Jeff as Adam as a Dog

Ankizzle over on Jeff's IMDB discussion board was kind enough to send along this German article that includes a (unfortunately tiny) photo of Jeff with a good-looking shepherd named Sam. I used Google's language tools to retrieve the following, though it is painfully obvious that much has been lost in translation:

Animal coach Marco Heyse prepares its favorites for Filmrollen

As SAM created it after Hollywood

Dogs, cats, in addition, Exoten such as queues, penguins and even Kakerlaken belong to the animals, which the 34 years old Altonaer trains.

Of Franziska Coesfeld


Shepherd dog SAM stands to time with the US-American actor Jeff Goldblum before the camera. The two play in a Holocaust drama of the Hollywood director Paul Schrader also. Photo: Ott

Its school is a jump board in the film business. Because owner Marco Heyse help already many of his favorites to a career before the camera - to roles in features like “the storm tide”, in cinema strips like “Mr. Lehmannn” or in TV serials like “large city district”, “Girlfriends” and “scene”. But money and fame do not play a role for the pupils of the 34 years old Hamburgers. Star airs are strange to them. Which counts, are daily stroking units, extensive walks and Leckerchen.

Marco Heyse, which created 1994 in Hamburg its film animal school “ABC animal training”, is a professional animal coach. He prepares dogs, cats, pigs, in addition, Exoten such as queues, penguins and Kakerlaken for their employment in films and advertising spots. He trains Zurzeit with shepherd dog SAM. The Vierbeiner stands with the turning work of the Holocaust drama “Adam Resurrected” from Hollywood director Paul Schrader before the camera. “It is Sams film premiere. At the set in Bucharest it made, says its thing so far very well” Heyse and sounds a little proud. Also the actors, under it the American Jeff Goldblum, in addition, German actors such as Moritz remain-faithfully, are inspired by their haarigen colleague.

“To training above all much patience and praise belong - and a good wire to the animals”, says Heyse. Today he works with SAM and its own dog Jette on the Öjendorfer lake. “One must learn the animals to understand”, says he and strokes the half-breed lady, who ziert in the city the HVV advertisement posters, over the head. Also the Tigerpython and the two Frettchen, which live with it in Altona, are more than only usual domestic animals. It actors likewise. “Only my cat withdrew itself from the film business and into pension went”, jokes it.

Tail-wagging SAM and Jette streunen around Marco Heyse around. A gesture with the hand is enough, and the dogs bark about loud neck, place themselves dead or put the paws over eyes and lip, as if they would be ashamed. As reward they get a Leckerchen - and being astonished views of Passanten. But not all animal kinds can be hinreissen with fodder to art bits. “One cannot for example at all train queues, spiders and insects. I can only try to create certain conditions in the environment which it increases the probability that a Kakerlake crawls to Heyse approximately in the desired direction”, says. Pressure on an animal to exercise is senseless. “And one of the worst errors in my occupation.”

A completely special feeling for dog, cat, to have mouse is not the only secret of a good animal coach. “It must come from hearts - that is the most important”, like that Heyse. Then have not only humans, but also the animal fun at the work. And the chance to take over with the next film the animal main role….

appeared to 30. May 2007

If by some chance you happen to read German, you can look at the article as it's meant to be enjoyed here.

Mildred Snizter Lives

Listening to this 2006 UCLAradio broadcast (scroll down a bit to find the Flash player) of an interview with the members of the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra makes you wonder if maybe Michael Bancroft is having us on a little bit. Try to ignore the fact that it sounds as though the interview was pieced together out of several different random interviews with the band members and bear in mind that student-run radio is probably the coolest kind of radio (aside from co-op) there is.

And look, here's some photographic evidence of the evening.

This may even be from the same night, judging from the background and Jeff's outfit. What a snappy dresser!



I must apologize for the length of time stretching between updates here. It is mainly due to the fact that the waters are very still in the ocean of Jeff news, but I must also confess to being extremely busy with my own work in the summer. I scan the internets every day, though, looking for news and tidbits to post for all the Goldblum loyalists out there. As always, if you happen to find something you think should be posted here, be sure to drop me a comment or an email to let me know.

Get out there and enjoy summer!

Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays

Imagine my surprise when I awoke this morning to find the entire cast of Raines standing around my bed, silently staring down at me.

"Get up, Cee-Cee," Boyer said, his countenance grim. "Today's the day."

I rolled over and rubbed my eyes sleepily, not sure of what I was seeing and hearing. "The day? Uh, what day?" I asked, sitting up.

"The day, sunshine," Raines said, standing near my overflowing basket of dirty laundry. I wished suddenly and fervently that I'd not forgone washing my unmentionables yesterday in favour of seeing a movie and going for sushi. Raines was clearly trying to not look at the lacy edges, the shiny straps, all tossed hither and yon, and failing.

