First time I've posted a portrait on Flickr. Found this in a folder in the studio yesterday Drawing of my younger brother, from life, as he watched TV with the cat on his lap! I was 21. Free sketch in biro on terracotta paper, no pencil. I used to draw a lot of portraits around that time, especially of children. I remember being invited to people's houses to draw their offspring and coming home laden with roses fresh from the garden...

I spent more time than I expected reviewing all the fun events I attended in 2014. Two months later, The Kitties are back. Look at what they've been doing this whole time!

If you're interested in my event reviews, check out the new page on my blog, Out and About..., here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/p/out-and-about.html.

This graphite drawing was featured in Cat Fancy Magazine in Dec. 06. .

Watch the Video: youtu.be/e3o-BOVzHhY

#acrylic #painting

pencil, pen, coloured pencils, coloured fineliners

A design for all the cat and kitten lovers. Cat love. Usually you are a cat person or a dog person. Who are you?

www.zazzle.com/cat_person_tshirt-235105155778754506

skreened.com/andibird/cat-person

www.spoonflower.com/fabric/814264

© Andi Libberton Bird All Rights Reserved

heidimmcdonald.blogspot.com

This is Nora Bone my beloved new cat, i have so much love for her. late last night i drew her and my little podge cat.

Pen, watercolour and pencil in my moleskine watercolour journal.

via Instagram www.instagram.com/p/BDZaJpkiXtC/

Printable copy is here >> www.etsy.com/listing/948610208

white cat drawing

www.mynameiso.com

by mnmljuls ift.tt/1NXPSUV

Photographed on a Northbound Union Pacific freight

Friday March 12th 2021

My mom’s cat

tinted paper, colored pencils

21 x 30 cm (8.3 x 11.7 inches), 2014

Please do not repost my drawings on Tumblr, you can reblog them from here - dara-pilyugina.tumblr.com/post/74604284039

© Dara Pilyugina

(What is Johnny Kitties? Visit my blog to find out: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2010/06/johnnys-kitties-john...)

"We've talked about it for many years, but this was the first project that I ever remember Johnny saying he'd wanted to play this ever since he was a little boy. It was one of those things where the show had a lot of impact on us. Johnny, Michelle (Pfeiffer), and I were there at the time it came out, and we just recall it being a very strong, interesting property." Tim Burton on bringing Dark Shadows to the big screen

Curses!

From Liverpool, the Collins family emigrated to Maine and built their new life in the fishing business during the 1700s. The family's good fortune takes a tragic turn when Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) ends his brief affair with servant girl Angelique (Eva Green), who hones her witchcraft to exact revenge. Following the untimely death of his parents, Barnabas Collins inherits and keeps the family business afloat. But seeing his true love Josette (Bella Heathcote) fall off a cliff to her death proves too much to bear. Though he falls after her and crashes into the rocks below, Barnabas survives because Angelique turned him into a vampire on the way down. After transforming him into this monster so that he can suffer eternally, she decides to lock him in a coffin and bury him, giving him a quiet, compact place to think about how he's wronged her. The lesson here is don't upset the help.

Nearly 200 years later, a construction crew discovers Barnabas's coffin. He frees himself from the box and finds that the world has changed. The town of Collinsport is no longer headed by his family but by Angelique, whose influence has reached nearly all corners. It's 1972. The Collins family home is in disarray and occupied by only a few remaining distant relatives, a psychiatrist, and a nanny. Always devoted to family, Barnabas commits to adapting to this new era, rebuilding the business, restoring the tarnished family name, and dealing with Angelique once and for all. Dark Shadows is Tim Burton's comic tribute to the 1960s soap opera, celebrating the generations of weirdos that comprise the Collins family history.

This has got to be better than Twilight.

I'd never heard of Dark Shadows, the soap opera, but the idea of it was intriguing! I was excited to see this movie, primarily because I knew that Dark Shadows was a show that Johnny and Tim Burton both watched as kids. I'm sure it took a bit longer, but it seemed to me that Johnny suggest they make a movie together based on Dark Shadows and about five minutes later, it was done and previews for it were showing up everywhere. (In reality, Johnny first brought up the idea to his director on the set of Sweeney Todd, and it took some time before all the right people got involved and everything clicked into action.)

When I saw my first Dark Shadows preview on TV and discovered that Tim Burton decided to make it a comedy, I was kind of disappointed. If anybody could make a scary vampire movie that I could stand to watch without having nightmares, it's him and Johnny. The previews seemed goofy, and my vision for the project was shattered! The original show was a drama, and its loyal fans were angry about the change, but I still had faith. I had nothing to compare it to, and they had their reasons for sticking a 18th century vampire in the 1970s. "Barnabas extols the virtues of family and rejects people who are insincere and selfish. We wanted to pit this selfless family-first hero against the Me Decade," Producer Graham King says. For Tim Burton, the '70s were the most awkward time in his life and seemed the perfect decade to plant a vampire. "The '70s were weird then, and they're weird now," he says. And how could you not use these two elements to make a comedy? Whatever happened, I was sure Dark Shadows would be a unique experience.

What's to love?

This movie is funny! Capturing the spirit of the original soap opera's campy melodrama, everyone teeters on the edge of really bad acting in this movie, and I love it! "It's a tricky tone, and we all recognize that," Tim Burton says. "When we talked about Dark Shadows, part of the appeal was the weird nature of all the elements that went into it. It was very serious, but it was on in the afternoon, on a daily basis. There were certain reasons why we loved the show, but you couldn't necessarily adopt to a film. It was the weirdest challenge to get the acting tone and the soap opera nature of the tone. That's a weird thing to go for in a Hollywood movie." For Johnny Kitties, I ended up watching Dark Shadows twice on DVD before figuring out what I wanted to draw as tribute. By that time, their overdramatic conversations were cracking me up! In fact, the more I watched, the more moments I caught that tie the story together, and the more I laughed. My advice to you is to watch Dark Shadows more than once. Give it a chance and it will grow on you.

The stars are out. The exciting cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer as the current matriarch of the family Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Chloe Grace Moretz as her teenage daughter Carolyn, and Jonny Lee Miller as her slimy brother-in-law Roger. Some familiar faces, like Christopher Lee and Helena Bonham Carter, are in this movie too. "I don't know how flattered Helena was to be offered the role of an aging alcoholic psychiatrist, but somebody's got to do it," Tim Burton jokes. Newcomers Gulliver McGrath as Roger's son David and Bella Heathcote as both Barnabas's long-lost love Josette and the nanny Victoria, are impressive, but my favorite casting surprise is Eva Green as Angelique. Best known as a Bond Girl, Eva Green always dreamed about working with Tim Burton and dropped another project to take the role in Dark Shadows. Good choice! She's fantastic as a disgruntled witch seeking revenge! (Diehard fans of the Dark Shadows soap opera will find the original Barnabas Collins, Jonathan Frid, who makes a cameo and his final film appearance in the party crowd.)

It's a Tim Burton movie! Based on its previews, I worried that Dark Shadows would be just too silly, but I was pleasantly surprised that it has a healthy balance of comedy and drama. It looks and feels like a Tim Burton movie all the way through. Yes, there are a few too many "I'm-an-out-of-place vampire-stuck-in-the-'70s" moments in this movie, but it also has its creepy moments with a Gothic backdrop and special effects that only Tim Burton could imagine:

To see more images from Dark Shadows, photos of Johnny's side projects, the Paul McCartney videos he participated in, or more Johnny Kitties tributes, visit my original blog post here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2014/05/johnny-kitties-celeb....

"What I liked very much is that it didn't feel like the kind of movie that you see all the time. I thought it was sweet and heartbreaking, but in an honest way. It didn't feel like it was trying to be something; it felt like it was something." Johnny Depp on Finding Neverland

"I'm not Peter Pan, he is."

Based on Andrew Birkin's biography, J.M. Barrie and The Lost Boys, Finding Neverland introduces author J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) who, in 1903, is on the verge of creating his masterpiece. After his most recent play flops in London's West End, his producer (Dustin Hoffman) encourages him to write something new. A chance encounter with Silvia Lewellen Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four boys--George (Joe Prospero), Jack (Nick Roud), Peter (Freddie Highmore), and Michael (Luke Spill)--marks the start of a lifelong friendship with the widow and her sons, to the dismay of her socialite mother (Julie Christie) and most of the rest of society. But inspired by the boys' sense of play and imagination, "Uncle Jim" creates Peter Pan's world of pirates, fairies, and endless adventure in Neverland.

Although it may seem slight today, putting on a full-scale West End production based on a boy who never grows up was risky at the time, particularly a play that involves flying, a dog serving as a nanny, ocean adventures, clock-swallowing crocodiles, and more nonsense never before attempted on the stage. Learning the inspiration behind it all makes this story even more extraordinary.

Bring on Neverland!

I could barely wait to see this movie, not only because of Johnny and the other great actors joining him, but because Peter Pan is one of my favorite stories. When I was a kid, I watched the Disney cartoon endlessly. I even had its soundtrack album. In grade school, I won an art contest prize of tickets to see Peter Pan on the stage. Recently, though, I saw a bit of the Disney cartoon on TV and thought Peter Pan was a brat and Tinkerbell had a big attitude problem! I'm not sure what my fascination with it is--maybe the adventure of it all, the fairies, the flying, and the idea of not having to grow up.

I've seen lots of different versions of Peter Pan. But I'm not the only one who loves it. Dustin Hoffman recognizes how everyone relates to J.M. Barrie's idea of Neverland: "Neverland is the place that exists for all of us in the wish part of our brain," he says. To some people, Neverland is a place where one never grows old or dies. Others think of it as the place where the imagination lives.

In the preface to the original play, J.M. Barrie noted that the actors only need to bring with them a child's outlook. "I think what Barrie was saying was to do your best not to grow up so quickly," Johnny says. "You can grow old and be an adult but maintain those beautiful qualities." Like Johnny, the filmmakers took Barrie's direction to heart. Producer Richard Gladstone explains, "We thought of how to watch all of this through a child's eye, how to approach that, how to manifest that on film."

I was in New York when Finding Neverland opened Halloween weekend. Johnny was also in New York that weekend to receive the Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award (Yay!), but we never ran into each other. Instead, I saw him on the big screen in one of the best movies ever!

What's to love? Lots!

The story: Written by David McGee, this historical period piece explores the creative process of a writer moving from thought to page to stage. "We wanted it to be about creating art, and we wanted it to be about what someone saw and felt and how they translated that onto paper," says producer Nellie Bellflower.You'll meet James Barrie's inspirations and see how his wheels turn to create Nanny, Captain Hook, fairy dust, and all the rest of it. In this great script, you're recognize familiar lines and plot points from the classic story and know that the author plans to write all these moments down in his journal to include in his developing play. This film's blend of adult and child perspectives, history, imagination, creativity, and drama is moving and inspiring.

The director: Involving a beloved children's story with cute kids in the cast could have made this movie overly sentimental, but I was confident that wouldn't happen when I heard Marc Forester was directing it. At the time, he had just won a bunch of awards for Monster's Ball, a dark film that couldn't be more different from this one. As I had hoped, Finding Neverland has a perfect balance of playfulness and drama without any excess sticky sweetness.

The production: One of my favorite things about this movie is how seamlessly the story weaves between imagination and reality. There are little moments, like when James Barrie imagines that it's storming in the theatre as his latest play goes sour or when he opens his bedroom door, revealing the sunny open field he pictures in his mind. And, when Silvia comes down with a cough at the summer cottage, the beautiful day turns cloudy and windy in Peter's eyes. In more elaborate sequences, as James Barrie plays Cowboys and Indians with the Davies boys or takes them aboard a pirate ship, the film switches back and forth between them running around in their garden to being in the Old West or soaked by choppy waves on the high seas. Give another star to Marc Forester for coming up with these ideas. "For me, the visual effects basically are to underline the transformation of imagination," he says. Even though the imaginative scenes are obviously fake, they're beautifully done without taking you abruptly out of the story. Instead, they draw you in even more, letting you see what they are seeing. "The goal was to give people an idea of where that line's drawn between fantasy and reality and how thin it was was," says visual effect designer Kevin Tod Haug. It works!

