Shooting star: Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut

Scarlett Johansson's acting has won her many plaudits, but now the ambitious star has stepped behind the camera to maker her directorial debut.

The 23-year-old, who has long been the muse of acclaimed film maker Woody Allen, was spotted filming a five minute short starring Kevin Bacon on the streets of Brooklyn yesterday.

She is one of twelve directors, including Scrubs star Zach Braff, who are collaborating on a film anthology called "New York, I Love You." Scarlett is also preparing to notch up another first for her already impressive CV.

She is set to launch a singing career with her upcoming album Anywhere I Lay My Head, which includes ten covers of songs by jazz musician Tom Waits and one original track. carlett has said: "Tom Waits's melodies are so beautiful and his voice is so distinct. I sent him some of my early, early recordings, and he said, 'Go ahead.' I've heard he's very pleased."

For one number, she has even teamed up with pop supremo David Bowie, who was impressed by her talent. He said: "Scarlett's performances are mystical and cool.
"She creates a mood that could have been summoned by someone like the novelists Margery Latimer or Jeanette Winterson."

news source : http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/

Emotion axed

By Alan Little, Evening Gazette:FALLING victim to the same excesses as Elizabeth: The Golden Age, this is a beautifully dressed and staged costume drama that has pomp and pageantry in abundance but a paucity of deep emotion.

The central plot is tantalising - the rivalry between two sisters for the love of King Henry VIII - but screenwriter Peter Morgan fails to delve beneath the glossy surface of Philippa Gregory’s novel.

Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are cast effectively as the ambitious, ruthless vamp and the naive woman of virtue. As the narrative gathers pace, though, they have nowhere to go with their performances as Eric Bana’s dithering king waits for Jane Seymour to shoot him a come hither glance, and provide the drama with its unhappy ending.

The film sets out its stall as a frothy bodice ripper, including a snarling supporting turn from Morrissey as Norfolk, their power- crazed uncle, but becomes bogged down with historical detail and has to rush the climax when Anne pays an horrific price for her jealousy.

Portman fights valiantly with her accent as Anne repeatedly knifes her in the back and Johansson revisits her beatific, much abused heroine from Girl With A Pearl Earring. While Anne ultimately loses her head, we keep ours throughout Justin Chadwick’s film.

news source : http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/

Scarlett Johansson Wallops Sanchez In HD Hottie Poll

Washington, D.C. (February 29, 2008) -- Scarlett Johansson soundly defeated Roselyn Sanchez in the first round of HDTV 'Hottie Hysteria' -- TVPredictions.com's elimination tournament to determine who's the hottest female in High-Definition TV.

TVPredictions.com is posting a daily reader poll pitting one celebrity babe against another. Readers are being asked to vote on which female looks best in high-def. Then, based on their votes, each winner will move to the next round until only one woman is left standing.

In the Johansson-Sanchez contest, Scarlett, the star of Lost In Translation, captured a whopping 65 percent of the vote while Without a Trace's Sanchez received 35 percent of the vote. (1,180 readers voted in the poll.)

Johansson, the number one seed in the LCD division of Hottie Hysteria, will now face the winner of the Jennifer Garner-Natalie Portman match-up.

news source : http://www.tvpredictions.com/

Scarlett Johansson

Birth Name
Scarlett Johansson

Birth Date
11/22/1984

Birthplace
New York, New York

Claim to Fame (or Shame)

It's good we have Scarlett, because gals need a reason to feel sexually inadequate. The girl who resuscitated Woody Allen's creative life in Match Point is sophisticated and hot. Lost in Translation and In Good Company wouldn't have clicked without her subtle charm. You won't find Scarlett (or her boyfriend, Josh Hartnett) dancing on tables at Hyde like some other young Hollywood denizens. Let's face it. Until she gets drunk in public and stars in Date Movie 4--yeah right--we just have to deal.

