December
23, 2008 - Golden
Globe: Sean Penn nominated as Best Actor
San Francisco Film Critics Awards
Milk," the story of gay rights activist
Harvey Milk, won four awards, including best picture of 2008, in Monday's
balloting by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle.
The biopic
about the first openly gay man voted into a major U.S. public office also
earned a best director award for Gus Van Sant; best original screenplay
for Dustin Lance Black; and a tie for best actor for Sean Penn, who shared
that honor with Mickey Rourke, the lead in "The Wrestler."
The list of
best actor nominees included Richard Jenkins (“The Visitor”), Frank
Langella (“Frost/Nixon”), Sean Penn (“Milk”), Brad Pitt (“The Curious
Case of Benjamin Button”), as well as Mickey Rourke (“The Wrestler”).
The
15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will
be broadcast live by TNT and TBS on January 25.
Southeastern
Film Critics Association
Awards Best Picture Best Actor: Sean Penn Best Original Screenplay
Houston Film Critics
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Phoenix Film Critics
Society Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role: Sean Penn, Milk Best Acting Ensemble: The cast of Milk
DFW Film Critics Best actor: Sean Penn, “Milk.” Runner-up:
Mickey Rourke Best screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, “Milk.”Runner-up: Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
December 23,
2008 - Mountain
of Snakes
Now you can read the complete article on
Sean Penn's visit to Venezuela and Cuba in the "Huffington
Post".
December
12, 2008 - Golden
Globe: Sean Penn nominated as Best Actor
Milk Gets Only One Golden Globe Nomination
The Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning and the Harvey
Milk biopic "Milk" only received one nomination; Sean Penn was nominated
as Dramatic Actor for his performance as Harvey Milk.
He is joined in the competition by
Brad Pitt ("Benjamin Button"), Frank Langella as Richard Nixon in
"Frost/Nixon.", Leonardo DiCaprio for "Revolutionary Road" and Mickey
Rourke for the sports-comeback tale "The Wrestler."
James Franco, who plays Milk's lover in "Milk," received a nomination
for his role in "Pineapple Express," and Neil Patrick Harris received a
nomination for his role in the TV sit-com "How I Met Your Mother."
December
11, 2008 - MILK namend Best Film by New York Film Critics
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Penn and "Milk," Gus Van Sant's biopic about gay
rights leader Harvey Milk, continued to gain awards momentum Wednesday,
winning best film from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Sean Penn was chosen as best actor for his performance in the lauded film
about Milk, the openly gay San Francisco politician who was assassinated
in 1978. Josh Brolin won best supporting actor for his performance in the
film.
On Tuesday, Penn was chosen as best actor by the Los Angeles Film
Critics Association. "Milk" also leads the Broadcast Film Critics
Association with eight nominations, tied for the most with "The Curious
Case of Benjamin Button."
December
10, 2008 - Sean Penn
is Best Actor of the year
for LAFCA
Sean Penn was namend "Best Actor of the year"
by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Tuesday. Sean Penn took the
actor nod for his portrayal of gay political activist Harvey Milk in Focus
Features’ "Milk." He was last honored by the L.A. critics in 1983, when he
received the New Generation award for his breakout work in "Bad Boys" and
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
December
8, 2008 - Sean Penn on the Charlie Rose Show
Charlie Rose
had a one hour episode dedicated to Gus Van Sant’s Milk. Watch Charlie
Rose talking to Sean Penn about Chavez, Castro and Harvey Milk:
You can see the whole show, including the
interviews with Gus van Sant and Josh Brolin HERE
December
1,
2008 - MILK
makes TOP TEN - with only
36 copies ...
Very impressive! Focus Features' Milk earned a
whopping $51,836 per theatre in just 36 locations for its five-day debut
of $1.9 million. The critically-acclaimed film will expand in the coming
weeks as the Oscar buzz builds and the word-of-mouth campaign builds the
fortunes of this true story of Harvey Milk directed by Gus Van Sant.
Nominations for the 13th annual Satellite Awards, given out by the
International Press Association, have been announced.
MILK (together with 'Slumdog Millionaire') leads the way with six
nominations - including best actor (Sean Penn), best supporting actor
(James Franco), best direcotr (Gus van Sant) and best film.
The awards will
be handed out on Sunday, December 14th in Century City, California.
