Earlier 01/03/08

That JJL's no longer attached to "Spread" since she's having a baby instead. No official confirmation thus far...

Earlier... 11/02/08

JJL's new movie has been announced, it's called "Spread" and is directed by David  Mackenzie.

Shooting on his new film, Spread, starts today in Los Angeles. Will Mackenzie shed his Scottish noir, his grungy take on sex, for a sunnier outlook?

In Young Adam, with Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton, he memorably explored murky waters on a Scottish barge with the body of a drowned woman.

Hallam Foe saw Jamie Bell haunting the sexy Sophia Myles on Edinburgh rooftops as a troubled teenaged peeping tom. In Spread, US film and TV actor Ashton Kutcher plays a serial LA womaniser, while Golden Globe winner Jennifer Jason Leigh is a lawyer he ditches.

Internet movie websites reveal a dark edge. Kutcher's character is "a world-class seducer, who preys on a string of wealthy dames".

"When his women are out of town, he tools around in their luxury cars and lures other young women to their mansions, pretending that the 'spread' belongs to him." It all sounds suitably creepy.

On other news, the New York Times magazine has released a special Oscar issue featuring the breaktrough performances of the year and guess who was included. Check out JJL in the audio slide show and the video to behold her in striking images:

http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2008/02/08/magazine/index.html

Earlier... 04/02/08

As you may recall, February 5th marks the date of JJL's birthday so congrats! On other short news, Paramount Vantage has announced that "Synecdoche, New York" will open on March 21st, date that some insiders are doubting since where's the promotion? We'll stay tuned. On more JJL related stuff, she's recreating a Hitchcock scene for a pictorial in Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue magazine on newstands February 10th. And no, it won't be "Vertigo" again, LOL. She plays Danvers to Keira Knightley's Mrs. de Winter in "Rebecca"! How cool is that? Video from the shoot below:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/video/2008/hitchcockportfolio_video200803

Earlier... 19/12/07 

JJL was nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Award for best supporting actress for her work in "Margot at the wedding" and honored with a Muse award from the New York Women in Film & Television for her career achievements. Recently she recorded an "Artist on artist" interview with designer Marc Jacobs but it's not available yet. You can check this page regularly, to find out when they post it:

http://www.myspace.com/artistonartist 

Finally, for some holiday cheer, Nathaniel Rogers from  "The film experience" interviewed her last monday on short notice, so some lucky readers were able to suggest questions. Enjoy!

http://thefilmexperience.net/misc/jenniferjasonleigh.html

Earlier... 27/11/07

As expected, JJL is the sole standout for the 2008 Annual Spirit Awards for the work in "Margot at the wedding". She's one of the five nominees for Best supporting actress along with the likes of Cate Blanchett (I'm not there), Anna Kendrick (Rocket science), Tamara Podemski (Four sheets to the wind) and Marisa Tomei (Before the devil knows you're dead). Ceremony will take place on February 23rd. and will be broadcast live on IFC.  

Earlier... 23/09/07

Finally, in this interview JJL talks about being directed by her husband:

Jason Leigh film brutally honest

By BRUCE KIRKLAND -- Sun Media    

Margot at the Wedding is a brutally honest film about fractured family and soured relationships — and that is a good thing for Jennifer Jason Leigh.

“In fact,” Leigh proudly told Sun Media yesterday about her latest film, “people can leave the cinema very, very agitated and almost unable to speak. Or they’re angry, very stirred up.”

Other viewers might be full of guilt, Leigh said, “about things you don’t want to acknowledge about yourself, that you don’t want to see, and I think that can make people very angry.”

“So where’s the fun in that?” I asked before Leigh joined her writer-director husband, Noah Baumbach, at the Special Presentation debut of the film in the Toronto film festival (Nicole Kidman and Jack Black co-star with Leigh but were unable to attend).

“It’s very valuable, I think,” Leigh said of this kind of tough, personal cinema. “Because that’s what film can do. Film can give you an actual experience of life, and it can make you see things in a very real way. It can be kind of microscopically detailed.”

Leigh is a punishingly serious actress. She would much rather work with Baumbach or David Cronenberg or, in the past, Robert Altman, than she would cash in on possible movie-star roles.   

Likewise her taste in watching films. The late Swedish master Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage is her favourite film “ever, ever, ever!” she said.

