new jersey Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Fear not ladies, he's OK! While driving his motorcycle in what appears to be Weehawken, New Jersey, George Clooney and friend Sarah Larson collided with another vehicle they were apparently trying to pass from the right-hand side, so says Variety. The accident occurred yesterday afternoon. Clooney suffered a broken rib and some scrapes, and Larson suffered a broken foot. Ouch. From the looks of it, Clooney sped up to pass a car on the right (something you're not allowed to do in Jersey), with intentions of making a right turn. However, the car beside him crossed into the right lane and collided with Clooney. No word on whether that car, a 1999 Mazda (this is Jersey, George, not Beverly Hills) had its turn signal on.

A spokesman for the Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey said Clooney has "a broken rib, it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal." Currently, Clooney has several films in different stages of production. He'd been shooting Leatherheads back in July (when images surfaced from the set), and according to IMDb he's currently filming the Coen Bros. next film, Burn After Reading. No word on whether either film will be delayed because of the accident (I'm not sure how long it takes for someone to be able to work with a broken rib -- never had one myself). The accident is still under investigation; right now it's a he said/she said sort of thing. Nothing against motorcycles, and the people that drive them, but here in New York folks just do what they want --riding between lanes, swerving in and out of traffic. It gets real annoying. But as long as everyone is fine, and not seriously injured -- that's what really counts. Clooney's next film, Michael Clayton, arrives in theaters next month.

Fans of Garden State will be happy to know that Zach Braff has finally stepped behind the camera once again, except it's not for his follow-up feature film. Nope, according to Vulture, Braff is directing a Dunkin' Donuts commercial starring none other than the ultra volatile "please don't hit me with anything" supermodel Naomi Campbell. I cannot think of a stranger scenario -- here we have the super quirky Braff helming a commercial for a store known for their greasy donuts ... and it stars a supermodel! Has Campbell ever eaten a donut in her life (using them as weapons to attack random assistants does not count)? Braff, on the other hand, is apparently a big fan of the chain. While out doing press for The Last Kiss, he was asked what he liked most about Boston. His answer? "I have never seen a city that has more Dunkin' Donuts on every corner. I love Dunkin' Donuts, and I'm not doing an advertisement, but there's nothing like a nice donut." So there you have it -- the dude digs donuts.

While reps for Braff, Campbell and Dunkin' Donuts wouldn't confirm this to be true, filming reportedly took place yesterday back on Braff's home turf in Orange, New Jersey. And after doing some more digging, I uncovered the plot (if you want to call it that) of said commercial. Holy Moly tells us that Campbell is filmed "gardening while wearing an evening gown," (makes sense, right) and when a neighbor annoys her, she throws her shoe through their window. (Get it? Because Campbell throws things and needs money to pay off those who are suing her -- hence, embarrassing herself with this crummy commercial?) What does this all have to do with Dunkin' Donuts? Well, there's another woman who watches the whole thing and "keeps cool" by drinking some sort of iced coffee. Don't you see her? She's wayyy in the back corner. No, behind the production assistant. In the blue jeans. Yes, the one holding a sign that reads "Garden State Was Overrated!"

No word yet on the status of Braff's film Open Hearts (a remake of Susanne Bier's 2002 Danish film), but perhaps the guy signed on to this gig in order to get used to directing again. That would be the most logical excuse. Then again, maybe it's the only job he can find. Time to make the donuts another film, Zach -- whaddya think?

[via Hollywood Wiretap]

Zach Braff's next film Open Hearts may be currently on hold, but he plans to shoot in New Jersey again once everything comes together. On a conference call yesterday, he told Cinematical that he remains involved in New Jersey, where he currently serves on the board of the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

He plans to lens Open Hearts in Northern New Jersey, and enjoys working in the area where he can utilize actors and crews from New York. Braff was born and raised in Jersey, and filmed his directorial debut Garden State there three years ago.

While I wouldn't say Braff's filmmaking sensibilities are diametrically opposed to Kevin Smith's, they do target similar young audiences, but when you watch Garden State you'll come away with a much different view of Jersey than you get from Smith's films. At least no one was getting it on with a donkey in the version I saw.

It's great when a director can work outside of the Hollywood environment and manage to capture the essence of where they come from. Richard Linklater did a great job of it with Slacker, and Braff seems to have done equally as well with Garden State. Although it's hard for me to know for sure since I spent several years in college living in Austin, and have never been to New Jersey, but it feels more real than the Jersey you get from The Sopranos or Clerks II.

If you try your hand at writing, you'll hear the phrase, "write what you know" many times. Whoever coined this phrase probably had no idea how much it applied to directing as well.