The stars: If you haven't figured it out by now, I usually see movies because of the actors involved. And, when Johnny gets to be in movies with people I admire, I'm thrilled about it. Imagine spending your days at work with Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, and Dustin Hoffman! "I've been so lucky in my career to work with some of the people I've worked with," Johnny says. "Going to work everyday with Dustin Hoffman is once again an amazing gift!" Everyone is perfectly cast in this movie. You'll even find some old friends from Pirates of the Caribbean in here: Mackenzie Crook as the theatre usher and Angus Barnett as the actor playing Nana.

The real stars: But it's really all about the kids, George, Jack, Michael, and especially Peter. When Kate Winslet and Johnny caught Freddie Highmore playing a scene as Peter, they knew they had to up their game: "Freddie just elevated the level of truth for everyone," Marc Forester says. As Peter, Freddie Highmore may have the meatiest role as the one whose on the brink of completely losing his childhood too soon, but all of the Davies brothers are fantastic. They will make you laugh. They will make you cry. They steal the show.

My favorite star: It's always a treat when Johnny dresses down and quiets down for a role. One of the things I admire most about Johnny as an actor is his ability to say so much without saying anything. But the bonus here is that when he does speak, it's with a flawless Scottish accent! Johnny was the first actor in mind to play J.M. Barrie, and he was the first to sign on to Finding Neverland. It doesn't surprise me that he found such a connection to the author and this story. "What I feel is important is the freedom to invent things, however ridiculous," he says. "Don't be afraid to take risks, to be creative and try things."

I think this is one of Johnny best performances, displaying such a range of emotions as a creative artist stuck among grown-ups: "It's a surprisingly difficult role because it has to be a man who's mature enough so that you have respect for him but still have a kid inside the whole time," writer David McGee says. "He does an amazing job."

Some of my favorite scenes are of Johnny interacting with the kids. You can tell that they all got along really well. As Kate Winslet says, "Working with Johnny Depp is like working with a fifth child. I have four children in the movie, and then I have Johnny." For all those of you who like Johnny Trivia, look for some of his own inventions early on in this movie, including the mirror attachment to his cane and the ball-retrieving fishing pole. In the tense dinner scene, try to keep a straight face knowing that Johnny got all the kids to laugh throughout by installing his trusty remote-controlled fart noisemaker under Julie Christie's chair before the director called "action." I think Kate Winslet is right!

To my great surprise (followed by infinite elation), Finding Neverland earned Johnny his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor! This nomination was practically sweeter than the first, just because James Barrie isn't as flashy as Captain Jack. (No one is as flashy as Captain Jack.) I didn't think anyone else would notice Johnny's fantastic work in this! I so wanted him to win, but I knew he wouldn't because Jamie Foxx was winning everything everywhere for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray. Still, the Oscars are so much more exciting when Johnny is in attendance! I'll take it!

Finding Neverland was also nominated for Best Picture and several technical Oscars. It won for Best Original Score by composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. I agree! This movie's beautiful music is a perfectly-suited complement that sweeps you into the moment.

Finding Neverland and the cast were nominated for lots of awards at other ceremonies worldwide, and they (mainly Kate Winslet and Freddie Highmore) won quite a few. Yay!

The Kitties can fly!

I didn't expect to pick the scene that appeared in all the commercials and previews, but it really does sum up Finding Neverland. Here's an example of how James Barrie was inspired to write his story. As Silvia (Lily) scramble around to get her defiant boys to bed, they are more interested in pillow-fighting. Watching the giggling boys bouncing around on their beds, Uncle Jim suddenly "sees" the windows magically open and the boys fly off into the night. With a little bit of fairy dust, they'll be in Neverland by morning.

And now, let's talk about fish.

Kate Winslet and Johnny enjoyed working together on Finding Neverland so much that they jumped at the chance to do it again, even if it was just in a recording studio. In 2006, they narrated the IMAX documentary Deep Sea 3D. Funnily, I also saw this in New York too. It was a Friday and apparently field trip day for all the grade-school kids in the immediate vicinity. "Are you sure you want to go to this showing," the cashier asked me. "That's a lot of kids." Let me tell you, a nature documentary is so much more fun and interesting when you're surrounded by excited kids in oversized 3D glasses who are actually paying attention and screaming every time a shark swims toward them. We had fun!

What's next?

Johnny is The Libertine. You will not like him.

For images from Finding Neverland and more, see my original blog post: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2013/03/johnny-kitties-celeb...

Cat playing with a leaf.

Colored pencils on toned tan art paper 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.

this page comes from Lisa's Gadanke journal. It's a writing prompt book. You can see more of her pages and other artists' pages here:

gadanke.bigcartel.com/share

How do you like my version of Beth?

A printable copy: www.etsy.com/listing/950107100/cat-portrait-the-queens-ga...

based on photo of nj-metamorfoses, made with a simple ball point pen,

took me more than 4 weeks, lost count about the hours... (finished Aug15th)

The Kitties know what to do when it's stormy out there.

Cat with kittens

tinted paper, colored pencils

21 x 30 cm (8.3 x 11.7 inches), 2014

Please do not repost my drawings on Tumblr, you can reblog them from here - dara-pilyugina.tumblr.com/post/88556114929

© Dara Pilyugina

Oh cat where did you get that striped shirt?

Colored pencils on toned gray art paper 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.

"The film, ultimately, is a celebration of Hunter and his language and his discovery of his voice. It's before Hunter became Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. I think he'd be very proud." – Johnny Depp on The Rum Diary

This one's for Hunter.

The Rum Diary, which is based on Hunter S. Thompson's only novel, follows Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp), a young American journalist who is in San Juan, Puerto Rico, having accepted a position at the local newspaper, the San Juan Star, for which he is assigned to write the horoscopes and report on the bowling alley beat. New in town, and with lots of drinks and other questionable substances on the side, Paul observes the locals, from the privileged and untouchable, like expatriate Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), to the struggling anonymous and poverty-stricken. With the help of his newspaper comrades, Sala (Michael Rispoli) and Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi), Paul uncovers the darker side of Sanderson's wealth and finds purpose and direction for his career. A project close to Johnny's heart, The Rum Diary pays tribute and fulfills a promise made to his friend, offering a rare glimpse into Hunter Thompson's world before he became the great doctor of Gonzo journalism.

It was the start of something good.

Johnny was thrilled to meet Hunter S. Thompson, one of his favorite writers, in the '90s when he was slated to play the author's alter ego in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. To prepare for the role, Johnny lived in the writer's basement on Owl Creek Farm for a few months, absorbing like a sponge everything he could about the man. The two discovered that they had plenty in common, from their Southern roots and habit of questioning everything to their love of language and books. "Hunter was, prior to even meeting him, he was somebody that I greatly admired–his whole way of life, his whole sort of way of moving forward in this kind of strange little soup bowl of existence," Johnny explains. "When I met him, there was an instant click between the two of us. From that second on, it never let up. We were very close until the moment of his exit." It was while researching for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that Johnny discovered The Rum Diary manuscript, written in 1959, stored in an old box in the basement. When they dusted it off, the writer wanted to turn it into a movie immediately. The actor suggested getting the story published first.

After The Rum Diary was published, Hunter Thompson and Johnny held informal meetings together with potential film producers and other contributors who could help get the movie made. "I had no idea what the hell to believe because Depp was charming and unfailingly polite, and then there was some dude with a camera. And, there was the great Hunter Thompson, and you absolutely could not understand a word that came out of his mouth," Producer Holly Sorenson remembers. "Just seeing their relationship, it was just very sweet. It was a very pure thing. It wasn't a business arrangement. It wasn't someone trying to do someone's book. They had real love between the two of them. I think that was obviously, as an observer, very seductive. Even if I didn't know how this book was going to turn into a movie, we had to try."

They chose Bruce Robinson to write and direct the film. Best known for creating the cult classic Withnail and I, one of Johnny's favorite movies, Bruce Robinson hadn't made a movie in more than 20 years. Johnny worked his magic to lure him out of retirement for The Rum Diary. "Adapting the book, you have to absorb what the book is, throw it away, and then rewrite it," Bruce Robinson says. "Hopefully, we did the vernacular of Hunter but not copy what he's written." He and Johnny scouted locations in Puerto Rico for the movie, and during one trip, their little plane stopped running mid-air. Just before panic struck, the engine perked up again. They both cracked up laughing and didn't talk about what happened until they were safely on the ground. I think the bond between these two goes well beyond mutual admiration.

Then something awful happened.

Hunter Thompson committed suicide in February 2005. Per his wishes, Johnny contracted the construction of a Gonzo monument (featuring the Gonzo double fist) to hold a cannon, from which the writer's ashes would blast out and over his farm. "All I'm doing is trying to make sure his last wish comes true," Johnny says of the plans. "I want to send my pal out the way he wants to go out." The private ceremony was a moving, celebratory one attended by Hunter Thompson's close friends and family, with readings of his work, his favorite music playing, and plenty of fireworks. From a height of 153 feet, the cannon sent him off in Hunter style.

The show must go on.

"The idea of The Rum Diary as a film was something that was cooked up between Hunter and myself," Johnny says. "One of my last efforts to salute the man was to continue on in our venture and force him, even in death, to be a producer. We just wanted Hunter there, and he was there every day, every second, every moment." Johnny had a producer's chair made with Hunter Thompson's name on it, which was placed on set every day. The chair held a script cover and was paired with a glass of whiskey, which the cast ritualistically dipped their fingers into like holy water at the start of each day's work. "Everyone chose to do this movie because of Johnny, because of the material," Executive Producer Patrick McCormick says. "Of all the Hunter Thompson projects that he might consider, this would be the most critical one, and there was never a question that this movie was going to get made one way or another. It just allows you to keep pushing forward with great confidence, no matter what the obstacles are."

It only took nearly 15 years.

Before the movie came out, I read The Rum Diary and really liked the story. I was excited to see the movie but disappointed by the previews. I felt they were marketing it as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Part 2, which I hoped would not be the case.

I was happy to discover that the few minutes of mayhem shown in these commercials do not represent all that happens in this movie. Despite its suggestive title, The Rum Diary shows a calmer, quieter side of Hunter Thompson. While this story is fictional, Hunter Thompson did freelance in Puerto Rico, reporting on horoscopes and bowling alleys for that paper. "Looking back, I wasn't aware then what a special place it was or a special time," he said. It's difficult to watch this movie and not hear Hunter Thompson's voice and make the connection between fiction and history. The crew used the writer's books and photographs to capture that place and time as authentically as they could. Even the cameras lean toward a documentary-style point of view. "My approach was to be so minimalistic," Director of Photography Dariusz Wolski says. "The camera doesn't exist. It's an observer of what the story's about."

One of the best parts of this movie is recognizing the parallels between Hunter Thompson's and Paul Kemp's journeys and the authenticity that the crew created to honor them. While all the drinking and Giovanni Ribisi's over-the-top performance as the incessantly drunk Moberg are a bit much for me at times, I love the feel of this movie. With Bruce Robinson's great script and atmospheric direction, you experience Paul Kemp's time in Puerto Rico. "The thing that I connected with with Hunter's work was his brutal honesty and imagination," Johnny says. "When you read about these amazing experiences, you think, 'That's fake. He wrote that. That's his imagination.' But when you really spend time with him, which I have, you realize it's all true." Antics aside, I love The Rum Diary's portrayal of Paul Kemp's struggle to discover the writer he wants to be. By the end of the movie, I feel a sweet sense of nostalgia for a time I'd never experienced and satisfaction in knowing that Hunter Thompson is on his way to becoming the writer we all know.