November
27, 2008 - 6 new MILK filmclips online now
In the cover
story of this week's Nation Magazine, Sean Penn questions Cuban President
Raul Castro in his first-ever interview with the foreign press. In
the wide-ranging, seven-hour conversation, Castro discusses his views of
President-elect Barack, Obama, reflects on his role during the Bay of Pigs
invasion and the Cuban missile crisis, and shares details of the secret
but ongoing military relationship between the Pentagon and Cuba over
Guantanamo.
In the article, Penn also travels to Venezuela as well as to Cuba with
journalist Christopher Hitchens and historian Douglas Brinkley. In
Venezuela, the group interviewed President Hugo Chavez at length,
discussing his view of a potential relationship with President Obama, the
Monroe Doctrine and human rights and freedom of expression under his
presidency.
This article is an adapted excerpt of the
essay/interview "A Mountain of Snakes," which will appear in full December
1 at HuffingtonPost.com and is online now:
November
8, 2008 - Sean
Penn receives Stanley Kubrick Award from BAFTA/LA
At
Thursday night's event, the British Academy of Film and Television
Arts/LA recognized Penn with the 2008 Stanley Kubrick Award for
Excellence in Film. On this occasion, Sean Penn declared peace with
American politics with the election of Barack Obama as the next
president.
“I was sitting on the edge of the bed with my family watching our
new president-elect,” actor/director Sean Penn said. “I have
never been able to put the word ‘my’ before president before,”
he added, prompting loud applause from the British-American film
industry crowd that also honored actors Tilda Swinton and Don
Cheadle and director Stephen Frears.
Then he snubbed his ex-wife Madonna and pledged his support for her
estranged husband GUY RITCHIE.
When he took to the stage, the actor - married to Madonna from 1985-1989 -
sent a message to Brit Richie, hinting his career could flourish after
divorcing the Material Girl. Penn said, "What's my British thing to
say? Guy Ritchie is back!"
Before presenting the prize, Anderson mocked Penn by comparing him to
reclusive filmmaker Kubrick - who inspired the award.
The There Will Be Blood filmmaker said, "Stanley Kubrick was a
perfectionist and a man of amazing intellect. Sean's not really either one
of those things. Stanley Kubrick was a photographer in the beginning of
his career. Sean has done considerable damage to photographers' cameras in
the beginning of his career. Stanley Kubrick made Spartacus. Sean Penn
spent 32 days in L.A. County Jail."
Sources: Reuters/Variety
November 6, 2008 - New released Filmclip of MILK
In the newly-released clip of Sean
Penn-starring 'Milk', Harvey Milk is delivering his speech in front of
hundreds, rallying for their supports ... source
October 29, 2008 - MILK Premiere
Yesterday, the hotly-anticipated but hype-suppressed (or not?)
Gus van Sant film
"Milk" screened for the first time for select press in Los
Angeles and a massive crowd at its official premiere on Castro
Street in San Francisco. Some loved it ("a major Oscar movie
that actually is a gay agenda movie"), others
liked it a lot ("I felt a genuine gayness from
Sean Penn"), and even
its biggest detractors, it seems, liked it well enough (even if
they felt others liked it a little too much).
While all of that is interesting,
the biggest question for awards watchers is, of course, how
does it look for the coming awards season?
Sean Penn has had an illustrious
career over the past 25 years, appearing in everything from from
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982) to "Dead Man Walking"
(1995) to, more recently, "I Am Sam" (2001), "21 Grams" (2003),
and "Mystic River" (2003), the latter of which brought him an
Academy Award for best actor. He should make room for another,
because it's going to take one of the greatest performances of
all time to beat his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey
Milk, which has already met that standard. (How's that for a
challenge Leonardo DiCaprio,
Clint Eastwood,
Brad Pitt,
Will Smith and
Hugh Jackman? You're
gonna have to earn it!)
Penn embodies Milk, body and
soul. It's a performance that's so alive that one could be
forgiven for forgetting that the real Milk has been dead for 30
years. Yes, Penn is made up to look just like Milk, and there
are moments—as was the case with Jamie Foxx
in Ray (2004)—when one can hardly even discern the actor behind
the character. But there is so much more.
Penn is helped by the fact that the
time and place in which Milk existed have been so impeccably
recreated, and that he is surrounded by ensemble cast members
who vividly play Milk's fellow activists (Emile
Hirsch), lovers (Diego
Luna) or both (James
Franco), not to mention the fellow city supervisor who
was his opposite in every way (Josh
Brolin). Each character is developed and each actor has
opportunities to shine, but they're all on the same level, with
no standouts, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if the film
fails to be represented in the supporting actor field. (Look out
for Danny Elfman in
original score, though.)
