Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Last Song
The Last Song is a 2010 American coming of age drama film developed alongside the Nicholas Sparks novel by the same name. The film was directed by Julie Anne Robinson in her feature film directorial debut and co-written by Sparks and Jeff Van Wie. The Last Song stars Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, and Greg Kinnear and follows a troubled teenager as she reconnects with her estranged father and falls in love during a summer in a quiet Southern United States beach town. The film is distributed by Touchstone Pictures.
Sparks was approached to write both the film's screenplay and the novel. Sparks completed the screenplay in January 2009, prior to the completion of the novel, making The Last Song his first script to be optioned for film. The setting, originally North Carolina like the novel, changed to Georgia after states campaigned for months to host production. Upon beginning production in Tybee Island, Georgia and nearby Savannah, The Last Song became the first movie to be shot and set in Tybee Island. Filming lasted from June 15 to August 18, 2009 with much of it occurring on the island's beach and pier. The Last Song was originally scheduled for wide release on January 8, 2010, but has since been postponed to March 31, 2010.
At seventeen, Veronica "Ronnie" Miller (Miley Cyrus) remains as rebellious as she was the day after her parents' ugly divorce and father's subsequent relocation to Georgia three years ago. Once a classical piano child prodigy under the tutelage of her father, Steve Miller (Greg Kinnear), Ronnie now rejects the instrument and has not spoken to her father since he left. While Juilliard School has been interested in her since she was young, Ronnie refuses to attend.
Now, Steve is given the chance to reconnect with his estranged daughter when her mother, Kim (Kelly Preston) sends the rebellious teen and her younger brother, Jonah (Bobby Coleman), to spend the summer with him. Steve, a former Juilliard School professor and concert pianist, now lives a quiet life in Tybee Island, the small Georgia beach town where he grew up, working on a stained glass window for the local church to replace the one the church lost in a fire.
Upon arrival, Ronnie is miserable, hostile and defensive toward all those around her, including handsome, popular Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth) – until, after both she and Will become involved in protecting a Loggerhead Sea Turtle nest, she discovers he is deeper than she believed. As Ronnie falls in love with Will, she also manages to bond with her father Steve through the one thing they have in common- music.
Cyrus chose the name "Ronnie" for her character in honor of her grandfather, Ron Cyrus, who died in 2006. Unknown to many the character had first been named "Kirby" by Sparks and later changed to "Hilary".. New interviews with Sparks, reveal he imagined Cyrus in the role "only a little" during the writing process. The completion of the screenplay, concerned Sparks that Cyrus would not be able to successfully execute the role: "The first thing I thought when I finished the screenplay was, wow, I hope she can do this, this is a tough role because I'm bringing you through a whole gamut of emotion and you're just a 16-year-old girl who's done the Disney Channel. Are you able to do this as an actress?" However, after visiting the set and watching Cyrus film, Sparks' worries abated. To play the New York teen, Cyrus worked with a dialect coach to lose her Southern accent and learned to play classical piano. After she completed filming, Cyrus said that in a case of life imitating art, she had matured and "changed a lot" over the course of her summer in Georgia, similar to the way Ronnie does in the film. "Showing this movie, I feel like I'm really showing a part of my growth as a person as well. So I'm really excited for people to see it."
In April 2009, Disney officials chose Rafi Gavron for the part of Will Blakelee, but switched to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth by May. According to Nikki Finke, Hemsworth had been in Los Angeles for just three weeks and had not yet found an agent when he was cast. On May 18, 2009, the decision to cast Greg Kinnear as Steve Miller was made final. Kelly Preston's part as Kim is the first role she has accepted since the death of her son, Jett Travolta. After being introduced to Cal Johnson, the film's stunt coordinator, Adam Barnett landed the role of Teddy in May 2009 due to his pre-developed talent in juggling and hackey sack.
Sparks was approached to write both the film's screenplay and the novel. Sparks completed the screenplay in January 2009, prior to the completion of the novel, making The Last Song his first script to be optioned for film. The setting, originally North Carolina like the novel, changed to Georgia after states campaigned for months to host production. Upon beginning production in Tybee Island, Georgia and nearby Savannah, The Last Song became the first movie to be shot and set in Tybee Island. Filming lasted from June 15 to August 18, 2009 with much of it occurring on the island's beach and pier. The Last Song was originally scheduled for wide release on January 8, 2010, but has since been postponed to March 31, 2010.