From what I could tell, critics were mixed about The Rum Diary. You either loved it because you love Hunter Thompson, Bruce Robinson, or Johnny Depp, or you didn't get it and were annoyed by it. I witnessed the latter for myself: After seeing The Rum Diary in the theater, I shuffled toward the exit behind two older ladies and heard one complain to the other about the movie's lack of eye candy. (Yes, she actually used the words "eye candy.") With the drunkenness, drugs, and cock fighting, I see her point. I, too, wished for more of the love story between Paul and Chanault (Amber Heard). I liked that storyline best in the book, but there are only two hours to work with for a movie.

I came out of the theater feeling better than those ladies did about The Rum Diary. I'm not sure if the ordinary moviegoer–who didn't know all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making this movie or who isn't a fan of Hunter Thompson–will fully appreciate The Rum Diary for what it is. I agreed fully with what Ignaty Vishnevetsky said about it on Roger Ebert's At the Movies: "Bruce Robinson writes rich, punchy dialogue and really knows how to direct actors and create a subtle hungover atmosphere. This very funny, keenly observed movie meanders in the best way possible, moving from one misadventure to another while constantly developing its many eccentric characters." With this movie, you're just along for the ride.

Shooting on location was essential to achieving that feeling. "With the brilliance of these set designers, we could've built it all in the studio, but it wouldn't have had that intense heat. It wouldn't have had the smell of rot coming through the floor," Bruce Robinson explains. "It was impossible not to be there emotionally, physically, and in every way, and if we'd been on an air-conditioned sound stage, it wouldn't have been the same narrative."

I think The Rum Diary turned out just as Hunter Thompson would have wanted it. From the spontaneous idea between two friends in a basement to the polished finished product in theaters, he created an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. "This is really something that's come from the heart for everybody," Actor Giovanni Ribisi says. "It's really rare when something like this happens."

The Kitties advise not to do this at home.

Despite my aversion to excessive drug and alcohol use, I love those scenes in The Rum Diary. I credit the brilliance of the director and actors for putting me under the influence. One of my favorite scenes is after Paul (Gordon) and Sala (B.J.) acquire and use some potent eye drops from Moberg. They sit in their stuffy apartment, waiting for something to happen. When something does happen, it terrifies them both so much that they have to get out. They try to calm down during a nighttime walk with some rum in hand.

But the walk is not calming; it's frantic and without direction. As Sala walks straight on methodically, Paul appears behind him. Walking a faster pace, he crossing diagonally right to left and out of the shot. When Paul reappears by Sala's side, he snatches the rum bottle from Sala's hand and takes a swig without losing sight of whatever they're both seeing in the distance. The performances in this sequence are pretty priceless. Johnny's really good at playing a drugged up drunk guy.

I also love Puerto Rico's murky nighttime atmosphere in this scene: the solitude of the empty street and quiet sounds of the surrounding sea are completely different from the colorful vibrancy Puerto Rico emanates in daylight.

Johnny honors Hunter Thompson here too.

Aside from The Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Johnny's adoration of Hunter Thompson comes through in several other projects. Among them are:

- Breakfast with Hunter. Johnny shows up in Wayne Ewing's 2003 documentary about Hunter Thompson, which gives a glimpse of the every-day life of the man behind the larger-than-life persona.

- When I Die. Wayne Ewing's 2005 documentary shows how the Gonzo monument was constructed for Hunter Thompson's one-of-a-kind sendoff. While Johnny is mentioned a few times in this documentary because he's overseeing the task, he's not actually in it. But it's interesting to watch this massive 153-foot structure being built so meticulously.

- Rolling Stone. After Hunter Thompson's death, Rolling Stone ran a tribute issue (March 24, 2005), for which Johnny wrote a wonderful essay called "A Pair of Deviant Bookends."

- Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson. In 2006, Johnny penned another touching tribute, an introduction for this book by Jann Werner and Corey Seymour.

- Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson. Alex Gibney's 2008 documentary exposes Hunter Thompson in his element, mainly focusing on a 10-year period, 1965 to 1975. Johnny lends his voice here, reading passages from the writer's work.

- Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson–Music from the Film. This collection includes music and recordings of Johnny's readings from the documentary. Johnny also wrote the extensive liner notes for this CD with his friend, author Douglas Brinkley. They did such a good job that they were nominated for a Grammy! (Do you think Johnny was as excited about that as I was?)

What's next?

Johnny rises from the dead and tries to adapt to living in the '70s with his dysfunctional descendants in Dark Shadows.

Pastellzeichnung auf Karton, DinA 4

mit Künstlerpastellstiften

"I don't think any of us thought we'd be making another pirate movie, but here we are." Director Gore Verbinski, embarking on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

What's happening now?

At least a year has passed since we last saw Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Today, Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Kiera Knightly) plan to marry, but they are rudely interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), who calls for their immediate arrest for helping Jack escape during their last adventure. They will face the gallows unless Will comes through on his deal with Lord Beckett to retrieve Jack's compass. Presiding over the East India Trading Company, Lord Beckett wants to use the compass to help his business achieve world domination, including control of the seas.

Meanwhile, having just escaped a Turkish prison, Jack returns to the Black Pearl with a drawing of a key, which he and his crew set out to find, but his compass is no help in giving direction. On board, Jack is visited by Will's pirate father Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsguaard), who serves on the Flying Dutchman under Captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).

Long ago, heartbroken over a woman, Davy Jones cut out his own heart to end his pain, placed it in a chest, and buried it on land for safe keeping. Now, he spends his time on the high seas ferrying the dead to the afterlife and is only allowed on shore once every 10 years. Betrayed by the woman he loved, his curse has made him and his crew so much part of the sea that some have become more sea creature than human. The Flying Dutchman can even sail underwater.

Davy Jones once made a deal with Jack, allowing him to captain the Pearl on borrowed time. Bootstrap Bill now comes to Jack, marking his hand with the cursed Black Spot: His time is up and he must pay his debt, head to the no-man's land of Davy Jones's Locker, or face the dreaded sea monster Kracken. As always, Jack works to negotiate his way out of this situation. Having the key he's looking for, which unlocks the buried chest containing Davy Jones's heart, would solve all of Jack's problems.

Of course, everyone crosses paths during this adventure: Elizabeth escapes from jail and gets signed Letters of Mark that pardon her and Will from their crimes. She heads out to sea to find Will. While helping Jack retrieve the key from the Flying Dutchman, Will meets Bootstrap Bill on board and vows to save his father from his eternal fate. Norrington (Jack Davenport), whose life has taken a bad turn, is keen on retrieving the Letters of Mark from Elizabeth to help regain his previous stature, but he eyes a bigger prize once he learns about Davy Jones's chest and its contents. Add some hungry cannibals, some magic, a giant squid, and Captain Jack's dad into the mix, and you've got Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest!

This one's for the boys.

When I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in the theater, I had the weirdest feeling about seeing Johnny play the same character in a sequel. I never expected him to be in the position to make any sequels--or to want to, considering he likes to do his work on a project and move on. It was quite unsettling at first! But I got used to the idea, and I guess Johnny did too. "It's been amazing on every level," he says of working with the same cast and majority of the same crew as the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. "We were on that film for such a long time; it was really quite a big shoot. So, you get really close. You become this weird sort of gypsy family, you know, the traveling circus."

At first, I felt that Captain Jack was mainly in this movie for comic relief while everyone else had their deep dark secrets to deal with, but that's clearly not the case. Everyone has equal story weight here, and it's just a given that Captain Jack is going to get most of the laughs. Johnny wanted to play Captain Jack again because there's so much to explore in the character, and he has so much fun doing it, which is obvious on screen. He is, as expected, a scene-stealer in this revisited role. For all the fans out there, watching the DVD bonus features is a treat because you learn all the details Johnny brought to Captain Jack and his story: Every article of clothing and accessory is hand-picked. Everything dangling in his hair means something. Even some of his rings and props are his own. I like the idea of Johnny bringing in his friend's peacock-feathered wand to work one day to use as his scepter on the cannibal island. (Johnny would have a friend who has that lying around.) Who else would think of these things?

As this movie went on, I felt the story got bogged down with battle after battle, darkness, rain, sea water, slime, grime, and cannibals! Even Elizabeth's wedding dress is already ruined when we first see it in the opening scene. Some of this movie's gross-out moments were tailor-made for all the teenage boys in the audience.

But, as the laughter erupted shortly after the movie started, I realized that Pirates of the Caribbean is going to last forever for everybody! Everyone looked forward to seeing these beloved characters again, and the newly introduced characters became instant family members. Case in point, my favorite moment of this 2 1/2-hour action-packed ride was the last 30 seconds. Honestly, I nearly jumped out of my seat and screamed. Bring on Pirates 3! On my way out of the theater, kids were mimicking the sword fights in the halls using their fists and imagination. That's success!

It's a winner - slime, toes, beating hearts, and all!

I fell in love with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest while watching it again for Johnny Kitties! The story is full, complicated, and intertwined. When asked to write two sequels to their hit pirate movie, cowriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio opted to create a larger story, told over the course of the three movies. They envisioned the sequels sparking a community experience, where the discussion would go well beyond the films. "There was an intent to create Easter eggs, essentially. The more attention you pay to the movie, the more you find in it," Ted Elliott says. Terry Rossio agrees, "There are things even in plain sight revealed in Pirates 3 to be more important than they might have seemed when watching Pirates 1 and 2. It's a lot of fun to do that. I think part of the appeal of these movies is that you're visiting a world where everything is connected."

Everything in the film has a purpose and works to move the story forward. All of the characters have their own motivations--hidden or not--and they have to work together to achieve their goals. No one comes away from this adventure a clear hero.

The new characters introduced in this sequel, Lord Beckett, Bootstrap Bill, Davy Jones, and Tia Dalma (Naomi Harris), are fantastic too: the actors give great performances and add so much to their stories. Also, the look of the Flying Dutchman and its waterlogged crew is so imaginative and detailed.

The impressive stunts include swinging bone cages between majestic cliffs and a three-way sword fight on a detached, spinning waterwheel. Of the latter experience, Johnny remembers, "It was such an absurd, such a bizarre, request for one grown man to ask of another: 'Okay, what we'd like to do now is bind you inside the wheel and give you a sword. And, we're going to tailor the other guy in and you guys are going to fight as the wheel is rolling, and you go upside down several times.' Nothing they could ask of me would surprise me anymore: 'Johnny, we're going to put you in a cannon and volt you out to sea. You okay with that?' Sure, let's do it." That doesn't happen here, but a lot of other stunts do that make this movie fun!

It was worth all the hard work.

"To be honest, the actual work that goes into it is really difficult, but it is so much fun doing it," Orlando Bloom says of working on the sequel. "I can't imagine it'll ever be done again like this; it sort of feels like the end of an era in making movies in this way because it's really a huge fete. I think we all feel very lucky to be doing it." But the pressure was on: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest had a 200-day production schedule but took an entire year to complete. They worked backward from the release date but didn't even have a script for quite a while. On top of that, its sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, was scheduled to be filmed immediately following this one, mainly to ensure that the entire cast was still available.

Filmed all over the Caribbean, Director Gore Verbinski sought out all the hard-to-reach places: "The only way a location is going to get picked by Gore is if you have to swim to it, hike to it, repel into it, or parachute into it," Unit Production Manager Doug Merrifield explains. "The more extreme and more remote the better." One of the locations is an island that completely submerges when the tide comes in every day. The cast ran and battled with swords while ankle-deep in sand in sweltering heat. Equipment had to be hauled on barges or moved by truck up narrow mountainside dirt roads.