As for the big prize, a best
picture nod, it's simply too early to tell. Like "Doubt" earlier
in the week, "Milk" has done it's job, as far as surviving its
first public exposure with its buzz intact. It's also getting
(and will continue to get) lots of free press in the context of
the present-day Proposition 8 vote. But for now, Focus Features
and the filmmakers can only sit back and wait to see how the
rest of the field plays out. Almost nobody has had a look at "Australia,"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Defiance," "Gran Torino,"
"The Reader," "Revolutionary Road," or "Seven Pounds" yet, and
with "The Dark Knight," "Doubt," "Frost/Nixon," and "Slumdog
Millionaire" already a part of the discussion, we can expect a
dogfight for the five slots.
Source: LA Times - Photos: Sean Penn in "Milk." Credit: Focus
Features.
And if you have any questions about
"Milk" go to Mannythemovieguy. He is a film critic/entertainment
reporter, and got invited to the press junket for "Milk."
So, if you want to ask questions, please do so at his Blog.
October 24, 2008 - MILK Website online
The official
"MILK" Website is now online on FILMINFOCUS. And there is a "MILK"
MySpace Page now online.
Plus: Focus
Features has released 13 new production photos from the movie.
October 9, 2008 - James thinks of Spicoli - Sean of Madonna
...
JAMES Franco seems to like
playing his gay character in "MILK" and mor so, talking about it ...
“The first kiss
of the movie [with myself and Sean] was out on Haight Street, with, like,
200 people watching, outside,” James told GQ in their September issue
about filming “Milk” with Sean Penn. “It was a crane shot—I’m sure in the
end it will be a really cool shot, but it starts close and then it takes
maybe a minute. That’s a long time on film with everybody watching and,
like, a fake mustache getting in your mouth.”
Besides Sean’s mustache, James had to contend with being a little
star-struck during his on screen smooch. “It was long enough that you
couldn’t help thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I’m kissing Spcioli!’”
In his
umpteenth interview about his role in "Milk" Franco told Out magazine,
"After our [on-screen] kiss, Sean texted
Madonna - his ex-wife, Madonna - and said, 'I just popped my
cherry kissing a guy. I thought of you. I don't know why' . . . and
she wrote back: 'Congratulations!'"
Actor-director to receive Stanley
Kubrick Britannia Award
The
British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles will honor
actor-director Sean Penn with its Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award
for Excellence in Film at the 2008 BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards on
Nov. 6 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.
Penn next stars as gay-rights activist Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant's
biographical drama "Milk," which will be released in November.
The trailer for Gus Van Sant’s
latest movie, Milk, has just
gone live over at Apple Trailers, and it looks mighty promising.
The story of Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay mayor of San
Francisco in the 1970s and the events that led to his eventual murder at
the hands of disgruntled colleague Dan White, it’s a movie that could
well be a contender for Oscars come next year.
Van Sant can experiment with the best of them, but for this movie –
which, politically, culturally and socially you’d imagine is pretty
close to his heart – he seems to have adopted the more conventional
style of his work on, say, Good Will
Hunting.
Ultimately, though, this is a movie that will be driven by the power of
its performances, and the trailer does enough to hint that the ensemble
that Van Sant has assembled will be hugely impressive, from Josh Brolin
as the bitter and homophobic White, to James Franco as Milk’s lover (does
this mean, after Pineapple Express,
that a drama for him is playing against type?), and an unrecognisable
Emile Hirsch.
But Penn – sporting an alarming side parting – is the main draw here.
Milk is a role that has to be played just so – too flamboyant and you
might as well cast the guy who played the security officer in Meet Dave; too serious and the
movie is in danger of becoming a lecture. But Penn looks like he has
nailed both Milk’s joie de vivre and charisma, but also the doubts and
courage that raged within as he suffered death threats on his way to the
top job in SF.
August 28, 2008 - Sean Penn 'reluctantly' vote for
Obama
DENVER -- The hottest actor at the Democratic National Convention,
Sean Penn, tells he'll vote for
Barack Obama and that his event this week with
Ralph
Nader is not an endorsement of the consummate party spoiler.
