For sometime now, we have been reading, enjoying and celebrating the online journal of the very talented young actor named Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Yes, Joe Levitt has a journal and if you don't know it yet, then you are missing a lot. If you love the guy and admire his work, then you have to read his journal and get to know more of the man, the actor.

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Here's an except, something to do with DIRECTING. Yes and yes! He might be planning to direct a movie. Think Sean Penn. Think Clint Eastwood. Think Gael Garcia Bernal... He has always been vocal and quite opinionated, and yeah, aggressive!

(and he mentioned one great novelist, the incomparable Elmore Leoard!)

SPARKS. Never did put on the Director hat before, Director with a capital D. Recording, audio, visual, text, yes, love to. But Directing, it sounds so old fashioned. I never much like admitting my ambition for it. Though I suppose it's been there for about as long as I can remember. And going that far back, did I even know why? Why would an eight year old want to Direct? I did though, for whatever childish reasons they were. And why would a twenty-six year old want to, for that matter, it's so, you know, hard. So much time. I haven't even been setting my alarm, don't have to, I wake up, can't fall back asleep, so much to think about, so much wonder, and so much faith, curious what it'll be, and confident (right?) that it all won't dissolve into a muddy mess. All my time. No time to hit record. Well, I suppose it's all time dedicated to hitting record. On those four shooting days. All in the preparation. What's that thing they say about luck? Preperation and opportunity, or something?

Oh, and might as well mention, this record, or no, Directors don't make records, do they, of course not, this, how do they say, Short Film, will be entitled Sparks. It's adapted from a record, that is, a short story of the same name by Elmore Leonard, which you can find in a collection of short stories he published in 2003 called When The Women Come Out To Dance. I adapted it into a screenplay, and I am Directing it into a um, well, y'all're gonna love it, promise.

[ Joe Levitt'sjournal ] [ Joseph Gordon-Levitt at tMF ] [ HitRecord.Org ]

The Movie-Fanatic wishes to ask visitors and fans of Ryan Gosling to join and participate in this worthy cause. We believed what has been written below is more than enough for you to consider and do your share...

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"The 12th of November is Ryan Gosling's 27th birthday, and with your help it could be one that he will never forget. This project hopes to go above and beyond what any other 'fan'-organized birthday project has done before, because it involves a very important organization, and an issue that is very near and dear to Ryan. From now through the end of October*, we will be collecting donations [via PayPal, money order, and even cash] that will then be donated to aid Invisible Children's quest to improve the lives of children living in the harsh circumstances of Northern Uganda. The money that is collected will be donated directly to the cause in Ryan's name, which is a very special honor to someone who is as involved as Ryan is. The organization is a very important one, and we want to salute the individuals, like Ryan, who have been so invested in the ongoing fight for the cause.

Cinematical and AOL's Moviefone recently launched their "Hollywood's Next Big Things"- a list of top actors and actresses and the upcoming young stars who might be following their footsteps...says Moviefone:

"Predicting the future's not easy, especially in Hollywood. But with the impressive young 'uns on the big screen these days, we can make educated guesses. As in, the up-and-comer who may be the next Brad Pitt. Or Jodie Foster. We pair the brightest new stars with the A-listers whose footsteps they may follow"

For instance: John Krasinski is the said to be the next Tom Hanks, while Shia LaBeouf is the next Harrison Ford...

While it seems amusing to a certain extent, we thought that the only 3 actors that are really talented and have that elusive star-quality are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy.

James McAvoy, who was snubbed at the Oscars, for his amazing performance in the Last King of Scotland, was compared to Ewan McGregor. Unlike McGregor who has made a successful transition into Hollywood, McAvoy prefers to make films in the UK.

Young actor and heartthrob Emile Hirsch, who will be seen in a couple of new projects this year and the next (including Sean Penn's Into the Wild and Speed Racer), is compared to Al Pacino. While Alpha Dog was trashed by critics, Hirsch was quite impressive in The Lords of Dogtown and before that, he was incredible in The Mudge Boy.

Also on the list is former male model Channing Tatum. He was quite impressive in Dito Montiel's A Guide to Recognizing your Saints, and made quite an impression in Coach Carter. There are a number of new projects up his sleeves and he might become a really big star in the near future. With his smashing good looks, he is compared in the list as the next Brad Pitt. Not bad, not bad at all...

Abbie Cornish and Amy Adams are also very fine young actresses and we are excited to see more of their upcoming projects (with future tMF profiles in the works....)

[ see complete Moviefone list ]