Obviously, CGI was used to create the Flying Dutchman's sea creature crew, among other things, but more than you would expect is real in this movie. Aside from the ships and sets they built, the crew developed a new technology called Image-Based Motion Capture to allow them to capture the actors' entire performances. Dressed in grey outfits spotted with green Ping Pong-sized balls that serve as motion points, Bill Nighy and the Flying Dutchman crew performed as if they were in full costume. Gore Verbinski could then work with them and the camera just as he would any live-action sequence. Their 3D images were later animated and transformed into sea creatures but without losing the facial expressions and movements of the actors in their performances. That's movie magic!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was filmed during the most active hurricane season on record. Hurricane Wilma did extensive damage to sets, equipment, and roads. Aside from the hurricanes, high seas even caused problems: If the waves reached 3 to 4 feet, the ships had to be evacuated because the sets were at risk of falling apart. Don't worry, it all turned out okay.

In fact, this movie was even nominated for a bunch of awards and won quite a few, mainly in the special effects/visual effects department for good reason! Johnny was also nominated for and won some awards too because he's really good at being Captain Jack Sparrow.

The Kitties are fighting!

This movie comes down to the hunt for Davy Jones's chest. Here, Captain Jack, Norrington (Simon), Will (Comet), and Elizabeth (Ashes) find it together but suddenly realize that no one can be trusted. They all want it for their own reasons. Because there's never a time when everyone's in the same scene (and because Davy Jones is tied to the sea), I had to embellish a little here with what I imagine is happening outside of the shot: Davy Jones watching and awaiting his fate aboard the Flying Dutchman. Will they work it out? Go rent the movie!

What's next?

This saga concludes in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

For more Johnny Kitties or images from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest visit my blog here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2013/07/johnny-kitties-celeb....

Ink pen and marker

Prisma color pencil drawing on Bristol , of my boy Ninja....

"I'm still too dumb to make choices just because it's going to be successful. In terms of this being a giant production, I still chose the same way I choose other films. I really saw something in the character I could do something with."

- Johnny Depp on taking the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Is there anyone out there who hasn't heard of or seen this movie?

For those of you who haven't seen Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, here's the scoop: The drive to make this movie was described as Disney's effort to revitalize a 40-year-old theme park ride called Pirates of the Caribbean. But the film isn't really based on the ride, which doesn't have a story to it. Apparently, the writers somehow incorporated a few of the ride's characteristics and minor characters for familiar audience members to wink at as they watched the movie, but they created an original story that could stand on its own. I believe it because there's no way a theme park ride could have such an intricate backstory. At the end of the audio commentary on the DVD, co-writer Ted Elliott actually lists out the plot points one-by-one, ending with, "See? It makes sense, right?!" It does, I swear!

Having several simultaneous stories going on is part of what makes this movie so good! The story begins in the late 1700s or so on a sailing ship with the governing body of England's Port Royal, including Governor Swann (Jonathan Pryce) and his 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth, aboard. Peering in the distance, Elizabeth discovers a boy drifting in the ocean and rescues him. She learns that his name is Will Turner and steals the medallion around his neck to hide it from the others for fear that it marks him as a pirate. Ten years later, Elizabeth (Kiera Knightly) and Will (Orlando Bloom) are still friends but have a societal gap between them: She's the Governor's daughter being courted by Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport), but she's really in love with Will, who is just a working-class blacksmith. (Isn't that always the case!)

Elizabeth doesn't realize that the medallion she stole all those years ago set a hunt in motion: Everyone comes looking for it. Led by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), pirates sail The Black Pearl and attack Port Royal, looking for the trinket and its owner. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), previous captain of The Pearl before his crew committed mutiny and left him stranded on an island, arrives in search of his ship but soon discovers that Elizabeth possesses the rare medallion. So, things get interesting: Ultimately, Elizabeth is captured by the Barbossa's crew, with the medallion, and Will enlists Jack--who has his own vested interests--to help rescue her. Adventure ensues. Enjoy the ride!

Johnny's gone to the other side!

When word got out that Johnny had signed on to star in a Disney production focused around one of its faded theme-park rides, everyone said he had sold out: He'd given up his indy roots and infiltrated "the enemy camp" for blockbuster success! This idea never occurred to me and hearing it over and over started to irritate me. Do critics really think that signing Johnny Depp to star in a Disney movie about pirates in a story based on an old theme-park ride is a successful recipe? It really didn't sound like one to me. Johnny has never approached his roles thinking about the money he's going to make from it. In fact, he's done the opposite and worked for free just for the experience or as a favor to his friends.

Signing on for a Disney movie was a definite surprise, but surprises are one of the many Joys of Johnny. I chalked this decision up to Johnny having kid movies on his brain since the birth of his daughter in 2001 and left it at that. But Johnny doesn't go into those details to explain these things. Instead, he says things like, "I just had a good feeling about it--a really, really good feeling." He's telling the truth here. He goes on, "It was mentioned that they were considering a movie based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and I said I was in. There was no screenplay, no director, nothing. For some unknown reason, I just said I was in."

Trusting Johnny's instincts, I wanted this movie to be really great--mainly just to disprove all the speculation and skepticism around it. Though wild with anticipation, a part of me feared that it could go horribly wrong. This was a new experience and a risk but no more or less exciting to me than any of Johnny's other movies were when they premiered: I didn't see what the big deal or difference was about this one. Good or bad, I knew Johnny would do something different to keep things interesting, which is good enough for me.

I have a date with Captain Jack Sparrow!

One day, I came home from work, sifted through my mail, and found two free tickets to see an early preview of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl at my local theater in Georgetown. I don't remember asking for these, entering any contests, or giving out my address to strangers. I have no idea how they ended up in an envelope addressed to me in my mailbox. Creepy? Yes, but I squealed and jumped around in my apartment anyway! In reality, these tickets were no big deal because I planned to be first in line to buy tickets to this movie, but I prefer to see these surprise treats--magic tickets to see this movie few days earlier than everyone else--as fateful Johnny Gifts that make my day. Thanks, whoever sent them. (Was it you, Walt Disney?)

While my friend and I were among the first to arrive at the theater that night (because I'm neurotic that way), it was eventually packed. (Apparently, I wasn't the only one to get free tickets.) More important, I'm pretty sure we all really enjoyed the movie! I was relieved.

The story is rich with side characters and story lines among the stars handling the main plot. Everyone in the cast, straight down to the extras, have distinct personalities, detailed histories, and their own little quirks. It makes for an entertaining soup. To top things off, the script--which really what sold Johnny on the project--is filled with smart humor. During the entire production, scriptwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were on set to make changes, so director Gore Verbinski, Johnny, and the rest of the cast had plenty of freedom to give input and test ideas on the spot. I was also impressed with the special effects. There are things in this movie I'd never seen before, and it's all so detailed! (I love details!) For example, the curse in this story only appears in moonlight, making the night-time scenes and battles extra special. And, instead of your typical treasure hunt, this curse requires that the pirates return rather than keep the goods. I think all these different elements made Pirates of the Caribbean the summer blockbuster it became--I mean, aside from the obvious key ingredient.

Johnny's in his element.

You have to think back to a time before you ever saw or knew Captain Jack Sparrow. I know it's difficult because he may be in everyone's psyche at this point, whether you're a fan or not. If you think back to before you first saw him, you'll realize what an amazing transformation Johnny made into this one-of-a-kind pirate. He disappeared into this role with the costume, the walk, the voice--every movement and every joke. Granted, I'm biased, but I gasped during Johnny's first scene when he started interacting with people. I really couldn't believe that it was the same person.

As always, Johnny did a ton of research for this role. After reading a bunch of books about pirates during that time period, he considered them the rock stars of their day. So, most noticeably, the captain is based on Kieth Richards, guitarist for the Rolling Stones, who Johnny considers the greatest of all rock stars. Johnny also spent a lot of time in saunas thinking about the character and what it'd be like to be on the ocean fighting the elements for hours on end. Captain Jack, he assumed, would be a little off due to the intense heat on the high seas. "With Jack, it was more that I liked the idea of being ambiguous, of taking the character and making everything a little bit....questionable." Also in the mix are bits of Lee Marvin's character from Cat Ballou and the great Pepe Le Pew. (I love it!)

When Johnny showed up at the studio in his costume, the rest of the cast was baffled. "That first day, we were all like, 'What's he doing?'" says Kiera Knightly. When the studio heads saw the dailies, they thought Johnny was ruining the movie. "I was sure I was going to be fired, absolutely!" Johnny says. "They had a few questions: Is he gay? Is he drunk? Is he gay and drunk?" Johnny also had to barter for his look. The studio felt that a mouthful of gold teeth was too much for audiences to bear, but Johnny counted on this concern and removed the two extra gold teeth he considered his barginning chips."When you hire Johnny, you want him to do something unique and different," producer Jerry Bruckhiemer says. They got it. "The characterization, the personality of Jack is what we wrote," screenwriter Ted Elliott notes. "The expression of that personality is purely Johnny Depp. It was exactly what we described but nothing like we anticipated." Johnny is pretty genius in this role, no matter how sick of Captain Jack you may be by now.

But you have to keep it all in perspective, I suppose. Scriptwriter Terry Rossio expains, "Johnny's performance is amaazing, but it's framed by all the other characters and sustained by the situations he gets put in. Everything goes into a performance like that--the cinematography, editing, but particularly the surrounding characters who have to create the environment for him to play off of." It's true. All the supporting characters perfectly fit their roles. Aside from Jack, everyone loves the beautiful people--Orlando Bloom as Will and Kiera Knightly as Elizabeth--who are fantastic. But no one ever mentions Geoffrey Rush. The more I watch his performance, the more I marvel at his Captain Barbossa, who is your classic "Argh!" kind of pirate up against Johnny's uncategorical Captain Jack. As Terry Rossio notes, "Geoffrey Rush's eyeballs deserve an Academy Award nomination." It's true.

Well, they didn't get one, but Johnny did! Did you hear me scream and jump around the moment his nomination was announced? Only Johnny could get nominated for starring in a Disney summer blockbuster as an ambiguously gay, drunk pirate. Granted, he should have at least five Oscars by now, but it's delicious that, after all this time, this is the one that got him nominated. I never would have guessed, yet I wasn't surprised. Johnny probably didn't care as much as I did. Maybe it was the 17-year wait, but I Was Thrilled!!! Alas, he lost to his friend, Sean Penn, who won for Mystic River. Johnny was probably relieved that he didn't have to make a speech. But the only reason I'm just the tiniest bit relieved about his loss is that Johnny didn't go down in history holding an Oscar sporting that night's weird greasy hairstyle. You know I would have had to keep that photo forever, despite what his hair looked like that day. Crisis averted.

Up to this point, Johnny performances generally received critical acclaim, but his characters were always labeled "outsiders" or "oddballs." Hiring Johnny was considered a risk because "he can't open a weekend" or "he's too weird." He's always described his career as one built on a bunch of box office failures. Johnny's movies were not mainstream, and many people didn't see them unless they were in the know and made the effort.

Imagine the shock of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl becoming a gazillion-dollar blockbuster overnight, Captain Jack and all the characters going down in Disney history, and talk of sequels already buzzing! Did I fully express the inexplicable magnitude of my joy about this? Really, I felt this couldn't have happened to a better person after all the equally stellar work before this crazy pirate movie. Making this movie didn't mean that Johnny sold out: No one could plan for or predict the ridiculous meteoric success of The Pirates of the Caribbean.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was nominated for four other technical Oscars and at a bunch of different award shows that season. It earned quite a few awards. Most exciting to me was that Johnny won the Best Actor award that year from the Screen Actor's Guild, an honor voted by other actors. Ah, the love gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (even if he couldn't attend to accept it in person).

The Kitties have already heard of Captain Jack Sparrow.

I've actually submitted a couple Illustration Friday drawings inspired by Captain Jack already. Illustration Friday's word of the week, "skyline," stumped me for a few days in 2006. But, eventually, my brain made its way to the last line of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in which Johnny mentions the horizon. (It counts, right? They're synonyms, aren't they? Well, even if I tried, I couldn't think of anything else once the seed was planted.) Everyone was stumped on how to end this movie, but Johnny had a eureka moment and ran to the writers like a little kid, yelling, "I've got it! I've got it!"