“When I say this I’m not comparing this film (Margot at the Wedding) to Bergman at all. But, with Bergman’s films, I can watch them over and over again get something different out of them every time because they are observances of relationships.”

Margot at the Wedding drops in on a dysfunctional family in which instability, perhaps even insanity, intrudes during the days before a wedding ceremony. There are no villains, no heroes, but plenty of pain and humour.

Leigh collaborated on the script with Baumbach, her husband since Sept. 3, 2005. Baumbach is the Brooklyn-born filmmaker who broke out in that same year with The Squid and the Whale, which earned him an Oscar nomination.

“It’s great!” Leigh said of the chance to work on a film project at home. “It’s the most creative relationship I could hope for. I love it! I grew up with a writer (screenwriter Barbara Turner, who co-wrote Pollock, among many scripts) so I understand that process very, very well. I always read my mother’s screenplays.”

She tried to give her mother advice, Leigh said with a wane smile. “It wasn’t always welcomed. But, with Noah, it definitely is and that has been revelatory for me. I feel like I have something to give and he really wants it and that is just lovely.

“I really think he is brilliant and I love his sensibility and what interests him about people. I love his humour. To me, there’s just no one funnier. He is just really smart. He is really thoughtful and he is patient and good with people.”

She enjoys his direction, too, especially with emotionally raw material. “For me it’s great because I trust him so much, because I respect him so much. And I feel that he knows how much I have to give.

“Someone else might know me, sort of, from seeing other movies but Noah lives with me. He has seen me when I’m really distraught. He has actually seen ‘me’ distraught, you know, as opposed to me ‘acting’ distraught. So I know that he is not going to accept less than what he feels is absolutely true and I feel very, very safe in his hands.”

Margot at the Wedding will open in theatres later this fall.

Earlier... 13/09/07 

On October 13th, The Mill Valley Film Festival will honor JJL with an Award presentation for her contribution to cinema. If you're willing to attend, the following page is selling the tickets:

http://mvff.com/node/2669

Earlier... 01/09/07

In case you don't know, the character JJL portrays in Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" is that of Maria, a lesbian who, among other stuff, seduces Philip Seymour Hoffman's daughter. When confrontation takes place, things get physical and well, they finish beating the crap out of each other. Rexfeatures has an array of pics on how the scene was filmed, so you should head to www.rexfeatures.com and type the following code on the search bar to get the pics: *669665 (more on *669664) 

In other JJL related news, "Margot at the wedding" is making the rounds on film festivals, presenting this weekend in Telluride and on September 10th, 11th and 13th in Toronto.

Time and place as follows:

Earlier... 02/07/07

Well, apparently I'm not the only one with the perception that JJL is leaving everybody I know and their mothers in the dust on the acting department judging from the trailer of "Margot at the wedding". The Film Experience (www.thefilmexperience.net/Awards/2007/suppactress.html) lists her as the frontrunner to get the Oscar for Best supporting actress this very minute. And, to add to the hoopla, the official website of the movie is now up: www.margotatthewedding.com 

Me, as bad as I am, have snatched the pics form the website and I'm captioning them... Enjoy  

Earlier... 22/06/07

Reigning again on the silver screen, here's the trailer of "Margot at the wedding". Judging from what I see here and from what I read in the sp (yeah, me bad, also read Synecdoche, New York), her costars are in serious trouble... Nevermind, I'm in an incisive mood now. Oh, and to your right, the poster. Enjoy.

http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2007/06/trailer-preview.html 

Earlier... 07/06/07

Bet you noticed the lack of updates of the past months and the reason is there was nothing to update... til now. This article mentions what "Synecdoche, New York" is about. Please don't pass out when you read about talent involved. The link is included too, but in case of removal:

http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=32939&Category= 

Charlie Kauffman: Words within words By Mike Goodridge Charlie Kaufman started production last week on his first feature as a director, Synecdoche, New York, with a cast led by Philip Seymour Hoffman. On the eve of the shoot, Kaufman and Spike Jonze, one of his producers, talked exclusively to Mike Goodridge. Oddly, I'm not scared," Charlie Kaufman says on a break from hair and make-up tests for his directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, in early May in Brooklyn. "Maybe I'm in a state of denial. I'm just so busy I don't have the time to be scared. That doesn't mean I think I'm going to be good at it. I'm just forging ahead." Kaufman, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and was previously nominated for both Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, is considered the consummate screenwriter, yet says that he always had directing ambitions. "I started being interested in acting and theatre at a young age," he says. "I went to film school to be a director. I had always written and I figured that writing was the way to get a directing job. Then it became a thing unto itself." Although he did not collaborate with George Clooney on Clooney's film of Kaufman's Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Kaufman said that he had a "good education working with Spike (Jonze) and Michel (Gondry) on those four movies (the other was Human Nature)". "The majority of my involvement was in pre or post. I was there on set but not every day. I would just stand there and there was not an awful lot for me to do. Occasionally something would be needed for the script and I would be available to do that, whether on set or on the phone." It was actually Jonze who was set to direct Synecdoche for Columbia Pictures. "What happens," says Kaufman, "is that this script took quite a while for me to write and directors usually have to wait for me because I take a while. Meanwhile Spike was developing Where The Wild Things Are and that came into a definite state of being first. So I asked if he would mind if I could direct this. Very graciously, he let it go. Sony allowed it to go into turnaround about a year ago and we got it financed with Sidney Kimmel." Philip Seymour Hoffman plays theatre director Caden Cotard; at a crisis point in his life he decides to mount an epic play so he can contribute something of artistic value. He gathers an ensemble cast into a warehouse and builds a replica of New York City inside it. The play never gets finished, it only gets bigger and bigger. The film spans 40 years kicking off in 2005 and, says Kaufman, time starts moving "almost irrationally fast" as it goes on. The film also follows the women in his life. His wife who leaves him is played by Catherine Keener, a woman he meets at the box office and falls for is played by Samantha Morton, an actress whom he marries and divorces is played by Michelle Williams, his therapist is played by Hope Davis, his wife's best friend by Jennifer Jason Leigh and his daughter by Robin Weigert. Emily Watson plays the Morton character within the play and Dianne Wiest is an actress hired to play a cleaning woman in the play. "Charlie wasn't aware of how much he already knew when he was first starting," says Jonze, who is producing alongside Anthony Bregman and Sidney Kimmel. "He knows all the answers to the questions. I am a sounding board to bounce things off." Jonze will not be on the set all the time, leaving hands-on producing duties to Bregman, who was a producer on both Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine. Kaufman says that he is storyboarding "all the sequences that are particularly complicated". "We have production meetings late at night where we can't figure things out because the story taking place is in so many worlds," laughs Kaufman. "I'm trying to be as prepared as possible and do as much rehearsal as we can." The New York set is being built partially in the Brooklyn warehouse, but much of its scale will be added in post-production, where many of Kaufman's greatest works have been created. Kaufman and Jonze smile when recalling the 13-month editing process on Adaptation, from which the two of them created 35 different versions of the film. "We were writing new drafts of the movie in post," says Kaufman. "Although we were bound to what we shot, we did draft after draft after we shot the movie," says Jonze. "We had so much voiceover and footage about the history of evolution and of orchid collecting. It was amazing how much we could affect the movie. You feel it getting closer and working more and sometimes you try things along the way that don't work." For Synecdoche, Kaufman says he has a specifically budgeted amount of post-time. As for the title, it is a pun on Caden's hometown of Schenectady, New York, but also refers to the grammatical term 'synecdoche' which is when a part of something is used to characterise the whole. "I like the way it sounds," says Kaufman. "I like moving more in the direction of impossible titles. It started with Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind." So how is Kaufman coping with the managerial and social aspects of directing? "It's very different from my normal life, which is very solitary," he says. "But I like the more social aspects of doing movies and having a laugh once in a while. It's hard to do that when you're sitting in your office. "Spike and Michel have been very generous in allowing me to be a part of their movies. Most often, that is not the case. There tends to be a competitiveness between writers and directors on some projects. I must say, I do like the idea of making all the decisions." P.S. I'vew heard her character name is Maria and she's replacing Tilda Swinton once again (previous one in "The jacket").

Earlier... 22/02/07

Found this intriguing article about JJL's state properties. Ever wondered what kind of houses she likes?

http://www.bergproperties.com/blog/jennifer-jason-leigh-buy-in-greenwich-village/131/new-york

Jennifer Jason Leigh buys in Greenwich Village

Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh and her husband, writer-director Noah Baumbach, have paid $1.26 million to buy the co-op unit next-door to theirs in their building in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, according to public records.

