the magic out of watching them, he admitted. But not all.
"I'm still a country boy. My boots go everywhere I do. I can still lose myself in a movie the first time around. Only the second or third time around do I notice how it was put together."
|
|
When Rudy Youngblood went to an open casting call in Los Angeles last year for Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto," he didn't know what to expect.
He was a 25-year-old Native American from Texas, an award-winning grass dancer with no acting experience.
"When I got there, Mel Gibson sat down and talked with me, then asked me to run around his conference table. He said, 'You move like an animal, a cat.' Three days later, I was on a plane to Mexico to film," he said.
"Everything happened so fast. I thought I was going to be a featured extra. When I asked, Mel just laughed. He said I was the star."
Youngblood will be in Wichita this Friday for public appearances at the east-side Warren Theatre and the Mid-America All-Indian Center, as well as a private meeting with Native American children.
Youngblood grew up in Belton, a town of about 13,000 people in central Texas, about 90 minutes north of Austin. He was a football and track jock and had no interest in school plays.
"But I loved movies because I could lose myself in them," he said. "I grew up without a father, so I wasn't taught a lot of things. I'm not even sure I'm shaving right. But I am the man I am."
He appeared in a 2005 music video about native American music and dance and went to California to see what else he could do. He met Gibson, and his life changed.
"As far as labor jobs, I'd done them all -- construction, carpenter, plumbing, electrician, landscaping. I know about hard work," he said.
"Now I want to pursue acting. I want to make it work. It puts me in a position to give back to my family, my people."
He considers Gibson more than just the director who gave him his big break.
"Me and Mel are friends. We clicked on a certain level. He became my mentor and father figure. He taught me a lot. I will always do right by him because he believed in me."
Of Gibson's recent troubles stemming from drunken driving and charges of anti-Semitism, Youngblood said only that "Mel works so hard. He needs a vacation."
Youngblood said he identified with his character in "Apocalypto."
"It wasn't just my heritage. I am a lot like Jaguar Paw. He is who I am: caring and loving. He's an athlete, a golden boy not yet a man. It was easy for me to relate. What you see is who I am."
He started in a starring role, but Youngblood isn't taking his career for granted.
"Absolutely not. There are so many things for me to learn. It put me at a certain level, but it's up to me to rise to each challenge. I have to work to be better. Each performance has to be better," he said.
Working in movies has taken a bit of the magic out of watching them, he admitted. But not all.
"I'm still a country boy. My boots go everywhere I do. I can still lose myself in a movie the first time around. Only the second or third time around do I notice how it was put together."
14 DECEMBER 2006.- APOCALYPTO, NEW REPORTAGE
The French magazine "CINE LIVE" publishes an extent reportage, "MEL GIBSON. La maya façon de marcher"
"Le film relève de l'universalité du conte. À l'âge de Jaguar Paw on est loin d'être un homme complet. Je suis d'ailleurs loin, aujourd'hui d'être un homme complet moi-même et j'en ai profité pour glisser un souvenir personnel dans le film ; lorsque j'avais quinze ans, un type m'a traité de "pas fini", J'aurais largement préferé me faire traiter de petit merdeux. Les mots "pas fini", c'était pour moi une offense, une humiliation absolute. Et pourtant, c'étair vrai. Dans le film l'héros s'entend dire ça. L'idée c'était de le faire évoluer du statut de "pas fini" à celui d'homme. Et d'accelerer pour les besoins du film le processus des experiences humaines qu'il faut accomplir pour y arriver," MEL GIBSON
The French magazine "CINE LIVE" publishes an extent reportage, "MEL GIBSON. La maya façon de marcher"
|
|
14 DECEMBER 2006.- APOCALYPTO NOMINATED FOR GOLDEN GLOBE
Source: Forbes.com
Mel Gibson's epic "Apocalypto" and Clint Eastwood's World War II saga "Letters from Iwo Jima" were nominated for foreign language Golden Globes Thursday, potentially boosting their prospects for the upcoming Academy Awards.