"I'm not supporting Nader for president," Penn
says. Penn, who supported Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)
for president during the Democratic primary, expressed some reservations
about Obama. But he's certainly not going to vote for a Republican. "I will reluctantly vote for Obama," an exhausted looking,
wild-haired Penn told us. Asked whether he'll contribute money to Obama,
he said, "He doesn't need money from me."
Penn, who lives in San Francisco now, was being ushered around by
Hollywood emissary Lawrence O'Donnell, a longtime
former aide to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.).
And even though O'Donnell has lived and breathed politics for much of
his life, he lost a crucial bet to Penn. A while back, Penn predicted Obama's vice presidential pick would be
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.). O'Donnell, a consultant to
"West Wing" and other Washington-centric TV shows, bet $2,000 that Penn
was wrong.
Last night, Penn was carrying the slightly crumpled $2,000 check from
O'Donnell in his pocket, which he pulled out and showed us. Asked
whether he planned to cash it or frame it, Penn said, "Frame it for now.
But if SAG (Screen Actors Guild) goes on strike I might need to cash
it."
Also joining Penn and O'Donnell at the party was
Kerry
Washington, who starred in "Ray" and "The Last King of Scotland."
She told us she's excited about her newest movie, "Lakeview Terrace,"
which hits theaters next month. The flawlessly gorgeous actress
described the film as a psychological thriller about an interracial
couple in a blue-collar neighborhood.
Washington played the role of Penn's protector at the poolside party,
checking on him occasionally to make sure he didn't need a rescue. She
told us Penn is very shy around big crowds. And Penn himself admitted,
"In a crowd of more than five, I hang on to my drink."
August 11, 2008 - Sean Penn stunned by James Franco's
fake penis
Sean Penn felt sure his onscreen gay lover in new biopic Milk was a big
boy - because James Franco wore a prosthetic penis for naked scenes.
Franco strapped on a fake phallus for a
nude pool scene in the film - about San Francisco's first gay Mayor Harvey
Milk - because he didn't want to be completely exposed. And even Penn was duped by the lifelike manhood.
Franco reveals, "This scene went on for a long time,
like half the day, and it's getting cold... and I go over to Sean and I
guess he didn't know that I was wearing a prosthetic.
"I go, `Sean, you're such a great actor but you
wouldn't do a scene like this if they asked you; you wouldn't dive into a
pool naked.' "And he said... `Well James, if I was built like you, I would.'
"A couple of weeks later we did this scene, where we're both dancing and
we're naked, and we both have prosthetic penises. He finally put it
together that I'm wearing, like, the Boogie Nights prosthetic."
www.femalefirst.co.uk
August 8, 2008 - "What Just Happend" Movie Trailer
The story follows "two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer
(Robert De Niro) who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made."
Sean Penn
plays himself, as does Bruce Willis. Robin Wright Penn and Kristen
Stewart also star in the film, which opens October 3.
August 8, 2008 - Sean and Robin's home on the market
Hollywood couple Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn have put
their San Francisco-area home on the market for $15 million.
The house is in the small Marin County town of Ross, about
18 miles north of San Francisco. The Penns bought the 2.2-acre property in
1996 for $2.1 million and spent more than two years rebuilding the 1933
Spanish-style house, says Coldwell Banker broker John McGeough, who has
the listing.
The 10,000-square-foot house was designed with hand-hewn
wood-beamed ceilings and floors, stone fireplaces and hand-painted tiles
in the bathrooms and kitchen. The two-story home has five bedrooms, a home
office, an au pair suite, a gym and a three-car garage. A two-bedroom
guest cottage has its own two-car garage. There's also a pool, tennis
court, gardens and dog run.
A representative for Mr. Penn, who won an Academy Award
for best actor for 2003's "Mystic River," and his wife, who received a
Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress for 1994's "Forrest
Gump," declined to comment on where the couple planned to move.
Source: Wall Street Journal
June 10, 2008 - TREE OF LIVE - Sean Penn & Brad Pitt
filming in Houston
Sean
Penn has been spotted in Houston in over the past couple of days filming
Terrence Malick's Tree of Life.
Sunning by the pool Sunday at the Four Seasons, Penn did not go
unnoticed by fans, once discovered, the film star allegedly quickly
ducked indoors. Penn also dined at the Grove Restaurant adjacent to
Discovery Green Park in downtown with a pal who picked up the tab.