See that drawing here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2006/07/illustration-friday-....

By 2007, the word "captain" instantly and only made me think of the captain on his ship, The Black Pearl. (It still does.)

You can see that drawing here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2007/08/illustration-friday-....

But drawing a specific tribute to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for Johnny Kitties was daunting! At first, I thought I'd have to draw several illustrations to cover the entire cast of beloved characters. Then, I figured I'd have a few more chances to capture them later. So, I went with my original idea, which flashed in my head when I first thought up the Johnny Kitties project. It's true that Johnny's character shines best when all those "normal" people are reacting around him, but ultimately the greatest thing this movie does is introduce audiences to Johnny's Captain Jack Sparrow. Not only should his entrance go down in film history as one of the best ever, but--once introduced--there's no turning back. As soon as he sets foot in Port Royal, you know you're in for something special. And, he's here to stay. Savvy?

What's Next?

And now for something completely different: Johnny represents the CIA in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and I'm guessing they wish he didn't.

For more information about Johnny Kitties or images from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, see my original blog post here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2012/11/johnny-kitties-celeb....

this is a modified inversion of my white cat drawing. I am planning on making this into a woodcut potentially.

from www.mynameiso.com

"The loss of Heath Ledger was such a blow that it was a test of everybody involved in this film whether, in these kinds of incredibly difficult circumstances, we could continue and make a film worthy of Heath's last movie. I think because so many people loved him, respected him, we pulled it off. The contractual credit was "A Film by Terry Gilliam." We all agreed to call it "A Film for Heath Ledger and Friends." It's truly the honest, accurate, and right credit." Director Terry Gilliam on completing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Be careful what you wish for!

Endlessly meditating in his monastery, Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) meets the devil Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) and gambles with him for immortality. Having won that bet, centuries pass. When Dr. Parnassus falls in love with a woman, he makes another deal with Mr. Nick: for his mortality and youth, he will send the devil his first-born child upon his or her 16th birthday. The scheme works and Dr. Parnassus wins the woman's heart, but she dies after giving birth to their daughter Valentina (Lily Cole).

Nearly 16 years later, Dr. Parnassus is part of a traveling sideshow, which includes his daughter and fellow performers Anton (Andrew Garfield) and Percy (Verne Troyer). Through the imaginarium, a magic mirror controlled by Dr. Parnassus, audience members can enter their own imaginations, where they can make choices to follow their wildest dreams but are also at risk of being lured by Mr. Nick.

Desperate to save Valentina, now that she is nearly of age, Dr. Parnassus makes another deal with the devil: He has two days to provide Mr. Nick with five souls in exchange for his daughter. Late one night, the troupe finds Tony (Heath Ledger), a mysterious stranger who breathes new life into the attraction to help Dr. Parnassus in his quest to save his daughter. But when Tony's past catches up with him, his true identity is revealed and affects everyone around him. In the end, everyone must face the consequences of their action and own up to their choices.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus bends your mind in the most wonderful ways and still makes sense if you just let yourself go along with it. Johnny Depp describes it well: "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a uniquely ingenious, captivating creation, by turns wild, thrilling, and hilarious in all its crazed, dilapidated majesty." Welcome to the mind of Terry Gilliam and enjoy the ride!

This one's for Heath.

Terry Gilliam directed Heath Ledger before, in 2005's The Brothers Grimm. That movie's failure at the box office didn't concern Heath Ledger, "Success is relative, I guess, isn't it? That was a success to me because I was working with one of my heroes," he said of the experience. "Sometimes, you just have to kind of throw away the care. You have to not be too conscious of what will be a success and what won't be 'cause that's out of your power. That shouldn't, in my mind, dictate what your choice is. I just want to enjoy myself. I want to learn more. I want to work with good people - creatively and as people, really, just good people. That drives me more." Like Johnny, Heath Ledger remained close friends with Terry Gilliam since their first film together. "He's one of the greatest creative visionary minds ever in film history and a wonderful figure in my life and had done a lot for me," Heath Ledger said of the director. "He had given a lot to me, and if I can do anything to help him, then I will."

Heath Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in the middle of filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and that's the only reason Johnny is in this movie. "Johnny, I supposed, was the most critical person in this whole combination of saviors," Terry Gilliam remembers. "I called him a day or two after Heath died to commiserate because he was a close friend of Heath's as well. I didn't know if I was going to continue with the film or just close it down. And he said, 'Well, whatever you decide, I'll be there.' And that was actually a turning point, I think, because the money people were all closing down the shop, and when they were told that Johnny Depp said he would be there to help, it slowed the retreat."

The tragic loss brought out the best in people. Along with Johnny, mutual friends Jude Law and Colin Farrell filled in as "Tony" in the scenes Heath didn't complete. "The crucial thing with Johnny, Colin, and Jude was that they were friends of Heath, and they were the only people I called because I wanted people who knew Heath very well to make the transition easier," Terry Gilliam explains. "They knew who he was. They knew what he was like." The three actors redirected their typical fees for film work to Heath Ledger's daughter, Matilda.

The finished product is kind of a miracle considering the star died halfway through shooting, but Terry Gilliam reworked the script so that the additional cast members' involvement makes perfect sense in the story. "It's been a rather incredible gathering of friends and dedicated people who were determined that Heath Ledger's last film was not going to end up on some floor unfinished," the director says. "I am grateful to Johnny, Colin, and Jude for coming on board and to everyone else who has made it possible for us to finish the film. I am delighted that Heath's brilliant performance can be shared with the world."

I wished Johnny weren't in this one.

News of Heath Ledger's death broke while I was at work. I walked into an office where my two friends were reading from a laptop, with horrified looks on their faces. "What happened?" I asked. When they told me, I thought they were joking. But why would anyone joke about Heath Ledger dying? Nobody wants that. This was not supposed to happen. I was officially depressed, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

I had mixed feelings going to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus in the theater. I love Terry Gilliam's films, but I was sad about these circumstances and watched in fear of reaching the cutoff point of Heath Ledger's last scene. I actually dreaded seeing Johnny in this movie because I figured his appearance meant we reached that end point. "A lot of people, when watching the film, assume that we're not going to see Heath again, but he always keeps coming back," Terry Gilliam says. "It wasn't just a matter of Heath stops, and Johnny, Colin, and Jude take over. It's the fact that he keeps reappearing, and he's never out of the film; that's why I think the film works as well as it does." It's true, so fear not! Heath Ledger stays with us all the way through with no real noticeable gaps in the scenes or story. With a big sigh of relief, I was so pleased with the result that I left the theater smiling and I think Heath Ledger was too.

Terry Gilliam's in his element!

Having grown up watching Terry Gilliam and his artwork on "Monty Python's Flying Circus," I always look forward to a Terry Gilliam film. He cowrote this one with Charles McKeown, whom he's collaborated with on Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchaussen. The latter is one of my favorites and now this one is too.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is so creative, I can hardly describe it. Whenever characters step through Dr. Parnassus's magic mirror into the imaginarium, they enter their own imaginations (and those of whomever else may be in the imaginarium with them). "Every time you go through the mirror, there's going to be something different," Terry Gilliam says. "I wanted to take advantage of the fact that we have this mirror that can provide us a surprise each time we go through so that one is never bored." If more than one person goes through the mirror at the same time, you will find competing imaginations. Whichever is most dominant takes over, causing the different worlds to literally split apart or expand in free form. "These kinds of worlds are me just letting my imagination run. I pretend I'm whoever the character is in there, and I just go with it," Terry Gilliam says. "Or, I have an idea that already exists that I'm trying to force onto the film, and I make sure the character becomes something that serves the ideas that I already wanted to get out of my system and get up on the screen." All sorts of imaginations are explored, including those of an alcoholic, a child, a criminal, and the main characters--Valentina, Anton, Tony, and even Dr. Parnassus himself.

These different worlds are fascinating and clearly drawn from Terry Gilliam's own imagination; at times, the movie feels familiar to his work for Monty Python. The imaginarium scenes are like paintings that remind me of his animation work for that show. And, who else but Terry Gilliam would think to have Russian criminals dumbfounded by a sudden song-and-dance number by cops in skirts, fishnets, and heels? Producer Samuel Hadida agrees. "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is a movie that will deliver all that Terry Gilliam has made up to now." The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was nominated several production-related awards, including two Oscars for art direction and costume design.

Where does Johnny come in?

Three sequences in the imaginarium remained to be filmed after Heath Ledger's death. To adapt to the new terrible situation, Terry Gilliam established that, in the imaginarium, Tony's appearance could change to whoever is imagining him. Johnny's sequence is first for a reason. The director explains, "I felt that, if this idea of different people playing Tony was going to work, Johnny would be the best one to drag us across, and that's exactly what happened. So many people, when they watch the movie, actually think it's Heath for a moment, which was really a sign that we've pulled off something that worked." That is exactly what happened when I watched this movie for the first time in the theater!

At the time that The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was being made, Johnny was in the middle of filming Public Enemies, and many people were upset that he committed to helping Terry Gilliam complete his movie while he was committed to another one elsewhere. But he flew to Vancouver to film his scenes anyway. "We only had him for one day and three-and-a-half hours the next day, which just tells you how brilliant he is," Terry Gilliam remembers. "He arrived; he was ready to go. There was no time to rehearse. We just dived in, and it's absolutely, utterly brilliant!" Despite flying through it, with all of the scenes completed in only one take because of his schedule, Johnny loved working on this film. "Though the circumstances of my involvement are extremely heart-rendering and unbelievably sad, I feel privileged to have been asked aboard to stand in on behalf of dear Heath," he said.

This cast shines bright!

The rest of the wonderful cast assembled The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus need to be highlighted too:

- Tom Waits is the devil! Isn't that an example of genius casting? Johnny aside, doesn't that alone make you want to see this movie? No? Okay, there are more!

- Christopher Plummer as Dr. Parnassus is amazing, as expected. "It seemed to me one needed a man of his kind of weight and gravitas and experience to give dignity to the shabby little show we were running," Terry Gilliam says. "I think it's Christopher's dignity and his ability to make even what might be a charlatan in the case of Parnassus into somebody that you believe does have extraordinary powers."

- Lily Cole, who plays Dr. Parnassus's daughter Valentina, is a successful fashion model. When I saw her photographs in magazines, I always thought she had a great face for movies. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is her first starring role, and I'm pretty sure she's safe to keep going!

- Andrew Garfield is in this movie! Yeah, Spider-Man. I didn't realize it until I revisited this film for Johnny Kitties. During filming, he learned and embraced the joy of improvising by watching Heath Ledger and caught on quickly. In his first comedic role here, Andrew Garfield is really fun to watch. I might have to see all his movies now.

- Verne Troyer, I admit, is someone I can't look at without thinking of Austin Powers' "Mini-Me" and laughing. I got over it with this movie, in which he plays a serious role quite admirably.

- Jude Law takes over as Tony after Johnny's turn in the imaginarium. Ironically, before Heath Ledger was chosen, Jude Law was considered for the role of Tony. As always, he is fantastic. An avid admirer of Terry Gilliam's films, participating in this one was obviously important for other reasons: "To help Terry finish his film was an honor paid to a man I adore," he says. "I had a great time on the job. Though we were all there in remembrance, Heath's heart pushed us with great lightness to the finish."

- Colin Farrell is perfectly suave and slimy as Tony in the final imaginarium sequence. He wrote about the experience on his blog, noting the sense of community everyone felt in Heath Ledger's honor. "Three of us had been asked to complete a task that had been set in motion by a man we greatly liked and respected as both a person and an artist. Being part of this film was never about filling Heath's shoes as much as seeing them across the finish line," he writes. "How I wish he had brought the film to its completion himself. Of course, the whole crew felt this way. And, the cast that we joined felt it too. It was this spirit of grieving the loss of Heath that Johnny and Jude and I joined. But there was also a sense of dogged insistence: insistence that Heath's last piece of work should not be kept in the shadow of the light of day. A community of people - caterers and actors, electricians and makeup artists - had been brought together in a recognized sense of love and obligation, for and to, one of cinema's finest actors and most generous of men. It will be the sense of love amidst the sadness that I will remember most. Such a gift and an honor, from Heath, to be part of the trail that he left behind."