Leigh, whose real name is Jennifer Morrow, and Baumbach purchased the fourth-floor unit in the building at 43 Fifth Avenue from fashion designer Roland Leal and Joseph Montebello, who is the former creative director of HarperCollins, according to the New York Observer. The unit had not been listed. Instead, Leigh and Baumbach directly approached Montebello, who had been in the unit since 1964, and Leal, who moved in in 1974, the Observer reported. Now, the paper noted, Leigh and Baumbach can combine their units into one.

Leigh, 45, clearly likes older structures. Her five-bedroom, 4,436-square-foot house at 1825 N. Curson Avenue in Los Angeles’ West Hollywood neighborhood was built in 1910, and the building at 43 Fifth Avenue was built in 1905. And for a change, Leigh bought the unit in her own name, and not through her Ralph Juniper Trust. It was through that trust’s name that Leigh purchased her house in L.A. back in 1995 for $813,644, and it was also through that trust that she bought her original, 680-square-foot, one-bedroom co-op unit at 43 Fifth Avenue back in 2002, according to public records. That unit had been listed for $675,000, and it sold to Leigh for an undisclosed amount.

The building at 43 Fifth Avenue never has had any shortage of star power. In late 2005, actress Holly Hunter paid $4.1 million to buy a four-bedroom unit in the building from actress Julia Roberts, who had listed the 3,000-square-foot unit for $4.995 million. In addition, Leigh’s first unit previously had been owned by actress Jeanne Tripplehorn, who sold it to Leigh.

Earlier... 01/01/07

The title of the JJL-Noah movie's finally out. Here it is, along with the release date:

Margot at the Wedding Release Date: October 12, 2007
Studio: Paramount Vantage
Director: Noah Baumbach
Screenwriter: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black

What's up with the title? Well, apparently Margot (Kidman) goes on to visit her sister Pauline (JJL) as she is getting married to Black's character. Of course, gotta be more story than this... 

Earlier... 01/12/06

Wow. Two JJL sights in two days after months of wondering her whereabouts, it's enough to make my day. Looking fab with darker locks, she attended the Gotham Awards (to be televised next wednesday on NYC TV at 9 PM EST.) She does double duty, both as the juror (among Ellen Barkin, Jon Favreau, Liev Schreiber, John Singleton and Cindy Tolan) of the 2006 Gotham Awards Breakthrough Actor Award, which was given to actresses Shareeka Epps (Half Nelson) and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel). Your favourite one was also on hand to present the Breakthrough Director Award to Ryan Fleck for Half Nelson. Don't miss her appearance!

The ACTRESS was also seen on Broadway at the premiere of the new David Hare directed-Julianne Moore acted play, "The vertical hour". Enjoy the pics! The picture of the month is from the Gotham Awards too.

Earlier... 04/11/06

Thanks to Naoshi for pointing me to this. JJL reads for your pleasure the new Janet Fitch (White oleander) novel; Paint it black. To buy this audiobook narrated with that unique voice, go to this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Paint-Black-Novel-Janet-Fitch/dp/1594835683  

Earlier... 21/10/06

JJL's finally found after months of absence. The following press bulletin tells you where, specially if you go to NY:

An Evening With Esopus

When
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
7:00 PM

Where
The Kitchen
512 W 19th St
New York, New York 10011
40.7452, -74.0065

Category
Performing Arts

Description
Cultural journal Esopus will host an evening of readings and live music by past and present contributors. Free admission.

In conjunction with the release of its seventh issue, the biannual non-profit arts magazine Esopus organizes an evening of readings and live music by past and present contributors. The evening’s theme--creative collaboration--is approached from four different angles by the four collaborating groups. For this event, film production designer Therese Deprez (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Dark Water) and cinematographer Ellen Kuras (I Shot Andy Warhol, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), who have collaborated on three films, discuss the process of working together to create the look and tone of a feature film. Christopher Durang stages and co-performs a reading of a short parody of Medea that he co-wrote with Wendy Wasserstein in the late 1990’s. Finally, in "Autographs," an audio-visual presentation recorded exclusively for this event, actor/filmmaker Jennifer Jason Leigh reads a series of short poems by Vincent Katz, accompanied by projections of never-before-seen drawings by his father, artist Alex Katz. (The entire suite of 12 drawings and poems is published in Esopus 7). The evening ends with a performance by Charles Bissell and Kevin Whelan of the Wrens, an independent band which contributed a track to an Esopus-themed CD.

