There are lots of good films this year that are truly deserving of the Indie Spirit Awards, the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes. One great blog dealing with indie films in the US was one of the first to highlight the upcoming awards race. In this series, we feature five awesome movies from Paramount Vantage! Complete with production notes, image galleries and the usual synopsis and cast/crew bios, the Paramount 'for your consideration' drive is one of the first such campaign ever to be launched by a major studio in the US.

A Mighty Heart, featuring the powerful performance of Angelina Jolie, is one of the latest works of famed British director Michael Winterbottom. It tells the harrowing story of Mariane Pearl and her struggle to find her husband, Daniel, who was kidnapped and later murdered by terrorists in Pakistan.

Margot at the Wedding is Noah Baumbach's follow-up to his Academy Award®-nominated The Squid and the Whale. It's "a daringly funny and bracingly honest exploration of the tender, absurd and sometimes excruciating relationship between siblings — and the fallout for those in their wake: children, husbands and lovers."

The Kite Runner, from director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball), is based on one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Kite Runner is a profoundly emotional tale of friendship, family, devastating mistakes and redeeming love.

Finally, There Will Be Blood, the upcoming movie starring the iconic Daniel Day Lewis. A sprawling epic of family, faith, power and oil, THERE WILL BE BLOOD is set on the incendiary frontier of California’s turn-of-the-century petroleum boom. The story chronicles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon.

tMF is particularly excited about Daniel Day-Lewis's performance in There Will Be Blood. The fact that his co-star is the young and talented Paul Dano makes it one of the year's best films. Emile Hirsch's performance in Alpha Dog was a bit of a disappoinment to fans, but in this Sean Penn flick, he definitely establishes himself as a promising leading man in Hollywood. Jolie's Mariane Pearl is one of the year's most convincing performances, but we are more inclined to pick Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose and Keira Knigthley in Atonement as two of the best for the year.

To see more of the five features, just click any one of the following:

[ A Mighty Heart ] [ Margot at the Wedding ] [ Into the Wild ] [ The Kite Runner ] [ There Will Be Blood ]

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Ryan Gosling is definitely on the spotlight! A few days ago, people were talking about Jake Gyllenhaal, another tMF favorite and one of today's most popular young actors. but now Gosling steals his thunder with an upcoming GQ spread!

As the news surrounding his recent departure from the Peter Jackson film, The Lovely Bones, picks up more heat, Gosling's interview with GQ's Alex Pappademas features the actor in 12 pages of pure Ryan pleasure!

If you're not into arthouse and foreign films, then you probably won't have heard of Giovanna Mezzogiorno. She happens to be one of Italy's most amazing actresses, but has yet to make a movie in Hollywood. You might know the more popular Monica Bellucci, who made a number of high-profile films, but Mezzogiorno has yet to make her name in American cinema.

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This is about to change. Pitting talents with the likes of Javier Bardem, John Leguizamo and Benjamin Bratt, Giovanna will play the heroine in the film adaptation of Gabriel Marquez' Love in the Time of Cholera. As Fermina Daza, she plays a strong-willed woman who is loved and adored by two different men. But instead of the usual 'damsel in distress' type of role, Giovanna's Fermina is fiercely independent and does not depend on men in order to survive.

We're probably one of the biggest fans of Ryan Gosling - not only because he's a talented actor, but also because of his active involvement in a number of worthy causes. While waiting for the release of his new film Lars and the Real Girl, we've been following news about his role in the upcoming The Lovely Bones. So it came as a big surprise when Variety reported that Gosling is no longer part of the cast...

"One day before shooting began, Mark Wahlberg stepped in to replace Ryan Gosling in "The Lovely Bones," the Peter Jackson-directed adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel for DreamWorks.

Wahlberg has taken the role of Jack Salmon, the grieving father of a young girl. That role was vacated Friday by "Lars and the Real Girl" star Ryan Gosling, who stepped out after gaining 20 pounds and growing a beard for the job. Sources attributed the exit to creative differences. "

"Controversy developed over the film when director Tony Kaye attempted to remove his name from the credits, preferring to use the pseudonym Alan Smithee. When this was refused he chose "Humpty Dumpty" as an alternative pseudonym, which in turn was also rejected. Kaye alleged that his reasoning for this was Edward Norton's re-editing of the film to give himself more screen time."

Of course, Mr. Peter Jackson is a much bigger director than Kaye. If he bought the rights to adapt Alice Sebold's book into a movie, he would certainly want to do it according to his own vision for the story. Perhaps Ryan just got in the way of that?

Yeah right… tell that to the millions who watched Spiderman!

But we’re not just talking about box office here; we’re talking about the difference between being an actor and being a star! About selling out or being true to one’s craft. We’re talking about the difference between a risk-taker and a conformist.

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While we admire Tobey Maguire for bringing to life one of Marvel’s most popular characters, we simply prefer Jake Gyllenhaal for continually choosing the more difficult road and opting for roles that challenge his range as an actor. Gyllenhaal is a risk-taker who has shown that he is not afraid to portray characters that may affect his ‘star image’. I don’t think it matters to him that it might - think of Brokeback Mountain and his love scenes with Heath Ledger – I don’t think any other actor would have agreed to take on the role of Jack Twist.