At seventeen, Veronica "Ronnie" Miller (Miley Cyrus) remains as rebellious as she was the day after her parents' ugly divorce and father's subsequent relocation to Georgia three years ago. Once a classical piano child prodigy under the tutelage of her father, Steve Miller (Greg Kinnear), Ronnie now rejects the instrument and has not spoken to her father since he left. While Juilliard School has been interested in her since she was young, Ronnie refuses to attend.
Now, Steve is given the chance to reconnect with his estranged daughter when her mother, Kim (Kelly Preston) sends the rebellious teen and her younger brother, Jonah (Bobby Coleman), to spend the summer with him. Steve, a former Juilliard School professor and concert pianist, now lives a quiet life in Tybee Island, the small Georgia beach town where he grew up, working on a stained glass window for the local church to replace the one the church lost in a fire.
Upon arrival, Ronnie is miserable, hostile and defensive toward all those around her, including handsome, popular Will Blakelee (Liam Hemsworth) – until, after both she and Will become involved in protecting a Loggerhead Sea Turtle nest, she discovers he is deeper than she believed. As Ronnie falls in love with Will, she also manages to bond with her father Steve through the one thing they have in common- music.
Cyrus chose the name "Ronnie" for her character in honor of her grandfather, Ron Cyrus, who died in 2006. Unknown to many the character had first been named "Kirby" by Sparks and later changed to "Hilary".. New interviews with Sparks, reveal he imagined Cyrus in the role "only a little" during the writing process. The completion of the screenplay, concerned Sparks that Cyrus would not be able to successfully execute the role: "The first thing I thought when I finished the screenplay was, wow, I hope she can do this, this is a tough role because I'm bringing you through a whole gamut of emotion and you're just a 16-year-old girl who's done the Disney Channel. Are you able to do this as an actress?" However, after visiting the set and watching Cyrus film, Sparks' worries abated. To play the New York teen, Cyrus worked with a dialect coach to lose her Southern accent and learned to play classical piano. After she completed filming, Cyrus said that in a case of life imitating art, she had matured and "changed a lot" over the course of her summer in Georgia, similar to the way Ronnie does in the film. "Showing this movie, I feel like I'm really showing a part of my growth as a person as well. So I'm really excited for people to see it."
In April 2009, Disney officials chose Rafi Gavron for the part of Will Blakelee, but switched to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth by May. According to Nikki Finke, Hemsworth had been in Los Angeles for just three weeks and had not yet found an agent when he was cast. On May 18, 2009, the decision to cast Greg Kinnear as Steve Miller was made final. Kelly Preston's part as Kim is the first role she has accepted since the death of her son, Jett Travolta. After being introduced to Cal Johnson, the film's stunt coordinator, Adam Barnett landed the role of Teddy in May 2009 due to his pre-developed talent in juggling and hackey sack.
AVRIL:
Avril Ramona Lavigne (pronounced /ˈævrɨl ləˈviːn/; born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent the majority of her youth in the small town, Napanee, Ontario. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain, and by 16, Lavigne had signed a recording contract with Arista, now RCA Records. Record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid offered her a two-album deal worth more than $2 million. When she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album, Let Go, released in 2002.
Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach #1 in the UK, the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. As of 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide, more than 6 million of which were sold in the United States. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at #1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 , eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007. This album gave Lavigne her third #1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featured her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored a total of five #1 singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm With You", "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend". She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, and Billboard named Lavigne the #10 pop artist of the 2000s as well as the 28th overall best act of the decade in the U.S. She is currently working on her fourth studio album, expected to be released in 2010.
Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, that will be followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose.
In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together after the divorce, with Whibley producing on her upcoming fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.
Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach #1 in the UK, the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. As of 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide, more than 6 million of which were sold in the United States. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at #1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 , eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007. This album gave Lavigne her third #1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featured her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored a total of five #1 singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm With You", "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend". She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, and Billboard named Lavigne the #10 pop artist of the 2000s as well as the 28th overall best act of the decade in the U.S. She is currently working on her fourth studio album, expected to be released in 2010.
Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, that will be followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose.
In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together after the divorce, with Whibley producing on her upcoming fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.
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