Credits
z` Movies, 2 TV appearances, 5 awards

Family
Brother: Adrian Johansson

Brother: Hunter Johansson
twin of Scarlett; had bit part in "Manny & Lo"

Father: Karsten Johansson
had bit role in "Manny & Lo"

Mother: Melanie Johansson
had bit role in "Manny & Lo"

Sister: Vanessa Johansson
had bit role in "Manny & Lo"

Hookups
Companion: Benicio Del Toro
rumored to have had a sexual liaison in an elevator at the 2005 Oscars; Johansson denied the incident occured

Companion: Jared Leto
dated in 2004; no longer together

Companion: Josh Hartnett
met while filming "The Black Dahlia" in Bulgaria in 2005; reportedly split in November 2006

Companion: Ryan Reynolds
reportedly began dating Summer 2007

Companion: Patrick Wilson
dated for more than a year; no longer together

Notes
"I actually started acting because I wanted to be in musicals when I was a little girl. That's where my dream career was going to be when I was 8 years old, like the young Cosette in "Les Miserables." Then I started making films and I never ended up doing musical theater. Of course, by the time I turned 13, I kind of buried that part of myself."---Johansson to CNN.com, August 27, 2007.
"I can't stand those articles where people spill their life story. After a while I feel like I know more about them than their best friend does, and that's weird."---Scarlett Johansson, to InStyle magazine, October 2006.

"I don't plan on selling out. I mean, it's nice getting a dinner reservation ahead of other people, but when it comes down to it, the most important thing to me is the actual work."---Johansson to Movieline's Hollywood Life February 2004
"I feel so fortunate to be able to work with directors whose movies my mother waited on line for two hours to see. Here I am, 20 years old, getting to work with all these people who are an inspiration to my generation and the generation before."---Johansson quoted to Interview magazine, November 2005.

"Look, I'm the kind of person that doesn't put up with bullshit. Does that make me uncommonly mature? I don't know. I think you mature with experiences, and how other people view you and your maturity really depends upon when you have those experiences ... I think I was born with a great awareness of my surroundings and an awareness of other people. I know when I really connect with somebody and I know when I feel like I've known somebody before. And I absolutely know what it feels like to meet an old soul, to know an old soul. So for my mom and Bob Redford, two people I really respect, to say that about me, well, that's a huge compliment."

"Maybe years from now, when I'm having my midlife crisis and need to find myself, I'll search deep down inside and find that old soul of mine and dust it off. But for now I'm enjoying getting to know all about my young soul."---Scarlett Johansson on her perceived maturity to Interview, July 2001.
"People just don't type cast me," she says. "I've played so many different roles, from a high school student, to a wife, to a 17th-century Dutch maid, to trailer trash. For a while, I thought I might get typecast as the bitter, shitty teenager who's always sarcastic, but luckily that was a fear that was never a reality."---Johansson to Empire, March 2005.

"There's cute, there's pretty, there's hot and there's beautiful. Scarlett Johansson falls in the beautiful bracket."---Frankie Muniz quoted in People May 10, 2004
"Unfortunately, because it's adults writing these scripts, it's tough. The problem is that adults portray kids like mall-rats, and not seriously; after all, we're just like little adults and people with feelings too. Kids and teenagers just aren't being portrayed with any real depth."---Johansson on the teen actor's search for intelligent roles, to Andrew Urban at UrbanCinefile.com, July 1998.
Describing her desire for a show business career, a three-year old Johansson reportedly told her mother she "had a fire in [her] brain to act."
In 2007 Johansson was named Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
Johansson was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People for 2004
Tops FHM magazine's April 2006 list of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World"