Actor Brad Pitt was also spotted on Tuesday in the Museum District area.
May 19, 2008 - Sean Penn brings aid movie to Cannes
A small flick
went from refugee camp to red carpet Friday as Sean Penn, backed by rock
star Bono and film-maker Michael Moore, brought an Australian aid
worker's tsunami film to the Cannes fest.
Politically-minded Penn won special agreement from the Cannes festival
organisers for a special one-off red-carpet screening of "The Third
Wave", a film he told the crowd was "as provocative and inspiring as
anything I've ever seen." With hotly-applauded Bono and Moore in the
audience, and Faye Dunaway as well, Penn added: "In lieu of the fact
that governments don't seem to be able to help, this film gives an
indication of how you can help yourself."
Penn heads
the Cannes jury that will award this year's coveted Palme d'Or prize for
best film, and on day three of the world's biggest filmfest critics are
already opining the trophy could go to a film with a conscience.
The Oscar-winning actor saw the film by Sydney-born Alison Thompson six
months ago but said at the festival that given the disasters currently
unfolding in China and Myanmar, the film was "even more important now."
"In lieu of the fact that governments don't seem to be able to help,
this gives you an indication of how you can help yourself," he told the
audience.
Shot in 2004
in Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami that left some 170,000 people
dead across Asia, "The Third Wave" recounts how Thompson and her partner
Oscar Gubernati took off from New York with little more than a handful
of dollars to try to help the victims, only days after the disaster.
Picking up a couple of extra pairs of hands, they took off for the coast
with a van of supplies and stopped in the village of Peraliya, where
2,500 people had died, including hundreds travelling on a smashed train.
Thompson, who had basic first aid training, took care of the wounded as
the team helped stunned survivors to begin clearing the chaos. "People
were lethargic to clean up, doing a little bit kept people motivated,"
one of them said. Week by week they dug toilets, collected corpses,
played with children, built shelters, found food, got the school going,
and tried to restore morale.
By the third week, the volunteers numbered 10 as other westerners signed
on. By week seven they were 40, including voluntary doctors.
The group was
never financed, getting help from time to time from organised aid
associations, who donated medicine or food, or from passers-by who left
what cash they could. "It was giving hope and reintroducing normalcy",
said one volunteer in the film. By the time the group left after several
months, 520 homes had been rebuilt with no organised outside financial
help.
Penn saw the
film on the behest of Czech model Petra Nemcova, who was in Thailand on
holidays when the tsunami struck and survived by clinging to a tree as
her fiance was swept to his death.
Funds raised
by the film would go to Sri Lanka, Nemcova said.
Thompson, who
was present at the screening, said she was hoping to go to Myanmar to
help. "If anyone wants to come, you can come and see me." Former
Australian Army engineer Donny Paterson, also in the first group of
volunteer helpers, added: "It's easy to do ... You don't need great
skills, only your heart."
May 15, 2008 - Sean Penn: An unorthodox president of Cannes
Jury
CANNES,
France (AP) — Sean Penn may be president of the Cannes Film Festival
jury — but don't expect any buttoned-up presidential behavior from the
Hollywood rebel. During a news conference on opening day Wednesday, the
actor-director lit up two cigarettes in defiance of French laws against
smoking in public buildings. He used the F-word. And he poked fun at his
reputation.
Asked by a
reporter if he could confirm that he had hesitated before taking the
jury presidency because it means being "wise and sober" for 12 days, the
"Into the Wild" director quipped, "How many days have I got left?"Penn,
a regular at Cannes, won the best actor award here for "She's So Lovely,"
and he showed his own movies "The Pledge" and "The Indian Runner" here.
When Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" played at Cannes, it generated
early buzz for Penn's performance, which went on to win an Academy Award.
Penn
wasn't all jokes and antics at Cannes — he also let his serious,
thoughtful side shine through, urging reporters to see a documentary
that the festival included at his special request. "The Third Wave" is
Alison Thompson's look at volunteers who joined relief efforts in Sri
Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. "I thought that it was the closest thing
that I had ever seen on film to giving any kind of answer to 'what's the
purpose of life?' — at least for those who might be lucky enough to have
two good legs and a dollar in their pocket," he said.