Get ready for something completely different.

I recommend that you watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus more than once. Even Terry Gilliam agrees, "What does happen so often with my films is that it takes a second viewing for people to really see what the film is or understand it," he says. I discover something new and enjoy it more each time I see this one.

The big finish with Colin Farrell as Tony, mentioned earlier, could test some viewers. The finale, a battle in the imaginarium among four people with strong imaginations (Tony, Valentina, Anton, Dr. Parnassus), is a trip, so be ready for it! "The whole last sequence is about whose imagination is winning at any particular moment. Unless people understand that, what is going on, the whole thing probably becomes very confusing," Terry Gilliam explains. "To me, it's an absolute dream sequence - this whole finale - because one thing is flowing into the next, making very clear leaps. It's how dreams form and reform and transmute things, but unless you're willing to let go, and go into a kind of dream state, you're going to have trouble through this sequence. You've got to let it just take you where it goes 'cause each thing makes sense in its own way, but you're connecting a lot of things that may or may not make sense depending on who it is." All clear? Trust me, you'll understand when you see it! Just go with it.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus doesn't follow the typical logical flow or structure of a film. "It flows at a different level. It depends on whose mind you're in," Terry Gilliam explains. "Can you shift from character to character and understand why each world is what it is? I find children can do this easily, but the older people get, the more rigid they become, the more terrified of this, what seems to be chaos. They want things explained, and they even like things explained in advance or [to be] given a road map of where we're going. And, I think that is exactly what the imaginarium is not about. Those that go in there, and take this ride and hold on, have a wonderful time; so we're trying to encourage people to let go, even adults."

Rent The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and give it a try (or two, three, or more). It's worth the trip!

In the imaginarium, the Kitties can do the impossible!

Johnny's time in the imaginarium explores the mind of a wealthy middle-aged woman played by Maggie Steed. "Johnny loved working with Maggie," Terry Gilliam says. "The two of them just clicked, and he said he wanted to have her in every film he does. It was just a great combination." Here, the woman (The Mother Kitty) imagines Tony waltzing with her on lily pads among a few of her favorite things - brilliant jewels, magnificent shoes, and sweet perfumes. But Tony's own imagination conjures up the young and beautiful Valentina (Lily), who lures his attention away from his dance partner.

What's next?

Johnny is just slightly mad in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

To see more Johnny Kitties and images from The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, please visit my blog: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2013/11/johnny-kitties-celeb....

I've worked with Johnny so many times, and I think this is definitely one of my favorite characters because we've always talked about old horror movies, and the idea of being able to create something like that and see Johnny play a monster in a way is fantastic!

- Tim Burton on Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd is angry.

After 15 years of imprisonment on a false charge, Barber Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) returns to London a changed man. Now called Sweeney Todd, he finds his old barber shop and prepares revenge against Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) for disrupting his unassuming life, throwing him in jail, and stealing his wife and child for himself. With razors in hand, Sweeney Todd aims to murder the judge and anyone who gets in his way. When Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) realizes that she's got a serial killer living in the barber shop above her meat pie bistro, she deduces a plan that solves both of their problems, disposing the bodies and perking up her failing business. Together, they refurbish and reopen both shops to plenty of eager customers. Don't ask what's in the pies.

Who is Sweeney Todd?

The origin of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street dates back to the 1600s. A combination of stories about crazy barbers over the years added to his legend. The character is first most prominently featured in a London serial magazine in 1846. Films followed in the 1930s, and Stephen Sondheim's musical is based on a play version from the 1960s. When it hit Broadway in 1979, it won eight Tonys, including one for Best Musical, and two Grammys.

I had no idea who Sweeney Todd was, but I had heard of Stephen Sondheim's musical starring Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett. (She won a Tony too.) When Johnny signed on for Tim Burton's film version, I assumed it would be a drama with no singing because Johnny doesn't do that. Because I love Angela Lansbury, I rented a DVD of that Sweeney Todd to get an idea of what Johnny signed up for. My reaction was unexpected: He's going to play that guy, that huge, scary, Frankenstein-looking guy with the booming voice and horrible haircut? Wait, what is Mrs. Lovett putting in the pies? This thing involved a lot of throat-slitting and cannibalism, and the audience was laughing about it. I didn't get it.

Get ready for a shock!

Leading up to the movie's release, I saw a photo of Johnny on the set. He had a glaring white streak in his hair. I didn't get that either. (Johnny later explained the obvious: Sweeney's been through a shock.) Still, I was excited to see this thing. I was thrilled to hear that Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman were his costars, and I was intrigued that Sascha Baron Cohen also snagged a key role. With Tim Burton in charge, I had no idea what to expect from all these intriguing choices!

I tried to avoid seeing anything else about the movie because I like to be surprised by the finished product. But, inevitably, I eventually caught a preview on TV. You must have heard when it happened because it was as if a Beatle showed up in my apartment: Johnny was singing!!!

"He's got the best job," Tim Burton says about Johnny in this role. "He just stares and broods and doesn't have much dialogue. I wish I could have that job! But he did have to sing, so that sort of balanced the whole thing out." I think only Tim Burton could get Johnny to do that.

Apparently, Johnny kept everyone in suspense about his hidden talent. "We're here at the studio, sets were being constructed, wardrobe was being made, other actors and commitments were being made," Producer Richard Zanuck remembers. "Literally, we were spending millions of dollars on the picture, and not one person on earth had heard Johnny sing--and he's the star of the picture!" Producer Walter Parks concurs, "I think, at the end of the day, Stephen Sondheim didn't hear him sing before he decided that he would accept the fact that Johnny was going to do it. You just look at Johnny's body of work and you realize that this is a man that holds himself to the highest possible standard, and we all knew that if he said he could do it, he could do it."

I don't think Johnny ever said he could do it, but he said he would try. "I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sing any of it! I certainly wasn't convinced I'd be able to sustain," he says. "That, in many cases, was the booger: holding a note for 12 beats, not easy! There were several instances when I thought, 'I'm just gonna hit the deck. I ran out of air 5 minutes ago.' It's beautiful stuff to sing. I can only imagine that it must be really nice if you're a singer!"

For help, Johnny called on his childhood friend Bruce Witkin. Johnny first moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s with dreams of snagging a record contract with his band The Kids, and Bruce Witkin was the lead singer. Still working in music now, Bruce Witkin helped Johnny learn and record all the songs for Sweeney Todd. "We started knocking them down, one by one," Johnny recalls. "We started with 'My Friends.' That was the first song I ever sang in my life. I don't even sing in the shower. It was pretty weird. Yeah, scary!" (It's awesome!!!!!!!!!)

Bring on the music!

Producer Richard Zanuck remembers the moment when everyone's fears were put to rest. "One day, I was in my office on the phone. Tim burst in and lays down a little cassette player and his headphones--I didn't know what he was doing--and he walked out. So, I got off the phone, put them on, and listened to Johnny sing for the first time. And, I just put it down and went into Tim's office, and we just stared at each other with great relief. And, we had the biggest smiles at each other because we knew we had a great voice with Johnny!"

Unlike his other roles, Johnny found Sweeney Todd in the music. "The character actually came out of the singing, out of the words, Sondheim's words, his melodies, the emotion that the arrangements kind of evoke. I heard him before I saw him." Johnny didn't take any singing lessons to prepare for this role either. He didn't imagine Sweeney Todd was the kind of guy who would bother to take lessons. In Sweeney's case, singing was purely an emotional release.

It seems that Tim Burton was the only one who wasn't really concerned about his star's abilities. "I remember when I first heard Johnny. I thought, 'That's amazing! He sounds like some kind of rock star!' Just by the nature of him doing it brings something different to it. I'd say that about all the actors because they're not singers. They all bring a certain modern quality to it, which is in the piece, but it just pushes it that much further."

It's true! Aside from the actress who plays the beggar woman in the movie (Laura Michelle Kelly), singing was new to all of the actors, and they were terrified. "One of the more challenging moments in one's life is when you've got the music in your hand, and you're in a huge rehearsal room, and Stephen Sondheim walks across the room and says, 'Okay, let's hear it.'" Alan Rickman says.

Unlike Johnny, Helena Bonham Carter, who has always wanted to be in a musical (and to be Mrs. Lovett specifically), tackled her role with weeks of singing lessons. "If you're going to sing, and you're going to do your first musical, it's really stupid to be Mrs. Lovett," she says. If you watch, Mrs. Lovett has to go that extra mile: Some of her songs are fast and require multitasking, whether it's baking or interacting with other people in the scenes. Before filming began, she had to imagine what her musical scenes would be like, including what she thought the other actors involved might do. Then, she recorded the songs to fit the anticipated actions accordingly. As usual, she's amazing!

Excited about seeing this wonderful cast, all I was worried about was the blood. Surprisingly, the studios weren't so concerned: "It was an amazing thing," Tim Burton describes proposing this project to the powers that be. "You go, 'We're going to make an R-rated musical with lots of blood, with no professional singers, about a serial killer and cannibalism,' and they go, 'Great!' I've never had that happen in my life before. That gave me hope that there are still people in Hollywood that are willing to try different things."

It's splattered!

Sweeney Todd was released on Christmas Day. I knew that when I went home to Ohio for the holidays and Dad referred to it as "that slasher movie," no one in my family was interested in being dragged out in the middle of winter to see Sweeney Todd with me. So, I planned to see it as soon as I got back to D.C.

This delay turned out to be a blessing because, as a consolation prize, I allowed myself to watch all the Sweeney Todd specials on MTV, HBO, Starz and wherever else. I learned all the behind-the-scenes secrets about making the perfect mixture of "blood," the variety of razor blades, throat-slitting techniques, and stunts. I started to compare the gore to Monty Python's skit spoofing the violence in Sam Peckinpah movies. Somehow, that was comforting and made me feel more prepared for sitting in a dark theater to watch it on the big screen.

Eventually, my sister decided to see Sweeney Todd and asked me how bloody it was before she went. "It's not too bloody," I said. Post viewing, she called back, yelling, "Not too bloody?!" She claims that my vision was burred by my heart-shaped rose-colored Johnny Glasses. (Do those exist?!)

The truth is that my blood and gore tolerance preparation went out the window when I got to the theater, so I averted my eyes from all the blood the first time I saw Sweeney Todd. Instead of witnessing any of the murders straight on, I only saw red out of the corner of my eye as I focused on other things in the scene. What's going on outside that window behind him? What's that picture on the wall? I'm into details, after all.

There is a lot of blood.

But I'm in love!

Despite the gore, I love (love, love, love) this movie! At first glance, it's not my kind of movie at all but, in it's own weird way, it is my favorite kind: a modern musical that looks like a Gothic old movie. Apparently, that's what Tim Burton was going for: Drawing on his love of classic horror films, which he and Johnny both watched as kids, he looked to Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Lon Chaney, for inspiration. These great silent horror film stars were so expressive with internal emotion in their movies. He created that same look and feel for Sweeney Todd with the makeup's pale skin and dark, sunken eyes paired with the grayness of the beautiful Gothic sets.

The look of this movie is somehow just as I imagined it. Sweeney Todd is dramatic, tragic, funny, and scary all at the same time. Despite the dark subject matter, by all accounts, the set was a happy one. All of the actors reflect that in their fantastic performances. And, the film's magnificent score ties everything together. "This is Tim Burton's giant salute to classic horror films," Johnny says. "It's a beautiful marriage from two completely different worlds." It's a masterpiece!!!