Earlier... 04/10/06

1. "Backdraft" is now out in DVD

2. "Mrs. Parker and the vicious circle" is also out in new DVD

3. "Last exit to Brooklyn" is out in DVD and it includes "It/ll be better tomorrow"! Buy it now here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Exit-Brooklyn-Disc-Special/dp/B000HCO5AC/ref=pd_sxp_f_r/202-4755630-0482230?ie=UTF8

4. "Untitled Noah Baumbach Project" to open on USA-Nov 2/07 limited and 
USA/CANADA-Jan 11/08.

Yes, that's a long wait (sigh) 

Earlier... 31/07/06

As you may know, JJL appeared in a Faith no more video for the song "Last cup of sorrow". In it, the actress plays Madeleine and Judy (er. Kim Novak's roles in Hitchcock's classic "Vertigo") and the video is finally on DVD. It's included in the compilation "Faith no more- Live at the Brixton Academy & Greatest videos". Should I say this is something you should own right now?

Earlier... 15/07/06

I found in the IMDB a reference about a musical group named Versus that made a song about JJL. Faster than a speeding bullet I looked for the lyrics. You can learn about the band responsible of this (apparently the song was inspired by Blondie O'hara, talking about a gun-totin' moll), at an excellent fansite: http://www.versus-ny.co.uk/

Glitter of Love
(R) Star-crossed love      (F: “Aahhhhh” throughout verses)
Right into my arms above the planets
We can stay up all night

Dashboard romantic
Bring your broken heart to your party
Pretend that no one loves you

So you’re an airplane
Flying through the clouds
Back to daddy
There’s a new death in the family

You look real to me
Not just a paper doll,
You’re a gun-totin’ moll
Staring right at the sun
So call the paula ten??
Yeah I’m real stuck on you
And that’s more than the truth
You’re giving me the warm shaking glitter of love

Plastique panic
Wake up  somewhere else, screaming bloody murder
Blame it on your mother

Razor sharp
Cutting up your arm is a bad habit
Hope that someone finds you

You look real to me
You’re Jennifer Jason Leigh
But you’re taller than me

And you carry a gun
It looks like so much fun
I’m really stuck on you, and that’s more than the truth
Give me the chance to prove my star-crossed love

Be my island
Be my lighthouse in dark closet
So look behind the presents

Birthday hands
Tremble with anticipation
Drunken star-crossed love

You look real to me
The warm shaken glitter of love will make a man out of me
With nothing more to say, so let’s just fly away
Yeah, I’m really stuck on you, and that’s more than the truth
You’re giving me the warm shaking glitter of love,
We need to try to tell that we’re still in love
To give me the chance to prove my star-crossed love.

On a sweet note, I couldn't find where to put this quote by actress Amy Sedaris, talking about why you shouldn't call her an actress, so here it goes:

"Well, I'm not an actress. What, you're going to put me and Jennifer Jason Leigh in the same scene and say I am an actress? I don't think so."

Earlier... 27/06/06

Finally, the pics of the Marc Jacobs Fall 2006 Women's collection I announced months ago are emerging, here're three. If you happen to find another one, please share with the site. Thank you to all people who sent me the first batch (Photos by Juergen Teller)!

Earlier... 01/06/06

Thank you, Naoshi, for linking me to this "star-gazing" article which was published online by The Southampton Press and is gone, baby, gone now. Most interesting fact of it is that Barbara Turner, JJL's mom has landed the role of "Aunt Becky". Woah, Noah! Family bondage can't get any better:

Catchphrase in East Quogue: Quiet on the Set
Grant Tse

Traffic was backed up, the air was buzzing with discussions of the latest celebrity sighting, and a fresh produce stand was all decked out for prospective customers—just another sunny Wednesday in May on the East End.
Except, in this case, traffic was being stopped by police so no unwanted vehicles could cruise into the frame during the filming of a movie with the singularly unglamorous working title of “untitled Noah Baumbach project”; the celebrity sighted was actually Nicole Kidman strolling down Main Street in East Quogue in an outdoor shot for the film; and the produce stand was a prop designed to look like the real thing—complete with a Latino actor behind the counter.
As of last Wednesday, Paramount Classics—the “indie” arm of Paramount Pictures—had been filming the drama-comedy, which stars Nicole Kidman, Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh, for about five weeks on the East End, making sorties from a trailer-choked headquarters in Hampton Bays, according to Eric Myers, the publicist for the production. The film was written—and is being directed—by Noah Baumbach, whose last film, “The Squid and the Whale,” garnered a lot of buzz on the indie circuit among audiences and critics alike.
The movie is set in a “seaside village,” Mr. Myers said, and there is no mention of the Hamptons: a member of the crew said last month the story was set in Nantucket. According to Mr. Myers, the movie is about a reunion for a dysfunctional family which includes two sisters, played by Ms. Kidman and Ms. Leigh. The movie is slated to come out some time next year.
Ever since a squadron of trailers and trucks set up camp on Newtown Road in Hampton Bays and a giant tree, a prop, was seen on a barge heading into Hampton Bays, gossip about the film—and especially Ms. Kidman—has been flying around town, but, curiously, the crew and cast have kept a remarkably low profile.
“This is not a huge production,” Mr. Myers said. “It’s a fairly intimate comedy-drama—we’re not doing a lot of stunts or blowing up cars.”
During the shoot, Mr. Myers said he and many other members of the crew were put up at local hotels, including the Atlantic Motel and The Bentley, and dined occasionally, and somewhat surreptitiously, at the nearby Mount Fuji, The Publick House, and Tide Runners Restaurant. For the most part though, both the cast and crew relied on a private caterer for most of their meals. Members of the principal cast stayed in private houses rented for the duration of the shoot, Mr. Myers said.
Most of the filming was done at a house on Newtown Road in Hampton Bays, and a number of the crew members brought their children to the set for a taste of the East End.
“It’s a gorgeous setting to shoot, with a view of Peconic Bay,” Mr. Myers said. “We had half a dozen kids running around playing on the lawn, having lunch with us, and getting to know us—it was an unexpected fringe benefit.”
The crew also shot for two days on and around the Shelter Island ferry—at one point renting one of the South Ferry vessels for several hours. The last day of shooting on the East End was May 17. The studio is scheduled to complete shooting in another three weeks in the “greater New York” area, Mr. Myers said, but the exact location must, of course, remain as secret as the final resolution—if there is one—of the film’s plot line.
“Making a film is like cooking,” Mr. Myers said. “When you’re shooting, you’re just getting all your gourmet ingredients together, the carrots and the spices and what not, and you put it all together in editing.”
The final shoot—or ingredient gathered—in East Quogue will likely have the hamlet buzzing for weeks. The scene was shot at the New Moon Café, and what had been a low-key production suddenly turned into a bona fide Hollywood stereotype.
Crew members with wireless headsets and hand-held radios shooed away locals who got too close, including a man in a wheelchair. (He might have been reflected in various windows, according to the production agent who politely asked him to move.) Tripods, reflectors, stage lights and haughty extras littered the area around the café. Police stopped traffic during shooting—only cars driven by extras could show up in the background. Everyone referred to celebrities by their first name.
The scene drew freelance photographers, fans, and locals alike. Most of the residents of East Quogue were notified by mail that there would be shooting on Main Street on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr. Myers said.
The close quarters drew plenty of locals hoping to catch of glimpse of Ms. Kidman. East Quogue resident Glenn Kilkenny was camped out with his morning cup of coffee at the Sweet Waters Deli across the street from where the crew was shooting.
“I live around the corner,” Mr. Kilkenny said. “I haven’t seen anyone yet, or maybe all the actors look different to me in real life. Either way, this is a rare sight in East Quogue.”
The cast members on the scene seemed to enjoy the local company. Ashlie Atkinson, who plays “Mom,” and Barbara Turner, who has the role of “Aunt Becky,” sat across the street waiting for the filmed liaison with Ms. Leigh, who was almost camouflaged amongst other onlookers, as they sipped on cappuccinos.
“I grew up in a small town in the south, and I love the sort of block mentality they have here,” Ms. Turner said. “They’ll see each other on the street and start chatting. It’s so close-knit. Everybody knows everybody.”
A couple of residents were more intimately involved in the shooting. Ron Campsey, who owns the New Moon Café and speaks with a pleasant Texan drawl, got to play an extra in the film. Mr. Baumbach was wandering East Quogue looking for potential sites in early May when he stumbled upon the New Moon Café and Mr. Campsey, wearing an apron, a bandanna and a cowboy hat and playing backgammon with a friend in the window of his Main Street restaurant.
“They told me that I had a ‘great outfit,’ and I told them, ‘this is my regular outfit,’” Mr. Campsey said. “When they asked me if I wanted to be in the movie, my immediate response was ‘yes.’”
He re-created his backgammon game in the background of a scene with Ms. Kidman and Ms. Leigh. The production crew made over his café for the shoot as well, adding a karaoke stage and taking down anything for which the filmmakers had not negotiated copyright permission. On Wednesday, sitting next to his wife Shana, he recounted everything about the experience in great detail, including his encounter with Ms. Kidman.
“She was so polite—she came up to us and introduced herself, and said, ‘Thank you so much for letting us come and shoot here,’” Mr. Campsey said. “She’s a beautiful, lovely young lady.”
His time on the set has changed his view on movies. “Everyone has a specific job,” Mr. Campsey said. “Now when I go to the movies, I’ll understand what it takes—they repeat shots over and over again— it takes hours just to get a couple of minutes in the movie.”
As far as what could be called the main attraction of the East Quogue location shooting, the outdoor shots with Ms. Kidman walking down Main Street went by quickly, with little fanfare, aside from some people craning their necks to catch a glimpse of actors surrounded by cameras, giant reflectors, and large, fuzzy microphones.
“It didn’t look like her,” said Elaine Vavra, an East Quogue resident, describing the casually attired Ms. Kidman, who was sporting jeans and a sweatshirt in the scene. “She’s usually so gorgeous–but I guess they dressed her to fit in with the town.”
There were several star-struck fans on hand who didn’t care what the movie star was wearing. Katrina Lohr, who came over from Hampton Bays to watch the shoot, managed to catch Ms. Kidman coming down from her trailer to the café.
“I shouted, ‘You’re so beautiful,’” Ms. Lohr said, beaming, “and she told me, ‘Thank-you.’”
To others it was just another sunny Wednesday. When Ms. Vavra’s husband, Charles, was asked if he had come downtown to see the shoot, he replied without hesitation.
“Nope,” he said, “I’m just here to get the newspaper.” 