Penn also
talked politics, saying that he's not supporting any particular
candidate in the U.S. presidential election, though he is "encouraged by
the kind of exciting support that Barack Obama has."As he often does,
Penn railed against President Bush. Asked about Bush's politics, he said
the choice of the word "politics" was unfortunate. "It's just a shame
that we have to bastardize the term 'politics' in attributing it to
people like that, because politics, again, should really be an
organization of helping each other," he said.
Over the next
12 days, Penn will lead a jury made up of director Alfonso Cuaron ("Children
of Men"), actress Natalie Portman ("V for Vendetta"), comic book
artist-filmmaker Marjane Satrapi ("Persepolis"), actor-director Sergio
Castellitto ("My Mother's Smile"), actress Jeanne Balibar ("Clean"),
director Apichatpong Weerasethakul ("Tropical Malady"), director Rachid
Bouchareb ("Days of Glory") and actress Alexandra Maria Lara ("Downfall").
April 30, 2008 - Sean Penn sets off on a protest trip
to New Orleans
Sean Penn
layed the Pied Piper of activism at the Coachella Festival
on Monday when he set off on a protest trip to New Orleans, Louisiana with
buses loaded with event revellers. The actor/director took the stage at
the festival on Sunday (27Apr08) to recruit activists for his Dirty Hands
Caravan venture.
He called on Coachella festival-goers to "take
action" and join him on a
cross-country bio-diesel bus caravan.The trip began on Monday morning.
Speaking just before My Morning Jacket's set on the main stage at
Coachella, Penn told music fans, "This is about volunteerism. Revolution
is a young man's job and you can be the revolution."
He revealed that singer/songwriter Ben Harper and rockers Everlast would
be joining him for the trip to the New Orleans
Jazz + Heritage Festival.
The volunteers will help build houses for the homeless, while protesting
the Iraq war with Penn. Penn was hoping to recruit 300 Coachella revellers
to join him on the bus tour to New Orleans and back to Los Angeles.
April 22, 2008 - James Franco rates Sean Penn as his
top on-screen romance ...
James
Franco
talked to "Entertainment Weekly" mostly about the upcoming
comedy "Pineapple Express" but a few questions about his role as
Harvey Milk's lover in "The
Mayor of Castro Street" were snuck in there. The film stars
Sean Penn and is directed by
Gus Van Sant. Here is that part
of the exchange:
Now, you've had a number of onscreen love
interests: Kirsten Dunst, Neve Campbell, Catherine Keener. In Milk, which
comes out in the fall, you play Sean Penn's lover. Where does he rate in
terms of your onscreen romances?
JAMES: The top! He's a little hairier than those other ones, but oh
well...
April 10, 2008 - Sean and Robin are back together!
Sean Penn fuelled reports he and his estranged wife are back together
when he dedicated a song to her at a concert in San Francisco, California
on Tuesday night.
The Oscar winner and Robin Wright Penn arrived at pal Eddie Vedder's
concert in the city, where they celebrated her 42nd birthday.
At one point, Penn took to the stage and dedicated a song to his estranged
wife on stage in honour of her birthday.
Meanwhile, Wright Penn has dismissed her divorce case against the actor
and the dismissal was filed and granted in court on Tuesday.
The couple, who have two children, split last December after 11 years of
marriage.
March 28, 2008 - MILK has finished production in the
city
In
San Francisco the film documenting the life of San Francisco activist
Harvey Milk has finished production in the city. The film, directed by
Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, will be released this
fall. (The Advocate)
Here are some
interesting videos, made by extras from the San Francisco Set: MILK-Videos
March 28, 2008 - Interview with Sean Penn - DVD Start
of INTO THE WILD
Sean Penn has now
proved himself to be just as talented behind-the-camera as he is in front
of it. His latest film, “Into the Wild” hits DVD this week and Moviehole
had the chance to talk to him about it.
The film
documentary "War Made Easy - How Presidents and Pundits keep
spinning us to Death" based on the book of the same name by
Norman Solomon and is narrated Sean Penn and written and
directed by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp.
The film
documentary had its thetrical debut at New York's Quad Cinema
and is also available on DVD now.
February 26,
2008 - No
Oscar for ITW - but Sean is still having fun ...
Sean Penn is rumored to have found comfort in the arms of supermodel Petra
Nemcova following his split from wife Robin Wright Penn.
The pair has been spotted out together in
Los Angeles twice in the past week, including at Sir Elton John's
post-Oscar Party on Sunday night, where they posed together on the red
carpet before heading to L.A. nightclub Villa, and then leaving together
at 3:10 a.m.