Rest assured, Sweeney Todd is not all blood and guts or any kind of slasher film. This is a good story! "The violence is secondary to the motive," Stephen Sondheim explains. "It's a story about revenge, and it's about how revenge eats itself up. In that sense, it's a tragedy. It's the classic tradition of somebody who goes out for revenge and ends up destroying himself." Doesn't that sound great?

For those of you who don't like musicals, you might be okay with this one because it's not a faithful adaptation. The movie is filmed at a faster pace than the stage version, and many songs were cut to keep the story's intensity. "This is not a movie of the stage show; this is a movie based on the stage show," Stephen Sondheim clarifies. "That's the most exciting thing about this." (I don't know about that. Did I mention that Johnny sings in this?) This story is reinvented from Tim Burton's head. "Tim has taken it and adapted it to his vision, his version of Sweeney Todd," Johnny says. "It's a whole other animal."

Is the third time a charm?

Sweeney Todd was nominated for three Oscars, for costume design, art direction, and Johnny's spectacular performance! Alas, Daniel Day Lewis was nominated that year too, and whenever Daniel Day Lewis is nominated for anything, he wins it. I love Daniel Day Lewis just as much as the next person, but he already had an Oscar by then. Give somebody else a chance! Johnny played a psychotic depressed serial killer singing Sondheim with a cockney accent. I can't imagine anything being much harder than that! I blame the blood for deterring voters.

With his eighth nomination, Johnny did win his first Golden Globe for this performance! But, to my extreme disappointment, that was the year the writer's strike happened and the live televised Golden Globes event was cancelled. In addition to winning an Oscar for art direction and a Golden Globe for Best Picture, Sweeney Todd was nominated for and won a bunch of other well-deserved awards around the world. The film earned honors for Tim Burton, the actors (notably Johnny, Helena Bonham Carter, and newcomer Ed Sanders, who is excellent as Toby), and the crew (for art direction, production design, and costume design). I don't call it a masterpiece for nothing!

Gordon can sing too!

Drawing something for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd was intimidating--not because of the blood but because I love nearly everything about it! Whatever lofty plans I had to capture the whole look and feel of this movie, Gordon was ready since he helped celebrate Sweeney Todd the first time around. After I first saw the movie, Gordon dressed up as Sweeney and tested out his lungs--putting all The Kitties in stitches! You can see the drawing here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2008/01/illustration-friday-....

Watching the movie again recently, I noticed how reflections and mirrors are used as Johnny sings "My Friends." In that spirit, I made the panels look like broken mirrors. The first row highlights a few key moments in the film since I couldn't decide on a favorite. They are:

- Sweeney singing "My Friends" about his treasured razors (with Mrs. Lovett/Mini checking out her competition).

- An iconic moment in which Sweeney finally feels at home.

- And, Sweeney's determined look out his barber shop window at London and it's unsuspecting citizens--a climactic moment at the end of the scene.

Following those is an excerpt from Sweeney's "Epiphany," which kind of says it all. This story does not have a happy ending. (But it's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Where else did Johnny show up that year?

Johnny participated in three documentaries in 2007, all of which I recommend! They are listed below.

- Brando. This documentary, which original aired on Turner Classic Movies, explores the life of Johnny's mentor and friend Marlon Brando.

- Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten. Learn all about the charismatic lead singer of The Clash. It'll leave you inspired to run out buy his music (or more of it), as I did.

- Runnin' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. If you're not already a fan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, this 4-hour documentary will make you one. You might remember that Johnny appeared in the band's video for "Into the Great Wide Open" in 1993. I mentioned it while celebrating Film #7, Arizona Dream; you can see the video in that blog post here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2011/04/johnny-kitties-celeb....

What's next?

Johnny trades in his razors for guns and goes gangsta in Public Enemies.

For images from Sweeney Todd or information about Johnny Kitties, see my blog post here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2013/09/johnny-kitties-celeb....

I saw the Burning Man exhibit at the Renwick Gallery a couple of months ago. While I've never been interested in attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, the creativity of this celebratory exhibit was inspiring.

I brought the Kitties to show them my favorite pieces – including the giant, colorful, moving mushrooms – but they were only interested in climbing.

Here's more about the Burning Man exhibit, if you want to stop by to check it out: youtu.be/S3knnUHdVfM. It closes at the Renwick Gallery on January 21, 2019.

Coffee n pencils...eyes ,cats

starting the day as slow as possible ;)

(reference photo Kate Mur)

A printable copy: www.etsy.com/listing/980003960/acrylic-pink-art-for-kids-...

"It's preferable not to travel with a dead man." Henri Micheax

Dead Man begins with pulsating images of Johnny Depp riding a train--looking out the window, reading, observing other passengers, sleeping. It's your typical ride through the Old West in the 1800s. But when the train fireman (Crispin Glover) starts speaking to Johnny's character, William Blake--a timid accountant headed from Cleveland, Ohio, to a town called Machine, where he's been promised a job--you realize that everyone's a bit off: "I wouldn't trust no words writ down on no piece of paper, especially from no Dickinson Metalworks out in the town of Machine," he warns him. "You're just as likely to catch your own grave."

Dead Man is hard to describe. I'll let writer/director Jim Jarmusch explain it instead: "Dead Man is the story of a young man's journey, both physically and spiritually, into very unfamiliar terrain. William Blake travels to the extreme western frontiers of America sometime in the second half of the 19th century. Lost and badly wounded, he encounters a very odd, outcast Native American named Nobody, who believes Blake is actually the dead English poet of the same name. The story, with Nobody's help, leads William Blake through situations that are in turn comical and violent. Contrary to his nature, circumstances transform Blake into a hunted outlaw, a killer, a man whose physical existence is slowly slipping away. Thrown into a world that is cruel and chaotic, his eyes are opened to the fragility that defines the realm of the living. It is as though he passes through the surface of a mirror, and emerges into a previously unknown world that exists on the other side."

It's true: Johnny gets fatally wounded early on in the film and spends the rest of the movie slowly dying. It sounds really depressing, I know, but it's actually very entertaining! He meets so many unique characters on his journey who are at once comic and tragic, scary and violent, and always captivating.

--Robert Mitchum, in his final role, plays Mr. Dickinson, founder of Dickinson Metalworks. He hires bounty hunters to find William Blake and, at their first meeting, turns his back on them to address the giant stuffed bear in the corner of his office.

--One of the bounty hunters won't stop talking and sleeps with a teddy bear; another is practically silent, and the third thinks the other two are weirdos.

--William Blake eventually comes across the campsite of fur traders played by Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jared Harris. Admiring his hair and his outfit, they fight over the new stranger.

--William Blake's constant companion is Nobody (Gary Farmer), who leads him on his journey to the other side. A fan of William Blake, the poet, Nobody is always quoting random lines of his poetry--much to the bewilderment of William Blake, the accountant.

All the while, William Blake is going through a transformation. The timid accountant becomes a fearless outlaw, who is increasingly weak physically but stronger spiritually.

"Do you know my poetry?"

I always think of Dead Man as a poem. Maybe it's because Johnny's character has the same name as the 18th century British poet whose writings are used and referenced throughout the film. Or, maybe it's because every time I see Dead Man, I discover something new in i. Whenever I watch it, I marvel at it.

I don't think I always felt this way. When I first saw it, I probably left in a daze contemplating it's strangeness and meaning. But this one grows on you.

Shot in black and white, the cinematography by Robby Muller is beautifully crisp. The graphic starkness of the images is exciting. While the story is set in the 1800s, the film is layered with a fantastic soundtrack of acoustic and electric guitar by Neil Young. Despite these mix-and-match elements, the film's surrealist, atmospheric tone, and the nature of the story, I always feel like I'm there, experiencing it.

My Date with a Dead Man.

It was fate that I was in New York for an internship when Dead Man was released in 1996. I doubted the film would ever become mainstream enough to make it anywhere near my home in Ohio, so I was lucky to be in a big city where I could find it. I found the one little theater showing Dead Man in New York and joined six other people in the audience at a weekend matinee. One of my bosses at the time also saw the movie that weekend, and we gave our reviews to our coworkers Monday morning.

Me: "Oh, I loved it! I thought it was really great!"

Boss, shaking her head with a scowl: "I hated it."

Critics took a similar stance. Some claim that Dead Man is one of the best movies of the '90s, and maybe even the 20th century, while others say there is no worse way to waste your time watching this thing. I guess I'm part of the first group, along with at least my mom and my uncle. Dead Man didn't make any money, and it was really expensive to make it historically accurate regarding Native American culture and the Old West of the 1800s. This movie is noted as providing one of the best representations of Native Americans by a non-Native American filmmaker.

For his role, Johnny skipped sleeping some nights so that he'd look weary and worn on screen. "He really is one of the most precise and focused people I've ever worked with," Jim Jarmusch said. "The whole crew is kind of amazed by that. That's a side of him that I'm not really familiar with--I'm more familiar with him falling asleep on the couch with the TV on all night. In real life, it's sometimes hard for him to decide where to eat or what to do, but as an actor, he's very precise."

As usual, Johnny was excited for the experience of working on this project. "I did Dead Man so I could work with Jim Jarmusch. I trust Jim as a director, and a friend, and a genius." Watching Jim Jarmusch's movies are always an experience too--good or bad. While I haven't seen them all, my other favorite of his films is called Night on Earth. Comprised of vignettes about cab drivers and their passengers, it takes you around the world and introduces you to some interesting people doing interesting things--all during the same evening. (Rent it too and have a double-feature!)

The Kitties are on the journey.

When I first thought of starting Johnny Kitties last year, Dead Man was one of the movies that sparked an immediate idea for an illustration. I was sure I'd draw Johnny's meeting with Robert Mitchum and that I had to get the bear in there. But while Mitchum's role is great, it's more of a cameo appearance, and his scene with Johnny is pretty abrupt. Watching Dead Man again recently, I realized that the real star and scene-stealer in this movie is Gary Farmer as Nobody.

Here, Nobody (Norman) leads William Blake through the forest, on their journey to the spiritual world. In this scene, William Blake doesn't say anything but observes his surroundings. I always imagine he's looking at these gigantic ancient trees that were here before him and will remain here after him. There will always be things out there bigger and wiser than we are.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it's that kind of movie.

Johnny and Jim take a little detour.

At the Cannes Film Festival where Dead Man premiered, Johnny and Jim Jarmush participated in another film called Cannes Man, a satire about a producer, Sy Lerner (Seymour Cassel, who--on a bet with a friend--picks a random guy off the street to promote and cons stars at the festival into signing on for his next project. Forget that there's no script, he tells them. It's going to be written by his latest discovery, Frank Rhino (Francesco Quinn), who he claims is the hottest young writer since Hemingway and Faulkner. Johnny plays it up as the typical Hollywood star with his temperamental director. Surrounded by bodyguards, they share drinks, cigarettes, and a bit of meditation amid the madness.

This film is full of cameos, but I think theirs is the best one. My favorite moment? Frank being instantly chummy with Johnny, putting his arm around him while Sy pitches their possible involvement in the project. (So inappropriate, right???) Johnny eventually acknowledges Frank during the discussion: "Hey, you know what? You're touching me. You're invading my personal space."

What's Next?

Johnny makes a miraculous recovery and goes undercover in Donnie Brasco.

For more images from Dead Man and Johnny Kitties, visit Melissa's Kitties' blog: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com.

Happy birthday, Johnny!

Here's the latest Johnny Kitties tribute....

The one thing I love about this film is there's so much entertainment. It's so much fun – the joy, the ride of it. – Director Rob Marshall

It's so far beyond anything you could have expected because it is. You know all these characters from your youth in a deep way, but when they come to life in this sense, you get to know more about them, and it's even spookier and it's even funnier and it's even weirder. It's a brilliant idea. It's beautifully put together. – Johnny Depp

Go to the Woods!