"It's the day NBC formally announces which shows are returning for their Fall line-up, hon'", Lance said, as I stood up and pulled my robe on over my jammies.

"Oooh, right. That day," I replied, scratching my head and yawning. "But, what, pray tell, are you all doing in my bedroom? And...how did you get in my house?" They all looked meaningfully at one another, shifting from foot to foot, jangling change in their pockets, looking anywhere but at me.

"Wait a minute. You're not really here, are you? In fact, you're all just hallucinations. You're just figments of my imagination. You're not going to tell me anything I don't already know about this situation. But the fact that you're all here, that I'm seeing and talking to you, must mean that...."

Raines pursed his lips and gave me that trademarked hang-dog look. It all suddenly clicked in my sleep-addled brain.

"Dang," I sighed.



source

So, to ease our broken hearts and satisfy our most basic and petulant urges for revenge, who would like to prank call NBC with me, using this Jeff Goldblum sound board?

Raines Still Precariously Perched

NBC will formally announce the shows they've picked up for the autumn next week on May 14th. Ratings for Raines were not overwhelmingly positive (mainly due to the fact the show was bumped to Friday nights, a notoriously bad night for any show) and while every fan of the program is waiting on tenterhooks for what seems to be an inevitable disappointment (check out the official message board for Raines and you'll find the vast majority of topics there are bemoaning the loss of the program, begging NBC to reconsider, and raging against the powers that be) no one should start shedding tears yet.

Instead you should take these last few days to let NBC know exactly how you feel about the show and how much you want to see it renewed for the upcoming fall season.

How great will summer be knowing we'll be getting a fresh weekly dose of Jeff when the weather starts to cool off again?

Contact NBC by phone at 1-212-664-8857


By email nbcshows@nbc.com


By snail mail:

Raines
c/o NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

Interesting Photos from Berlinale 2007

I was kind of idly browsing Flickr this afternoon and came across this set of photos by a photographer who attended a film festival in Berlin in February of this year. There are several shots of Jeff at what appears to be a press conference regarding "Adam Resurrected" on page 1, and pages 3 and 4 of the set.

A few of my favourites:







He's seated so demurely in this last one, is he not?

I'm a little perturbed by these photos because he looks almost like we could be related somehow. With his suit and those glasses and his hair slicked back it's almost as though I'm looking at an uncle. Ahem. I don't even want to know what Freud would say about all that.

Early Promotional Poster for "Adam Resurrected"

source


I would know Jeff's profile anywhere - that ain't Jeff.

Auggie Rose/Beyond Suspicion

I recently went on a buying frenzy of cheap (under $15 a piece) DVD movies from Amazon to help fill out my Goldblum collection. I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and have the Jeff-a-thon I'd been hoping to with them, but I did manage to watch Beyond Suspicion the other night.

First I just have to say that the movie should have stuck with it's original title, Auggie Rose. The title, "Beyond Suspicion" conjures up images of murder, criminals, and the justice system. And while this movie has those elements in it, it is ultimately a very interesting character study and deep exploration of what it means to choose one path for the rest of your life. I put the film in expecting another one of those kind of mediocre murder mystery thrillers that seemed to come out in spades the 90s. I'd actually never even heard of the movie before I saw it for sale on Amazon. And while I was excited to watch just because I am such a total fangirl for Jeff, I have to say I was completely and totally surprised, in a pleasant way, to be watching him in a role like this one.

The premise of the movie is that a well-to-do insurance salesman, John Nolan, witnesses an armed robbery while purchasing a bottle of expensive vintage wine one evening on his way home. The store clerk, Auggie Rose, is shot right in front of him. After the gunman flees, he cradles Auggie in his arms trying to stem the flow of blood while they wait for help to arrive. Unfortunately in the ambulance, Auggie expires, his last words ("It's going to be okay, John.") echoing in Nolan's mind.