Milestones

(1996) Acted in Eric Schaeffer's romantic comedy "If Lucy Fell"
(1995) Appeared in pilot episode of "John Grisham's 'The Client'" (CBS)
(2002) Battled giant spiders in the sci-fi comedy "Arac Attack"
(2004) Became the official face of Calvin Klein's new fragrance
(2006) Cast as Aaron Eckhart's wife in "The Black Dahlia," Brian De Palma's adaptation of James Ellroy's classic noir novel
Cast as Mary Boleyn in "The Other Boleyn Girl" opposite Natalie Portman (lensing in 2006)
(2007) Cast as the nanny of a wealthy Manhattan household, in "The Nanny Diaries"
(2001) Co-starred as Rebecca in "Ghost World"
(2005) Co-starred opposite Ewan McGregor in the sci-fi thriller "The Island," directed by Michael Bay
(2003) Co-starred with Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation"; directed by Sofia Coppola; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress
(1994) Feature acting debut with small role in "North"
(2001) Featured as a piano-playing nymphet who catches the attention of a barber (Billy Bob Thornton) in the Coen brothers' acclaimed period noir "The Man Who Wasn't There"
(1997) Featured in "Home Alone 3"
(1998) Had pivotal role as a young girl injured in a riding accident in Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperer"
(1993) Made Off-Broadway debut in "Sophistry" at Playwrights Horizons
(1995) Played daughter to Sean Connery and Kate Capshaw in "Just Cause"
(2006) Re-teamed with Allen for the comedy "Scoop," playing a college newspaper journalist opposite Hugh Jackman
(2005) Starred as a femme fatal in Woody Allen's "Match Point"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress
(2001) Starred as a young Hungarian girl left behind when her family emigrates to the United States in the Cold War-set drama "An American Rhapsody"
(2003) Starred in a "Girl with a Pearl Earring" as a servant girl in the 17th century; received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama
(1996) Starred in the independent film "Manny & Lo"
(2004) Starred with John Travolta in "A Love Song for Bobby Long"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Lead Actress (Drama)
(2004) Starred with Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid in the comedy "In Good Company" directed by Paul Weitz

news source : http://www.eonline.com/

Today’s movies

Love and Basketball (2000) (13) Drama with Alfre Woodward, Dennis Haysbert, Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. A young black couple navigates the tricky paths of romance and athletics. SABC1, 10.15pm Rhapsody in Bloom (1998) (PG) Romance with Penelope Ann Miller and Craig Sheffer. An artist rediscovers her life and finds romance after her initial resistance to her widower brother remarrying. SABC2, 10.30pm

Barney’s Great Adventure (1998) (A) Fantasy with George Hearn and Shirley Douglas. Barney entertains kids on the farm. When a large colourful egg deposited by a shooting star is accidentally carted off, Barney and the kids try to recover it. SABC3, 3pm Love Comes Softly (2003) (PG) Romance with Kathryn Heigl and Dale Midkiff. Stranded in the Wild West, a young widow settles for a marriage of convenience with a widowed farmer. SABC3, 8pm

My House in Umbria (2003) (13) Drama starring Maggie Smith and Chris Cooper. An unlikely group of people find solace and friendship after being thrown together in the wake of a terrorist attack. SABC3, 9.45pm Treehouse Hostage (1998) (PG) Adventure with Joey Zimmerman and Jim Varney. Two young friends capture a convict. e.tv, 1pm Fletch (1985) (PG) Comedy with Chevy Chase and Tim Matheson. A journalist is approached by the man he is investigating with an offer to kill him since he’s dying of cancer. e.tv, 2.50pm

Hellboy (2004) (13) Horror with John Hurt, Ron Perlman and Selma Blair. A demon that escaped the Nazis grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness. e.tv, 8pm Killing Me Softly (2002) (18) Mystery with Joseph Fiennes and Heather Graham. A young website designer exchanges her safe relationship for a dangerous lover (who has dangerous secrets). e.tv, 10.30pm The Island (2005) (13) Compelling sci-fi action with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.