Under Globe rules "Apocalypto" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" were eligible only in the foreign language category, not the best picture category.
Film and TV nominees for the 64th annual Globes were being announced in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.
Mel Gibson's epic "Apocalypto" and Clint Eastwood's World War II saga "Letters from Iwo Jima" were nominated for foreign language Golden Globes Thursday, potentially boosting their prospects for the upcoming Academy Awards.
Under Globe rules "Apocalypto" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" were eligible only in the foreign language category, not the best picture category.
Film and TV nominees for the 64th annual Globes were being announced in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.
15 DECEMBER 2006.- MEL GIBSON TALKS ABOUT "APOCALYPTO"
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW PUBLISHED BY ComingSoon.net.
A couple months back, Gibson did an extensive "Q&A" out of his Icon Productions offices, but in this new exclusive interview with ComingSoon.net, conducted mere days after the movie's opening, he talks a bit more about what he hoped to accomplish with the film and whether he feels he's succeeded.
ComingSoon.net: You've said that you made this movie to "entertain, educate and lift to a higher plane of awareness." That last one's kind of a lofty goal, so is that a good reason to make a movie nowadays?
Mel Gibson: I think if you can do all three of those things, you're kind of firing on all cylinders. Whether or not I actually achieved it is up to an audience member to extrapolate. From my sensibilities, I did, but those are only my perceptions.
READ INTERVIEW Click Here
|
|
A couple months back, Gibson did an extensive "Q&A" out of his Icon Productions offices, but in this new exclusive interview with ComingSoon.net, conducted mere days after the movie's opening, he talks a bit more about what he hoped to accomplish with the film and whether he feels he's succeeded.
ComingSoon.net: You've said that you made this movie to "entertain, educate and lift to a higher plane of awareness." That last one's kind of a lofty goal, so is that a good reason to make a movie nowadays?
Mel Gibson: I think if you can do all three of those things, you're kind of firing on all cylinders. Whether or not I actually achieved it is up to an audience member to extrapolate. From my sensibilities, I did, but those are only my perceptions.
READ INTERVIEW Click Here
16 DECEMBER 2006.- MEL GIBSON FEELS SORRY FOR BRITNEY
MEL GIBSON has offered his support to BRITNEY SPEARS as she fights media reports about her wild partying and lack of underwear. Gibson insists he can sympathise with the pop princess. He says, "I feel compassion for someone like Britney, for instance. She never gets a moment. She's, like, dogged all the time and followed and she's trying to have a life. "Your heart goes out to her because I'm positive that, at her core, she's a good woman."
17 DECEMBER 2006.- MEL GIBSON, "THEY CAN MOVE"
The distinctive voice on the other end of the line sounds a grande latte short of being fully awake.
"You got me at the wrong time. I'm probably a bit surly in the morning," Mel Gibson says. "I'm surly early."
Though as mornings go, Thursday cast a soft light on a man more accustomed to glare: Gibson's Apocalypto had just gotten a Golden Globe nomination for foreign-language film and was riding the week out as box office champ.
"Ah yes, the Golden Globs, it's nice, flattering," says Gibson, tweaking the awards' name.
He added that he's not concerned by his film's modest $15 million take. "I knew it wouldn't be like Passion (of the Christ, which earned $610 million worldwide), so this will just take a little more time to make its money back," he says. "I think it's lucky it got to No. 1. It was a soft weekend."
If Gibson sounds vaguely humble, don't be fooled. The director leaves no doubt about his feelings for those who assail his movies or his actions. When it's suggested that perhaps he move away from Hollywood, Gibson doesn't hesitate: "They can move."
Gibson and Tinseltown have been locked in an awkward dance since his double-Oscar triumph for 1995's Braveheart. First came his controversial take on Jesus' final hours and, more recently, the famous drunken-driving incident Now, with Apocalypto, come charges of excessive violence.
"I don't understand all the heat," says Gibson. "It's less violent than Braveheart, and yet they're calling it blood porn. To make it personal against me, that's a low blow."
