Author: Josan

Moneyball update

Starting with “Ocean’s Eleven,” Brad Pitt and Steven Soderbergh made a trilogy of films about a group of savvy risk-takers who use their unconventional thinking to strike it rich. Pitt and Soderbergh’s next collaboration will also see them focusing on a group of risk-taking, outside-the-box thinkers — except the action in “Moneyball” is entirely legal.

“We have the dramatic building blocks, so the question is how real can we make the world?” the director asked while promoting his feature about a high-class escort, “The Girlfriend Experience.” “My clearly stated goal is to set a new standard for realism in that [sports] world.”

Filming begins in about six weeks, and the Oscar-winning director is not shy when it comes to his expectation for the finished product. “I hope it sets a new standard,” Soderbergh said. “Hopefully, anybody who makes a sports movie from now on is going to have to grapple with this.” Read all. Thanks Sandra and Intothegrinder.

New scan

Added a scan of the Time 100 Most Influential (05/11/09) magazine, thanks to Kimber! In related news, the W photoshoot (one of the pictures is also used in the Time spread) by photographer Chuck Close, has been woven as an eight-foot-tall tapestry and can be viewed at PaceWildenstein 25th Street from May 1 – June 20, 2009 in NYC. Read more. Thanks NS!


Time (Thanks to Kimber).

Brad Pitt project calls for duplexes

Actor Brad Pitt has said that by the end of 2009 he would like to see 100 homes built in the storm-wrecked Lower 9th Ward neighborhood.

There’s still a long way to go, but Pitt’s dream of seeing dozens of families thriving in one of the neighborhoods hardest-hit by Hurricane Katrina is slowly becoming a reality. More than two dozen homes are either finished or under construction, and duplexes are on the way.

On a recent visit to the site, Pitt met with architects commissioned by the Make It Right Foundation to design duplexes that will sit among the new homes.

On Wednesday, a group of New Orleans activists and civic leaders planned to give Pitt’s effort a boost with a $150,000 donation, the average cost to build. Source. Thanks Sandra.

The World’s Most Influential People/Time Magazine 2009

During the civil rights movement, the distinction was made between those who would “talk the talk” — i.e., attend parties, fundraisers and speeches — and those who would be willing to “walk the walk” — that is, use their bodies as a backstop for nightsticks and clubs.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the news media and New Orleans itself were inundated with people who were willing to talk the talk. And from this gaggle of talkers emerged one who took the long walk with our city.

Brad Pitt found, after listening to residents, that this horrible man-made disaster created an opportunity to build something better than what had existed before. From starting the Make It Right Foundation, which is building hundreds of affordable and sustainable homes in the Lower Ninth Ward and elsewhere in the city, to his advocacy on behalf of New Orleans with congressional leaders to his filming of the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which featured our city so beautifully, Pitt has remained committed to the people of New Orleans. Read more. Thanks Sandra.