tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

Introduction...

It's almost time for an update of the Top 50 Hottest Young Actors list! Before our rundown featuring the actors below, let's have a look at some hitlists from across the web - Moviefone has a 25 under 25 and Fandango a 10 Young Actors to Watch list. ScreenDaily publishes Stars of Tomorrow and there is the annual European Shooting Stars celebrated as part of the Berlinale. The first 2 only consider Hollywood movies and cast, while ScreenDaily is exclusively for UK-based filmmakers and actors. The 'shooting star' programme is, of course, for Europeans.

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That's how we see it a few months ago. But before we launch the latest update in our Top 50 Hottest Young Actors list (we got a great list of participating blogs too!), we want you to tell us: Who are 2009's Top 3 hottest young actors?
The list of potential stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Ryan Gosling (with two new projects - All Good Things (with Kirsten Dunst) and Blue Valentine (with Michelle Williams), Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Gaspard Ulliel (The Vintner's Luck), Jake Gyllenhaal (Brothers, The Prince of Persia)), Jim Sturgess (Fifty Dead Men Walking, Heartless), Robert Pattinson (Twilight: New Moon, Remember Me), Ben Whishaw (Bright Star). More about these actors here!

Of course, there's James McAvoy (The Last Station), Jamie Bell (Tin-Tin), and Tom Sturridge (The Boat That Rocked).

More potential stars after the jump!
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In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a phenomenon. He became notorious for his graffiti art under the moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and became best friends with Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the art that had made him famous in the first place.

Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat’s own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.

The soundtrack for Up In The Air the Movie, directed by Jason Reitman, features a powerful accoustic number by Chicago singer/songwriter Sad Brad Smith. “Help Yourself” was commissioned by Reitman after hearing Brad singing in a Chicago coffee shop. The song’s become a hit but unfortunately is not eligible for a Oscar nomination for original song as Brad incorporated music from his existing repertoire in the new track.

Up In The Air Soundtrack: Sad Brad- Help Yourself

About the Movie: Up in the Air, released in December 2009, is an adaptation of Walter Kim’s 2001 novel of the same name. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a “corporate downsizer” who makes his living traveling to workplaces and conducting employee layoffs for bosses who lack the nerve to do it themselves. Despite his acquisition of frequent flyer points, his casual approach to relationships has left him empty.

Spike Jonze has worked with Absolut Vodka to launch his latest short film, "I'm Here", at the Sundance Film Festival. The 30 minute short film explores the relationship between two robots living in Los Angeles, played by Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory. "I'm here" was developed after ABSOLUT reached out to Jonze to make a film, and gave him creative control to create the film he wanted. In addition to the 30-minute film, there are also 30 and 60 second trailers, to be used online and as TV commercials globally.

More about the film after the jump!
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Movies and fashion blend beautifully together. The recent fashion show featuring the latest collection by Dolce and Gabbana was inspired by the film Baarìa - La porta del vento, an upcoming Sicilian-Italian comedy film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was the opening film of the 66th Venice International Film Festival in September 2009. It is also the Italian entry for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In this series, we're listing down some very old and very new films that celebrate fashion at its finest! First on our list of 10 is The Great Gatsby:
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Directed by Jack Clayton from the screenplay of Francis Ford-Coppola, The Great Gatsby (1974) tells about Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, who finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.

More about the film after the jump!
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Films in 2009 were not afraid to depict reality and display an unflinching lens that prohibits any means of sugarcoating. Directors managed to peel back a film’s alluring aesthetics to reveal what rots a system, corporation, mind and soul. Access into these demoralizing realms particularly showed that humanity isn’t afraid to shed light on situations that are none the less despicable, scary and heart-shattering. War, downsizing, vulnerability, corruption, rebellion and confusion regarding love might seem like weighty and formidable subjects but directors were strong enough to coexist with such themes to make expressive films that commented on contemporary situations. No doubt we all would like to believe that the things we distill our feelings and trust in will evidently be there in the end, but the reality is that everything is fleeting and capable of crumbling, pulling the rug from underneath where we stand without any consent.

Click through for my Top Ten Movies of 2009.

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Awesome actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is inviting fans and the movie-going public to join him and together, conceptualize, collaborate and create Art or media. This artistic collaboration between the actor and the public will be done via Joe's Hit Record site.


Says Gordon-Levitt:

The old media tends to call me Joseph Gordon-Levitt, that being my name and all. Here in the new media, I hit that round red REC button on a regular basis. HITRECORD.ORG is a project I started almost five years ago now, and in 2010, we've evolved into a full-fledged professional collaborative production company. On new year's day, I released this video called THE NEW DEAL in which I've layed out what I want to do with hitRECord, how we're going to do it, and why. In a nutshell: we create and develop art and media collaboratively here on our site; we use my position in the traditional entertainment industry to turn that creativity into money-making productions; and then we share any profits with the contributing artists. [ read more ]

I have been lucky to witness the tremendous development of Joe's HitRecord website. It used to be just an online journal for the actor to bring himself closer to his fans.
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May13Films has just uploaded a new HEARTLESS preview video. Brand new footage featuring Jim Sturgess interspersed with an exclusive interview with 2009 BAFTA Newcomer Award winner, Noel Clarke, talking about the film.


The upcoming movie HEARTLESS - stars Jim Sturgess, Clemence Poesy, Noel Clarke, Eddie Marsan, Joseph Mawle, Luke Treadaway and Timothy Spall. Produced by Richard Raymond & Pippa Cross.