The Penns ended their 12-year marriage
with a separation announcement in December and Wright Penn has since been
linked with former boyfriend Jason Patric.
Czech beauty Nemcova's previous
boyfriends include crooner James Blunt.
February 18,
2008 - Sean
Penn comes to Cleveland to support Rep. Kucinich
Actor
Sean Penn took time off his busy schedule to support Rep. Dennis
Kucinich Saturday night. While the eyes of the nation are
focussed on Ohio's presidential politics, the Academy Award
winner was mindful of the adage that all politics is local.
That's why he continues to throw his support behind Kucinich.
January 24, 2008 - Hal
Holbrook in the "Today Show"
In the "Today
Show" Hal Holbrook, who got the best supporting actor nod, says, that he
called
Sean Penn on Tuesday morning. "I talked to Sean. He's a dear guy. He's
so happy for me.
I knew he wanted me to get nominated."
January 22, 2008 - And
Congratulation again - Hal Holbrook grabs Oscar Nomination!
In
INTO THE WILD 82-year-old Hal Holbrook plays Ron Franz, a single,
lonely elderly man who takes in Chris before he leaves on the last leg
of his journey to Alaska. Hal Holbrook is nominated for
"Best Supported Actor" and will face Tom Wilkinson,
Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem und Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Another Oscar
Nomination for INTO THE WILD went to Jay Cassidy (Film Editing).
January 14, 2008 - Eddie
Vedder wins "Golden Globe" - Congratulation!
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder won the Golden Globe for best original song in a
movie '
for "Guaranteed," featured in director Sean Penn's road drama "Into the
Wild."
January 13, 2008 - Sean Penn receives WGA-Nomination
The strike by
the Writers Guild of America isn't preventing the guild from announcing
its annual award nominees for film screenplays.
Vying for the
Best Adapted Screenplay award are Ethan Cohen and Joel Cohen for
"No Country for Old Men," Paul Thomas Anderson for "There Will Be Blood,"
Ronald Harwood for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Sean Penn for "Into
the Wild" and James Vanderbuilt for "Zodiac."
9. Januar 2007 - Eddie
Vedder Video "Guaranteed"
Eddie Vedder
has unveiled his first solo music video for “Guaranteed,” taken from
his
Into the Wild soundtrack. The video had it's premiere on VH1 on
January 7th.
The song has already been nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe,
and is a frontrunner for an Oscar nod.
Worth every award: Eddie Vedder's "Guaranteed"
9. Januar 2007 - Sean Penn nomination for the Directors Guild of
America Award
LOS ANGELES
(AFP) — Film-making brothers Joel and Ethan Coen and Oscar-winner
Sean Penn were on Tuesday named amongst the nominees for the top
prize at this
year's Directors Guild of America awards.
The Coen
brothers were nominated in the outstanding directing of a feature film
category for their acclaimed crime thriller "No Country For Old Men" while
Penn
received a nod for his drama "Into the Wild."
The DGA awards,
which will be awarded in Los Angeles on January 26, are regarded
as a key indicator of likely contenders at the Academy Awards, which take
place
roughly one month later this year on February 24. In the 60 years of the
DGA awards,
only six winners of the top prize have failed to go on to win the best
director prize
at the Oscars.
Other nominees
for this year's top honor included Paul Thomas Anderson for
"There Will Be Blood," Tony Gilroy for "Michael Clayton" and Julian
Schnabel for
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
January 7,
2008 - Palm
Springs Festival - Sean Penn is "Director of the Year"
The 19th annual
Palm Springs Film Festival has honored Sean Penn with its
"Director of the Year Award" for his latest film "Into the Wild." Sean
Penn received
the award in a gala ceremony hosted by "Entertainment Tonight's" Mary Hart
at
the Palm Springs Convention Center on January 5. Emile Hirsch was awarded
as well -
he received the award in the category "Rising Star/Actor."
"The season of trophies is truly a season in hell."
(Sean Penn at the Palm Springs Festival)
January 3,
2008 - Sean Penn namend President of Cannes Jury
Fresh off his
award-baiting Into the Wild, Sean Penn agreed to join a new
expedition:
heading up the jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Organizers for the
61st edition,
scheduled to run from May 14 to May 25, broke the news Thursday on the
fest's official Website.