Gibson concedes that his pre-Columbian chase scene-cum-love story does have nasty turns, as when a man gets his face chewed off by a jaguar, "but it's appropriate to the subject matter."
He dismisses charges that the film doesn't linger long enough on the cultural contributions of Mayan civilization. "That's on the History Channel, right?" Beat. "Seriously, I show you glyphs and temples and incredible architecture. It's there if you look. In the end, though, the main objective is to tell that story."
With Apocalypto's current success, Gibson's own Hollywood story remains on track, despite calls from the likes of super-agent Ari Emanuel for him to be shunned.
"This place isn't like a club where you're in or you're out," says Gibson. "It's a sprawling place that you make of what you will. It's not a glee club, that's for sure."
He says he feels some empathy for Michael Richards, whose recent comedy club tirade against blacks finds him in the entertainment community's cross hairs. "He snapped, what are you going to do. … You don't always have to be picked to be off the hook."
Gibson says his next project is unknown ("It'll germinate"), and though he'd consider acting, "I'm not really anxious to jump up there again. … Maybe I'll just go get a dartboard tattoo on my chest."
The non- sequitur is revealing; Gibson's thoughts often return to the shake he's getting in his field.
"I'm doing well," he says. "But how many people do you know get a DUI and are kicked around for six months? It's out of proportion. I'm not saying I wasn't at fault. Hey, we're not perfect, we're all human, get over it. I've apologized, done the right thing, now get the hell over it. I'm a work in progress."
|
The distinctive voice on the other end of the line sounds a grande latte short of being fully awake. |
"I don't understand all the heat," says Gibson. "It's less violent than Braveheart, and yet they're calling it blood porn. To make it personal against me, that's a low blow."
Gibson concedes that his pre-Columbian chase scene-cum-love story does have nasty turns, as when a man gets his face chewed off by a jaguar, "but it's appropriate to the subject matter."
He dismisses charges that the film doesn't linger long enough on the cultural contributions of Mayan civilization. "That's on the History Channel, right?" Beat. "Seriously, I show you glyphs and temples and incredible architecture. It's there if you look. In the end, though, the main objective is to tell that story."
|
With Apocalypto's current success, Gibson's own Hollywood story remains on track, despite calls from the likes of super-agent Ari Emanuel for him to be shunned.
"This place isn't like a club where you're in or you're out," says Gibson. "It's a sprawling place that you make of what you will. It's not a glee club, that's for sure."
He says he feels some empathy for Michael Richards, whose recent comedy club tirade against blacks finds him in the entertainment community's cross hairs. "He snapped, what are you going to do. … You don't always have to be picked to be off the hook."
Gibson says his next project is unknown ("It'll germinate"), and though he'd consider acting, "I'm not really anxious to jump up there again. … Maybe I'll just go get a dartboard tattoo on my chest."
The non- sequitur is revealing; Gibson's thoughts often return to the shake he's getting in his field.
"I'm doing well," he says. "But how many people do you know get a DUI and are kicked around for six months? It's out of proportion. I'm not saying I wasn't at fault. Hey, we're not perfect, we're all human, get over it. I've apologized, done the right thing, now get the hell over it. I'm a work in progress."
18 DECEMBER 2006.- THE BOX OFFICE
Will Smith's latest film, The Pursuit of Happyness, has topped the US box office, beating two of the year's most eagerly anticipated children's movies.
The tale of a father and son who become homeless, which features Smith opposite his own son Jaden, took an estimated $27m (£13.8m) in its first weekend.
Second place went to fantasy Eragon ($23.45m), followed by a live action version of the children's novel Charlotte's Web ($12m).
Last week's number one, Mel Gibson's epic Apocalypto, fell to sixth place ($7.7m).
The tale of a father and son who become homeless, which features Smith opposite his own son Jaden, took an estimated $27m (£13.8m) in its first weekend.
Second place went to fantasy Eragon ($23.45m), followed by a live action version of the children's novel Charlotte's Web ($12m).
Last week's number one, Mel Gibson's epic Apocalypto, fell to sixth place ($7.7m).
|
|
|
|
|