And how about dancing naked with his butt exposed in Jarhead? And that jerk-off scene? Actors like Tobey would not even dare! (Orlando Bloom would run and hide!)

tMF will be celebrating its sixth month this coming November and we're thrilled about it! We're probably one of the first movie-related site to use joomla! and to feature talents from all over the world - we've profiled awesome young actors from Germany, France and even Norway alongside some of Hollywood's top actors. We'll be featuring some of the hottest actresses next month too!

While we're busy preparing for next month's DVD contest, we're also proud to have the chance to be featured at fechr! And that's not a misspelling. Its a groovy way to say featured!

Its hard to discover new sites, especially those that you may want to visit again and again. We aim to be that kind of site, and what better way to do that than to be listed at fechr! Check tMF at fechr! and see which other sites belong to the club.

He's been a tMF favorite since forever and we're just about ready to launch a profile! In the meantime, take a look at some rather 'old' scans featuring this cool actor.

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[ Charlie 1 ] [ Charlie 2 ] [ Charlie 3 ]

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Hedi Slimane, the designer of the über-cool Dior Homme, once photographed tMF favorite Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Of course, he's wearing Dior! Says the designer:

"Joseph isn't that different from the models I usually worked with. The shoot was very casual. It was just the two of us. There was no agenda."

As you can see from the photos, Slimane did show Joe in a different light! See the high-res scans by clicking any of the links below:

[ Joe Levitt 1 ] [ Joe Levitt 2 ] [ Joe Levitt 3 ]

I need to post this! Its so funny, and I loved it! Jake is so witty here, and the host is weird, flirting with Jake! you'll love the video!

At 6 feet tall, Jake Gyllenhaal is that rare breed of movie star, an actor who’s actually bigger in life than he appears onscreen. On reason might be that when Gyllenhaal fills the frame, so much of one’s attention is focused on his eyes; another might be that until recently Gyllenhaal’s roles called for him to portray boyish figures on the cusp of manhood.

In this month’s Rendition, however, that youthful, wide-eyed innocence comes face to face with some ugly realities. Gyllenhaal plays a CIA analyst who enthusiastically signs on for a less-than-orthodox interrogation of an Egyptian-born terror suspect, an assignment that forces him to put his own beliefs on the hot seat. It’s one of the handful of films this fall and in the months to follow that tackle such lighting-rod issues as post-9/11 security and the war in Iraq. For Gyllenhaal, it may well prove the final leap from indie heartthrob to leading man, a process he began with 2005’s Jarhead and Brokeback Mountain, the latter of which earned him earned him his first Oscar nomination. Here Gyllenhaal speaks with David Fincher, who directed him in this year’s Zodiac.

There's also a '15 minute of Interview voices', featuring the actor answering questions from director David Fincher.

[ More from Interview magazine ]

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Our friend at Wet, Dark and Wild is having a field day! Here's what she said:

"You don't need me to tell you that Jake Gyllenhaal's schedule - and ours - is looking a litle busy over the next week or two. We know how entertaining Jake will be and how his ready wit will be armed and ready to take on the likes of Jonathan Ross, Conan O'Brien, Ellen and Jon Stewart. I am fully expecting more classic moments along the lines of the kicked toad, the modern dance troupe, 24 hour Yellow fever, Inuit chanting, shirt stripping and maybe a bit of basketball - or some new interesting fabrics, even more so than suits made out of goats blood or diapers/nappies made from bananas and straw. But what we're also going to get is something a little bit more serious to complement all this wonderful stuff. "

The excitement is all about the upcoming wide release of Jake's film, Rendition. As America gets ready for more of what Jake has to say, many shows will definitely try to outdo each other. But since Jake is the star of these shows, we'll be waiting for what he has to say, and we know he can say a lot!

You may remember him as the idealistic young journalist covering the rock band Stillwater in the film Almost Famous , and his 'adventure' to get his first cover story published. Directed by Cameron Crowe, the role Fugit played is almost an autobiography of the filmmaker himself.

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That film was made when Fugit was only 17 years old. While the film was not a box-office success, it was nevertheless recognized in the Oscars, winning the Oscar for Best Screenplay for Crowe. Fugit went on to star in several more films, and also appeared in several TV series including ER in 2003. Now he's back in another movie that truly highlights his talent as a young actor to be reckoned with.

Wristcutters: A Love Story is a film directed by Goran Dukic and stars Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon.

What's the Movie About: The film is set in a strange afterlife way station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide. Says Chris Docker:

"Sometimes we find beauty in the strangest places; and, remarkably for such a gruesome title, Wristcutters could probably be said to be a rather uplifting affirmation of life, hidden within a seriously quirky black comedy. Set in an afterlife reserved for people who commit suicide, it seems to contain wacky nuggets of truth from oddball characters including Zia (Patrick Fugit) searching for the love of his life; Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), an accidental visitor; Eugene (Shea Whigham), a Russian musician that electrocuted himself on stage from being badly heckled, and the weird and wonderful Kneller, played by the ever-mysterious Tom Waits." [ more ]

[ Official movie site ] [ Patrick Fugit ]