Sean Penn

Happy Birth Day Sean

Eduardo A. — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:50:24 +0000

To celebrate this special day, lets take a look on some of Sean’s next projects.

The Tree of Life (2009) as Adult Jack

Status: post-production
Genre: Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
Director:Terrence Malick

Tree of Life is a period piece centered around three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son (Hunter McCracken none SAG) of two characters (Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain) witnesses the loss of innocence.

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

Framing this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family — our first school — the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

Fair Game (2010) as Joseph Wilson

Status: post-production
Genre: Action | Biography | Drama | Thriller
Director:Doug Liman

Plame’s status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.

This Must Be the Place (2010)

Status: pre-production
Genre: Drama
Director: Paolo Sorrentino

A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father’s executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.

All synopsis by imdb

Sean Penn pulls out of ‘Three Stooges’ to focus on family life

Eduardo A. — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:48:01 +0000

Oscar winner Sean Penn has put his Hollywood career on hold.

He’s reportedly pulled out of his next two films: the drama “Carlel” and the Farrelly brothers’ “Three Stooges” comedy update with Jim Carrey and Benecio del Toro.

He’s said to be taking the time to focus on his family, not his rising career.

But if he can repair the rift in his marriage to Robin Wright Penn ASAP, Sean could still be a Larry to Jim’s Curly and Benecio’s Mo.

According to a statement to E! from his publicist, Mara Buxbaum, “We indeed informed both productions that Sean was not available now. If for whatever reason the start dates on these productions were to be postponed, Sean would happily remain involved.”

To see a photo of Sean, Benecio and Jim in the quirkiest comedy cast in film history, click here.

Penn has broken up and reunited with wife Robin twice over the last 18 months. Recently, there were rumors about a relationship with actress Natalie Portman, but she put the kibosh on that with this statement.

“Sean Penn is a friend and colleague. The reports that we are romantically involved are completely untrue. I normally do not respond to rumors about my private life. However, this repeatedly fabricated story has forced me to do so.”

Let’s hope Sean’s time out will give this long-standing and talented couple the time to work out their issues.

by LATimes

Penn: ‘Fearmongering’ triggered Kern’s molestation cases

Eduardo A. — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:16:06 +0000

Academy Award winner Sean Penn, in town today to promote a documentary about Kern families wrongly convicted of child molestation, said the film’s main theme is the “populist hysteria that can be generated through fear-mongering.”

And this might not be the last the city sees of Penn, who hinted at a future project.

The actor is both narrator and executive producer of “Witch Hunt,” which has aired MSNBC and will be screened tonight at the Fox.

“This has always been part of the plan for us. From our earliest conversations with Sean, we knew we had to show our film in Bakersfield,” said the film’s co-director Don Hardy in a media release.

Hardy, Penn, and co-director Dana Nachman, will be joined by some of the exonerated men and women featured in the film at a rally at the Liberty Bell downtown beginning at 4:30 p.m.

“I have a lot to say to Sean Penn,” said Brandon Kniffen. “We owe him a lot for doing this.” Kniffen isn’t featured in the film, but he has seen it and said it’s very healing.

“It was torture,” he said of seeing his parents in court and having to testify against them. He was 9 when he was taken from them by authorities and interrogated, he said. His parents were in prison for 12 years.

The 7 p.m. Fox screening is part of a fundraiser for CLEAR, the Committee for Legislation Education and Reform.

In an exclusive e-mail interview with The Californian, Penn talked about his participation in the film.

Why did you feel it was important to lend your name and voice to this documentary?

I won’t accuse myself of thinking it was “important.” I was asked to do it, and indeed I thought I may be able to add to its profile, which it sincerely deserved.

What do you hope will come out of the publicity the film has received?

It’s simple. Viewership. All of us involved in the film believe in it on two levels. One, that it’s an exemplary piece of documentary filmmaking. And secondly, if not synonymously, that also means that we believe this is an important issue in Bakersfield and across the country. The issue being abuse of power and the need for more aggressive oversight of our systems.

Additionally, there are many parallels worth observing about the kind of populist hysteria that can be generated through fear-mongering. It’s always in the name of being tough against what we fear but it’s a curious kind of tough that is dependent on a pack mentality.

We understand you read The Californian’s 2003 series “Lords of Bakersfield” (about alleged abuses committed in the past by influential and powerful Bakersfield leaders). Was that in preparation for “Witch Hunt”? Or are you considering another project on that topic as well?

That’s an interesting question. I could say that I was curious. And I could say that the question of further developing a project is rather provocative. Thank you for the question.

by Lois Henry and Louis Medina

Has Sean Penn Told A Joke in The Last 20 Years?

Eduardo A. — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:43:39 +0000

Sean Penn has been cast in The Three Stooges. This would be great news if Sean Penn was funny.

But Sean Penn is not. Sean Penn is the most serious person in the world.