Earlier... 28/05/06

Finally, the first pictures of JJL look in her new hubbie-directed movie emerge. It's her, Noah and the makeup artists. On other related news, confusing details have been popping here and there about her character's name, which is either Cindy Buff or Wendy Pews, the name she doesn't use, is that for Kidman's character. At your right...

Earlier... 27/04/06

The "Drama desk" awards gave JJL her second nomination. Nominees for actress are: Margaret Colin, "Defiance"; Cherry Jones, "Faith Healer"; Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Abigail's Party"; Jan Maxwell, "Entertaining Mr. Sloane"; Lois Smith, "The Trip to Bountiful"; and Julie White, "The Little Dog Laughed." Oops, Lois Smith for the same role that gave Geraldine Page an Oscar... that's... weird. The Drama Desk, which was founded in 1949, honors both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.The awards show, hosted by Harvey Fierstein, will take place Sunday, May 21, at the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.

Earlier... 21/04/06

This woman claims to be JJL's stand-in in the new Noah Baumbach pic. And she has a blog. And here we're hoping she begins to spill the beans real soon:

http://www.blogomonster.com/magickat/

Earlier... 20/04/06

According to comingsoon.net, the cast goes round like this. (There's also a rumour about Sidney Pollack playing a part in this, but it's still unconfirmed):

Director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) has set John Turturro and newcomers Zane Pais, Flora Cross and Halley Feiffer to join his untitled comedy for Paramount Classics, reports Variety.

Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black also star. Scott Rudin is producing.

Kidman plays a woman who brings her pre-teen son with her to visit the upstate home of her sister (Leigh). Pais, the son of stage actress Lisa Emery, plays the son. Cross (Bee Season) plays the daughter of Leigh and her husband (Black). Feiffer plays a neighbor.

The film is shooting in Long Island.