"In the last
few years," Penn said in a statement, "it seems there has been a
rejuvenation
of cinema building worldwide; increasingly thoughtful, provocative, moving
and imaginative
films by talented filmmakers: that a new generation of filmmaking may have
begun.
"The Cannes Film Festival has long been the epicenter in the discovery of
those new
waves of filmmakers from all over the world. I very much look forward to
participating
in this year's festival as president of the jury."
Over his
three-decade Hollywood career, Penn has been nominated for four Best Actor
Academy Awards, finally winning for his performance as an ex-con seeking
retribution for
his daughter's death in 2003's Mystic River.
He has been
making the awards show rounds this season for his latest directorial
effort,
an elegiac adaptation of Jon Krakauer's nonfiction bestseller
Into the Wild. The movie—
which chronicles the life Chris McCandless, an idealistic college grad who
cuts up his credit
cards and hitchhikes to Alaska to live off the wilderness—has received
Best Picture and
Acting awards and nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association,
the Chicago
Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review and the Screen
Actors Guild. It's also
up for two Golden Globes, for Original Score and Original Song.
December 28,
2007 - Bad news at the end of the year ...
Sean Penn and
Robin Wright Penn Divorcing
Sean Penn and wife Robin Wright Penn are
divorcing, their rep, Mara Buxbaum,
confirms to PEOPLE exclusively.
No other details were immediately available. The couple, who've been
married 11 years,
have two children together, Hopper Jack, 14, and Dylan Frances, 16.
Penn, 47, and
Wright, 41, began dating in the early '90s and married in 1996. They also
have starred
together in several films, including 1998's Hurlyburly and 1997's
She's So Lovely,
directed by Nick Cassavetes.
"Marriage ain't easy, but it's great most of the time," Penn told
Entertainment Weekly in 1997.
"I love Robin. I've always loved her." In the same article, Cassavetes was
asked about working
with the couple. "The beginning and the end of every day is how Sean and
Robin are getting
along," he said. "If they have a bad morning, Sean's broken up about it."
Penn's most recent film, Into the Wild, which he directed, is
drawing awards buzz,
with four SAG Award nominations and two Golden Globe nods.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Penn and "Milk," Gus Van Sant's biopic about gay
rights leader Harvey Milk, continued to gain awards momentum Wednesday,
winning best film from the New York Film Critics Circle.
When he took to the stage, the actor - married to Madonna from 1985-1989 -
sent a message to Brit Richie, hinting his career could flourish after
divorcing the Material Girl. Penn said, "What's my British thing to
say? Guy Ritchie is back!"
DENVER -- The hottest actor at the Democratic National Convention,
Sean Penn, tells he'll vote for
Barack Obama and that his event this week with
Ralph
Nader is not an endorsement of the consummate party spoiler.
and showed us. Asked
whether he planned to cash it or frame it, Penn said, "Frame it for now.
But if SAG (Screen Actors Guild) goes on strike I might need to cash
it."
tic penis for naked scenes.
Sean
Penn has been spotted in Houston in over the past couple of days filming
Terrence Malick's Tree of Life. 
Penn
wasn't all jokes and antics at Cannes — he also let his serious,
thoughtful side shine through, urging reporters to see a documentary
that the festival included at his special request. "The Third Wave" is
Alison Thompson's look at volunteers who joined relief efforts in Sri
Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. "I thought that it was the closest thing
that I had ever seen on film to giving any kind of answer to 'what's the
purpose of life?' — at least for those who might be lucky enough to have
two good legs and a dollar in their pocket," he said.
Sean Penn fuelled reports he and his estranged wife are back together
when he dedicated a song to her at a concert in San Francisco, California
on Tuesday night.
The Oscar winner and Robin Wright Penn arrived at pal Eddie Vedder's
concert in the city, where they celebrated her 42nd birthday.
At one point, Penn took to the stage and dedicated a song to his estranged
wife on stage in honour of her birthday.
In
San Francisco the film documenting the life of San Francisco activist
Harvey Milk has finished production in the city. The film, directed by
Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, will be released this
fall. (The Advocate)
Actor
Sean Penn took time off his busy schedule to support Rep. Dennis
Kucinich Saturday night. While the eyes of the nation are
focussed on Ohio's presidential politics, the Academy Award
winner was mindful of the adage that all politics is local.
That's why he continues to throw his support behind Kucinich.
In
INTO THE WILD 82-year-old Hal Holbrook plays Ron Franz, a single, 