Now all you naysayers will likely ignore that he’s the most serious person in the world, and point out that he’s Spicoli, the precocious surfer from Fast Time at Ridgemont High. I’ll admit, Spicoli’s hilarious. But I think he’s been a little over-hyped in all of our minds. Part of the fun of watching Spicoli is watching the most serious person in the world play a stoner. Plus, that character would’ve been funny if anyone played it. Sean Penn saying “Learning about Cuba and having some pizza” didn’t make that line funny. Pizza did. And Cuba helped.

If the most serious person in the world delivered that line, it would’ve been “Human rights in Cuba can not be ignored. I think this pizza has cancer. I want to say ‘thank you’ to everyone but my wife.”

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Sean Penn isn’t even the funniest actor in that movie. You know who makes me laugh more? Judge Reinhold. And that guy who plays Mike Dimone. When the Farrelly’s cast Judge and Dimone as the other two stooges, that’s when I’ll get excited. “If you really want to smack Curly with a frying pan, you’ll play side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV.”

Sean Penn is a great actor. Perhaps he can pull this off. But I’d rather see him stick to what he’s good at: saving Katrina victims and crying in Clint Eastwood movies. You know, really depressing things that make me sad when I think about them.

Maybe Sean Penn’s plan is to encompass every type of pain a human can experience. We all know that drama can hurt, but comedy can literally crush your soul. He must know that there’s a banana peel waiting to take him down and break his tailbone. That’s real pain right there. That’s range.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more the I’m looking forward to the most serious person in the world getting smacked in the face. That’s seriously funny. Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

by thehollywoodham.com

Sean Penn to play Larry in `Stooges’ movie

Eduardo A. — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:05:01 +0000

As said before,Penn will play Larry in `The Three Stooges’. Here’s the confirmation:

The studio MGM says the double Oscar winner has signed on to play Larry in the Farrelly brothers’ big-screen update of “The Three Stooges.”
Jim Carrey was “in negotiations” for the role of Curly, said MGM spokesman Grey Munford. The studio first featured the stooges in a series of shorts and features beginning in 1933.
Munford would not confirm reports that Benicio Del Toro will play Moe.
He said said filming begins this fall on the comedy, which is expected to be released in 2010.
The casting of a serious actor like Penn in the assuredly goofy comedy isn’t such a stretch: The actor launched his storied career as goofball Jeff Spicoli in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

by The Associated Press

To more info, visit: IMDB

by Eduardo A.

Benicio Del Toro to Join Sean Penn and Jim Carrey for “The Three Stooges” Movie?

Eduardo A. — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:55:36 +0000

Benicio del Toro has played many an eccentric role in his long career but this one may go down as most bizarre to date. The boricua thesp is reportedly in talks to play Moe in a movie version of The Three Stooges directed by the Farrelly Brothers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sean Penn and Jim Carrey are already in official negotiations to play Larry and Curly Howard, respectively, while del Toro is rumored to be in play for the role of Moe, the trio’s bowl-cut sporting ringleader. We can’t help but wonder whether he saw Javier Bardem’s ridiculous hairdo in No Country for Old Men and thought, I want that.

If this happens, it will go down as the most ingenious casting of a film ever. Possibly even better than Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man.

by Monica Herrera

Why Much of Asia Didn’t Hear Sean Penn’s “Homo-Loving” Speech

Eduardo A. — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:30:26 +0000

In recent days, journalists around the globe have reported on the efforts of Asian governments to censor speech and images in support of gay rights from the broadcast of last Sunday’s Oscars. According to the AP, the Hong Kong-based, Murdoch-owned STAR network, reaching more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, muted any mention of “gay” or “lesbian” during its tape-delayed, English-language re-broadcast of the Oscars. Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black, who both won Oscars for their work on the film Milk, used their time at the podium to voice support for same-sex marriage and equal rights for gays and lesbians.

In mainland China, where the Academy awards was broadcast with Chinese subtitles on state-run China Central Television (CCTV), censors did not mute out material deemed sensitive, but rather, and even more shamefully, omitted or mistranslated all language and images dealing with homosexuality. According to a Monday post on the China-based blog Shanghaiist, the CCTV broadcast cut out two gay kisses shown during the broadcast and completely eliminated Dustin Lance Black’s acceptance speech after he won for best original screenplay.

Black, who is openly gay, invoked Harvey Milk in his speech and promised equal rights “very soon” to the nation’s gay youth. “If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago,” Black said, “I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value.” While Black’s speech was widely considered one of the more moving and memorable moments from this year’s Oscars, for viewers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Taiwan and Thailand, the speech was heavily censored, while those in mainland China didn’t hear a word of it.

For anyone who missed it, here’s Dustin Lance Black’s speech:

But the award for the most creative method of censorship goes to the CCTV censors for their work during Sean Penn’s acceptance speech. Penn, who won for best male lead, began his speech by saying, “you commie, homo-loving sons of guns.” The politically active actor then spoke passionately to those who voted to ban gay marriage in California. “For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight,” said Penn, “I think it’s a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that support.”