In the not too distant future, remnants of humanity live in a sealed off city, safe from contamination . All are content, until two people discover the shocking truth about their world. M-Net, 9pm Match Point (2005) (13) Romance with Jonathan Rhys Mayer and Scarlett Johansson. An English tennis coach falls for his best friend’s sassy American fiancée. M-Net, 11.15pm

news source : http://www.dispatch.co.za/

Will.I.Am Gathers Common, Nick Cannon, Scarlett Johansson For Barack Obama Video

While Barack Obama barnstorms the country trying to drum up votes in advance of Super Tuesday, a wildly diverse cross section of musical supporters, including the Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am, OK Go and former members of the Grateful Dead, are lending a hand.

One of the biggest Obama-boosting efforts comes courtesy of Will.I.Am, who recently teamed with director Jesse Dylan (son of Bob Dylan) to release a music video called "Yes We Can." The Bob Marley-like anthem turns the Illinois senator's January 8 New Hampshire primary-night address into lyrics performed by Will, as well as almost 40 other actors, celebrities and athletes, including John Legend, Kate Walsh, Aisha Tyler, Amber Valletta, Taryn Manning, Nicole Scherzinger, Common, Scarlett Johansson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Herbie Hancock and Nick Cannon.

The song was recorded less than a week ago in Los Angeles, and the "We Are the World"-style video features the stars reciting or singing along to the Obama speech on top of a stark black background, with intercut clips of the candidate delivering the address as Legend croons the refrain: "Yes we can!" Since it was posted on Friday, it has already garnered more than a million views on YouTube and 10 million on the host site, YesWeCanSong.com, according to a spokesperson for the project.

Explaining his inspiration for the song, Will wrote in an accompanying blog post on the site that he was in a recording studio watching one of the presidential debates and feeling torn between candidates when the idea struck him. "I was never really big on politics ... and actually, I'm still not big on politics," he wrote. But "the outcome of the last two elections has saddened me ... on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful, corrupt and just simply, how wrong the world and politics are. ... So this year I wanted to get involved and do all I could, early."

But lacking a clear choice, as he suspected many people were, Will said he was ready to wait for a candidate to emerge as the (presumably Democratic) nominee without his help. "And then came New Hampshire ... and I was captivated ... inspired," he wrote. "I reflected on my life and the blessings I have and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings. And I'm not talking about a 'black thing,' I'm talking about a 'human thing.' Me as a 'person,' an American."

news source : http://www.mtvasia.com/

Scarlett as the Backwoods Barbie?

If you go to www.DollyParton.com, there is absolutely nothing there other than an indication that something will be added in 2008. In other words, the country singer’s official website is about as firm as the rumor that Ms.

Parton would like Ms. Scarlett Johansson to play her in a movie, as part of her discussions with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to produce the biopic. Scientology crossed with country and western, now there’s a thought (“The Ballad of L. Ron Hubbard”). This news was reported today by the female trio of Leigh Purves, Amy Watts and Charli Morgan, authors of the UK tabloid Daily Star gossip column known as “The Goss.” While the odds are about nine to five that Parton and-or Johansson will have denied the Friday, December 7th report by Monday, December 10th, the latter should actually seriously consider the casting thought. Because a movie starring the 5’4” Johansson as the 5’0” Parton makes perfect sense. They are anatomically well matched, and the time also seems right for Dollywood to meet Hollywood. Last year, Parton turned 60 and was one of the annual Kennedy Center honorees. The only real concerning question is whether or not Johansson can master a Smoky Mountains, Tennessee accent. On that one, the odds are about five to nine. Cruise’s career as a United Artists producer is off to a rocky start, with Lions for Lambs yakking its way to only $13.9 million domestically. But if he dials down the dialogue, finds a talented Dakota Fanning type to play Dolly as a child and touches on the Parton obsession cultivated by filmmaker Russ Meyer, who knows? It could be weird enough to work. An added wrinkle is the fact that while Parton has embraced plastic surgery, Johansson is adamant about not having had any. In fact, she has indicated that she may sue US Weekly for a recent cover story that insinuated she has had work done. So this biopic could also be a way for Scarlett to go under the knife without actually going under the knife.

news source : http://www.filmstew.com/