Like any normal, empathetic person, John is clearly shaken by the entire ordeal. He contemplates, through flashbacks, how the drama could have played out had different choices been made during the wine-purchase. What if the gunman had shot him while he lay prone on the ground? What if he'd never asked for a different bottle of wine, with an intact label? Who was Auggie Rose and when would his funeral be planned? His questions lead him on a search for information about Auggie's past and ultimately he discovers that Auggie is an ex-convict, just released from prison only a few weeks before, with no kin or any friends to speak of. The idea that his body will simply be "disposed of", with no funeral and no one to care, upsets John enormously. He then goes on a quest to find out all he can about Auggie ostensibly to honour his memory, and acknowledge that he was a human being just like anyone, deserving of dignity and respect. John however - in the wake of witnessing the murder - is beginning to also have a bit of an identity crisis of his own. He is feeling pressure to marry his live-in girlfriend of six years; he finds his own career dishonest and distasteful, saying he "bamboozles" people. All of these things add up to a very confused man, who begins to (almost accidentally) slip into Auggie Rose's life.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away but I do just want to say that I am so pleased that I stumbled upon this little gem of a movie. It, more than any other movie I've seen Jeff in to date, really showcases his acting talent. He is convincing as both John C. Nolan and as the nouveau Auggie Rose, even when he is clearly uncertain of his own motivations, perplexed by how easy it was to adopt a new identity and new, unfamilliar life. The only negative thing I can say about the movie is that I feel they kind of unneccessarily dragged the crime element into it. Certainly the fact that Auggie was an ex-con, fresh out of 20 years in the state pen, meant there would be some shady business going on. But I felt that the whole story line with the thief trying to convince John/Auggie to go in on a bank heist with him and the way it sort of forced John's hand regarding the identify theft, was kind of thrown in to appease the "Hollywood masses", who don't feel any movie is complete without some kind of gun-toting violent caper action. I think that this movie could have been just as successful, and better-maintained it's artistic credibility, had they just left John to figure out his new life and how to be honest about it with his new love, on his own. No car chases, no cops and robbers, no guns. Auggie, prior to his death, seemed to be trying very hard to build an authentic and honest life, as simple and underprivileged as it may have been. I think that throwing in the bit about the bank heist was probably the same kind of thing as changing the title of the film from "Auggie Rose" to "Beyond Suspicion" - a way to try and mainstream a movie that was probably best left to burble quietly and independantly along a backwoods creek instead.



If you never seen (or like me even heard of) this movie I strongly suggest you seek it out. Even if the plot line doesn't sound interesting to you, the scene where Lucy (Ann Heche) is bathing John/Auggie is well worth the price of admission. *wink wink* Also, I prefer the alternate ending to the one they chose, but that is probably the cynic in me. You make the call for yourself.

I also strongly suspect that this film is much better than Transylvania 6-5000, which I also purchased for less than $10 but to be fair I'll reserve judgement on that until I've actually watched it. Ha.

Slow Week for Goldblumites

Not a lot happening in the news regarding Jeff this week so I've scrounged up a few oldies-but-goodies for you all.

The first is a very cool link to the personal LiveJournal of one Mr. James Urbaniak. You may know him best as one of the voice actors on the Adult Swim cartoon, The Venture Brothers, though a quick perusal of his IMDB profile should show you that he is one of the hardest working actors in show business today. What has all this got to do with Jeff? He and Mr. Urbaniak worked together on Fay Grim, and this is what he had to say about the experience:

January 19, 2006

Later that evening there was a "kickoff party" for the film, where I saw Ms. Parker Posey and met Mr. Jeff Goldblum. (Tom Ryan, Henry Fool himself, hasn't arrived yet.) Goldblum was delightful and hilarious and we spent a lot of time playing the movie game where you name an actor and a film they were in and then another actor from the same film and another film that they were in and so on. Goldblum clearly shares my love and knowledge of movies and thespians; everyone else within earshot had a hard time keeping up with us. He was very complimentary to me (when he met me he gave me a little Japanese-style bow) and at the end of the evening my wife and I shared a cab with him and he insisted on paying for the ride. A mensch.

January 29th, 2006

Every actor should have the opportunity to spend a day on a movie set with Jeff Goldblum. His enthusisam is infectious, to say nothing of his inspiring technique. The man has chops. His three energies on the set were: 1) quiet and focused, 2) loosey-goosey and hilarious and 3) manic and focused, all depending on what was going on in the scene being shot. Bottom line, he clearly loves what he does and is an open, curious and imaginative team player. I got a lot out of the experience. Vive la Jeff.

We hear a lot about how personable and likeable Jeff is, don't we? I've seen fellow entertainers rib him good-naturedly and I've heard people comment on how eccentric and flirtatious he can be, but I have never heard anyone say anything really bad about him. In this age of digging up whatever negativity we can about a celebrity and posting it on the internet for all to see, I gotta say that Jeff's impeccable reputation is at least in part what has made me such a huge fan.

To finish this post up, I'm going to show you a couple of really cute photos from what appears to be one of Jeff's early (and only) live performances in "The Moony Shapiro Songbook" in the early 80s. These photos come to you courtesy of Judy Kaye's website, who starred alongside Jeff in this notoriously short-lived show.


It's hard to tell, but that's Jeff up there on the piano, looking triumphant.


That trademark wide-eyed smiling face and his gangly height. Yummy!