Here’s Penn’s speech in its entirety:

Instead of simply omitting Penn’s acceptance speech, as they did for Dustin Lance Black, China’s censors decided to mistranslate Penn’s words so that his speech appeared to make no mention of gays. According to the China blog Black and White Cat, CCTV subtitled Penn’s line, “You commie, homo-loving sons of guns,” with “????????.” The rough translation of these characters is, “You really are so generous.” So, to non-English-speaking Chinese viewers reading the subtitles, Penn never uttered the word “commie” or “homo,” or Mao forbid, a sentence incorporating both.

Shanghaiist also notes that the part of Penn’s speech that calls for shame of Prop 8 supporters was mistranslated to “?????????,” which, in English, means “everyone has equal rights.” Nothing about shame or gay marriage — hardly a faithful representation of Penn’s words.

While we’ve come to expect this type of censorship from Beijing — in fact, CCTV censored clips from Brokeback Mountain at the 2006 Oscars — the widespread omission of gay rights speech throughout Asia demonstrates the extent to which Asian broadcasters are still remarkably homophobic. In a comment to the AP, a rep from STAR said that the company had “a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration.”

But perhaps the greater responsibility of networks like STAR and CCTV is to present the Academy Awards truthfully to their viewers and give them an honest view, in this case, through the lens of Hollywood, of the issues — gay or otherwise — affecting America and the rest of the world.

by Boston Globe

Sean Penn lobbies for Harvey Milk Day in California

Eduardo A. — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:24:12 +0000

Recent Oscar winner Sean Penn is urging California to officially recognize Harvey Milk’s birthday, the AP reports. On Tuesday, Penn will appear alongside State Senator Mark Leno to reintroduce a bill that would make the late gay-rights activist’s birthday, May 22, a “day of significance.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the proposed bill last year on the grounds that Milk’s birthday should be celebrated only in San Francisco and not all of California. Penn won the Best Actor Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for portraying Harvey Milk in the biopic Milk.

by Washington Post

Sean Penn hopes to take ‘Milk’ to White House

Eduardo A. — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:53:39 +0000

PARIS : Hollywood rebel Sean Penn, winner of the best actor Oscar for his role in “Milk”, has said that he hopes the film would soon get a showing before President Barack Obama.

“Eventually we are hoping for a White House screening,” the 48-year-old actor told reporters ahead of the French launch of the acclaimed biopic about gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk.

As California’s Supreme Court prepares to rule on whether to annul a referendum that banned same-sex marriages last year, Penn said he expected the movie would weigh on the debate.

“I think this film will be one of the steps forward,” Penn told reporters. “It will be part of the dialogue.”

“But I think things are going to go forward with or without it,” said Penn, who made a passionate plea as he received his his second best-actor Oscar for opponents of gay marriage to rethink their positions.

In Penn’s acceptance speech at the last week’s Academy Awards, he addressed Obama’s stance on gay marriages, as the President has said he is against it. “I don’t think any of us, particularly our president, would long be able to take that position because it’s not a human luxury. These are human needs, and they will be gotten,” the actor said.

Some believe Penn took it a little too far, as they felt that he seemed to be attacking the opposers to gay rights instead of focussing on promoting gay rights.

Penn said, “I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support.”

While there were those who were offended by the speech, those it was on behalf of were ecstatic. It was reported that the San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, located in the neighbourhood in which the real Harvey Milk based his campaign, was filled with hundreds watching a broadcast of the awards that “roared with foot-stomping standing ovations” for “Milk” when it took the prizes for best original screenplay and best actor.

On March 5, the Californian court will hear arguments in lawsuits seeking to annul the referendum, and is due to hand down a ruling within 90 days.

Channel News Asia

Malick, Pitt, Penn and Dinosaurs?

Eduardo A. — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:50:06 +0000

Okay, I need to brush up a bit more on Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and expected to bow sometime this 2009 as a third-hand report from Empire Magazine by way of Hollywood Elsewhere that first showed up in the CriterionForum on Friday. The quote apparently is found in the latest issue of Empire and comes from an interview with visual effects artist Mike Flint:

“We’re just starting work on a project for Terrence Malick, animating dinosaurs, the film is Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. It’ll be showing in IMAX — so the dinosaurs will actually be life size — and the shots of the creatures will be long and lingering.”

Are you as confused as I am? The synopsis as released by Summit gives no inclination to dinosaurs, and what the hell does he mean when he says the “will actually be life size”? As opposed to little mini-dinosaurs nipping at their ankles?

For those that haven’t read the parable that is Summit’s synopsis for Tree of Life, another one of my early 2010 Oscar candidates, check it out below:

Our picture is a cosmic epic, a hymn to life.

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

Framing this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle — precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family — our first school — the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

Did they find dinosaurs in the Midwest and I just wasn’t notified?

The plot on this one had been kept pretty tight-lipped for a long time and should this quote prove to be legit it seems there remains a lot more to the story to be revealed.

by Brad Brevet