In this film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical, the fairytale characters that we all know and love come to life and coincide in a new adventure. Cursed by the Witch (Meryl Streep) to remain childless, the Baker (James Corden) and his Wife (Emily Blunt) head into the woods to break her spell by finding four requested items in three days' time: a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. On their journey, they find an indecisive Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), contemplating the prince (Chris Pine) she's met at the ball; Jack (Daniel Huddlestone), to whom they give some magic beans; and Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), who runs into trouble with the sly Wolf (Johnny Depp) on the way to her grandmother's house. The Witch, too, has her own set of problems, including trying to keep her restless daughter Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) safely hidden away in a lonely tower. Directed by Rob Marshall, Into the Woods takes you on a high-spirited, entertaining ride that turns these familiar stories into something modern, fresh, and more relatively realistic. It turns out that happily ever after isn't always how things end.

If at first you don't succeed...

I first saw Into the Woods in Ohio with my parents just after Christmas. It was my dad's idea, but soon after the lights went out, he fell asleep. My mom stayed awake but her first comment after the movie ended was, "That was a little long." I admit, I felt that was true. But maybe it only seemed long because the screen was small and far away from where we sat; everyone around us in this packed little space had noisy colds, kept fidgeting, and walking in and out of the theater; and dad was snoring. It wasn't the best experience, especially when Johnny showed up 20 minutes into the movie and was finished about 5 minutes later.

I waited until Into the Woods came out on DVD to see it again in my apartment, where I gave it my full, undivided attention. That's when I discovered that this movie is actually a really good one.

What's to Love?

The music. I was unfamiliar with Into the Woods before I saw this movie, even though it debuted on Broadway in 1987 and has been popular ever since. While I knew it was a musical, I was still surprised by the amount of singing involved. Everyone sings, and they sing together seamlessly, even when they're their scenes take them to different locations to focus on their own life stories and problems. Sixty musicians recorded the songs in a studio with the cast; the recordings were then blasted on set during the scenes while the cast belted the songs out again, singing along to the recorded versions. The extra layer of coolness here is that what they sang on set while filming was also recorded and, for the final product, both versions were mixed together to make the singing match best with whatever is happening in the scene. "When we need the [studio] recordings, we have them; and when it's live and working, we use that as well," producer Marc Platt explains. "What you get is a seamless marriage of the two, but you get performances that are so brilliant."

These impressive songs are unmistakably Stephen Sondheim's with their fast-paced, clever lyrics and challenging melodies. I loved how they moved the stories along; you really had to listen for that reason. "It's a very lyric-heavy piece, and in those lyrics is the story," Rob Marshall explains. "That's how Stephen Sondheim wrote it. That's how he writes. He writes as if it's a scene. Everything's a scene; it's not a number." Producer John De Luca concurs, "There's relentless intelligence in Stephen Sondheim. The lyrics – every time you listen, you hear something new."

The direction. Rob Marshall is good at directing musicals, and this one doesn't disappoint. "He's very true to his vision of the author's work. His approach is very pure, and he's out there to make something beautiful, affecting, artistic, emotional," Johnny says. Here, he creates a world and puts you in it. The camera takes you into to the action, like when it follows the jerky movements of the Wolf spying on Little Red Riding Hood through the bushes. It sweeps you along with the music, moving like a dancer to Stephen Sondheim's orchestrations.

The movie isn't so long as it is packed with stories. At times when story lines conclude, others begin, which left me wondering how this thing was going to end. Yet, from start to finish, you're never bored because Rob Marshall keeps all the pieces moving in an environment that becomes its own key character. "How the woods sounds and feels, the sonic texture of it, was a vital ingredient in bringing the world alive and making it feel vibrant and specific to the story being told at the time," Marc Platt explains. These woods may be intimidating, but plenty goes on in there to keep us well entertained.

The cast. This all-star cast is impressive. Meryl Streep earned her 19th Oscar nomination for playing the Witch in this movie and it's clear why: she's the best witch out there. In this movie, everyone shines. I particularly liked James Corden and Emily Blunt as a desperate yet determined couple on a mission. Newcomer Lilla Crawford was also fantastic as Little Red Riding Hood.

It must have been difficult for cast members to take such popular characters and make them modern and uniquely their own, but each is fully realized with gusto. "It's visually fun and emotionally satisfying," Meryl Streep says of the film. "But it also has this other thing that is what engages us as artists and makes us want to bring everything we can to it." They all definitely bring it, but no one stands out and above the rest in my eyes (well, Meryl Streep and Johnny aside). As Rob Marshall says, "It's all about the piece and all about the ensemble – everybody working together to create this magic."

The Wolf. While short, Johnny's performance as the Wolf is a memorable one. He sings one song, "Hello, Little Girl," while sneakily eyeing his unassuming prey. Who knew Johnny would ever sing another song on film after Sweeney Todd? "I was very excited to do it," Johnny says of the role. "I was honored and somewhat proud that not only Rob [Marshall] and John [De Luca] wanted me to play the Wolf, but Sondheim again believed in me to play the part and to sing his notes. It's one of those moments that you realize you will never in your life have an opportunity like that again, as an actor or as a musician; it's kind of a joy to approach, even though it's incredibly daunting."

Before the movie came out, I saw Johnny's costume and immediately thought of the Big Bad Wolf character in the classic Tex Avery cartoons I grew up watching, like this one: fan.tcm.com/video/red-hot-riding-hood-1943. It turns out that that's what Johnny was going for: a cool '50s-style wolf in a zoot suit, who could be seen more as a villain than the literal animal. "The idea with the Wolf is that he is the Wolf of Little Red Riding Hood's imagination, so we didn't want to put Johnny in a wolf suit or give him a fur collar," costume designer Colleen Atwood explains. I can really see that cartoon inspiration in Johnny's appearance and performance. He brought that Big Bad Wolf to life, and I love it!

Watch out, Kitties!

Here's Johnny's key scene, becoming acquainted with his next meal (Mini). It's too bad that I couldn't fit my favorite part of this scene in here, when the Wolf sneaks some quick sniffs of the goodies in Red Riding Hood's basket while her gaze is turned, but these lyrics take up a lot of room. Stephen Sondheim's wordy, but in the best way. These lyrics are killer.

What's next?

One of my dreams came true when Ewan McGregor signed on to costar with Johnny in Mortdecai. We'll celebrate this dreamy pairing, among other things, next month on July 9th!

To read this original blog post and see images from the movie, visit Melissa's Kitties blog: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2015/06/johnny-kitties-celeb.... While there, you can find all other Johnny Kitties blog posts and artwork on Melissa's Kitties' new Johnny Kitties page: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/p/johnny-kitties-celebrating.... Enjoy!

"I feel I'm not getting photographed by the paparazzi enough. I figure I'll go and hang out in Venice with Brad and Angelina." - Johnny Depp, joking about why he signed on for The Tourist.

What kind of vacation is this?

When tourist Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp) meets a mysterious woman, Elise (Angelina Jolie), on a train through Italy, a chain of events disrupts his travels. Drawn into a web of secrets, Frank is chased by the mob and Interpol who, assuming he's someone else, want him for different reasons. As he races to clear his name, Elise finds herself falling for Frank, and everything may not be as it appears. Based on the 1996 French thriller, Anthony Zimmer, The Tourist is a light, fun ride through Venice.

Why?

The first thing I heard about The Tourist was that Angelina Jolie was to costar with Johnny. From that moment, I dreaded seeing the movie. I think Angelina Jolie is a good actress, but I'm not on the Brangelina Bandwagon. I get tired of seeing and hearing about their every move (which I realize may be more the media's fault than theirs). I don't quite understand the fascination.

I assumed it was because of the Angelina Factor that I ended up seeing so much about The Tourist despite my efforts to avoid the news. I was only more discouraged by what I read: When my dad surprised me with a gift from the grocery store, a tabloid covered with claims that steamy sex scenes between the stars were slated to be filmed for The Tourist, "Ewwwwww!" was my reflexive reaction. (I read it anyway and kept one of Johnny's photos. Thanks, Dad!) I don't want to see that and luckily we don't! Also, people began comparing The Tourist to Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thrillers, saying it was bound to be amazing because of the first-time pairing of the world's two biggest box office stars. I'm no publicist, but making those kinds of comparisons and grand statements before filming even starts is a recipe for disaster.

Journalists, are you aware that all the articles you wrote that I read leading up to The Tourist's release date had the slant of what it was like when Johnny met Angelina? To be completely fair, why not explore what it was like when Angelina and Johnny met each other? Or, why not write all your articles with me in mind, and find out what it was like when Angelina met Johnny? Let's turn this around to talk about my fascination!

I got over my reservations about The Tourist pretty quickly. If Johnny was up for it, I'd do my best to conquer my Angelina Aversion and see this movie with an objective eye. I looked forward to the story and seeing how the final product came out. The director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, was new to me, and costar Paul Bettany is always reliably good. I was hopeful. Let's go to Venice!

It's all about casting.

The Tourist seemed to get universal bad reviews. My favorite one came from my friend before the movie was even out: "Have you see the previews for Johnny Depp's new movie?" she asked me. "Did you see his hair? I don't think it's going to do well." I hadn't considered his hair, but something about him did seem different to me. I didn't realize what it was until after I saw the movie and read his interviews about it: he gained weight for the role. All this, I assumed, is how he thought his character, a math teacher from Wisconsin, should look, which was fine with me.

Reviewers, however, thought Johnny's performance was dumb, boring, and beneath his talent. Did they not catch that his character is an innocent "average guy" caught in a mystery in a foreign land? "He's definitely an everyman who is approached by this enchantress, this unbelievably beautiful, interesting, cultured vixen, and is taken on the ride of his life," Johnny explains. "Frank leaves the country for the first time, and he goes to Venice. He's had no great highs, he's had no great lows in his life, and he's thrown into this absurd and violent horror show and has to deal with it."

Maybe because I know Johnny never creates boring characters, I assumed when I first saw The Tourist that there were reasons behind Frank's innocent and at times dumbstruck behavior. It's true, I also think Johnny can make drinking a cup of coffee more interesting than most people, but I'm not alone! "There are certain actors who have the ability to play ordinary fascinatingly so that you have this sense of an ordinary man who is trapped in an extraordinary situation," Screenwriter Jullian Fellows says. "That, I think, is what we have in Johnny Depp." Maybe that's why his performance doesn't bother me as much as it does the rest of the world. "Johnny, I think, has always played very unique characters, and I think he always, in pretty much every film he's in, he is likable," Angelina Jolie says. "He's a nice person, and I think that kindness and that fun comes across in anything he does."

Still, for once, I see where the critics are coming from. Even I cringed at certain moments during this movie. When bad guys are shooting at Frank through his hotel room's bathroom door, he yells into the phone to the front desk clerk (who he'd called for help) that he's "gotta go!" And, whenever flustered in his foreign surroundings, Frank attempts to communicate with Italians in Spanish too often. For me, that running joke gets old quickly. And, is the slow motion used toward the end of the movie really necessary? Usually when I watch Johnny's movies, I get so wrapped up in the story and his character that I forget it's him. But these kinds of moments pulled me out of my suspension of disbelief with thoughts that Johnny wouldn't say or do these things.

But I forgive these few goofy moments because one of the greatest things about Johnny is that he will always go for what's funny. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck agrees. "He just has such an incredible sense of humor. Straight from the first meeting that we had, I knew that I had to write a lot of humor into the script because he's just an incredibly funny person. He just really makes everybody laugh." His love for improvisation and great sense of humor made some days long but full of giggles. While filmed, the director couldn't use any of it: "It would have made our film an instant NC-17. All of his improvisations are always completely obscene, but it was very, very funny." I guess we'll see this footage on The Tourist's Criterion Collection Edition, right? Right?

I know, I may have blown my objectivity already, but Angelina Jolie bothered me more than Johnny's corny comedy. I felt that she was miscast in the role of Elise, which has nothing to do with the dread I felt about her being in this movie. Hear me out: The movie opens with Elise walking around and pausing with a Mona Lisa smile. She knows she's being watched. She says nothing for quite a while so I focused on her look. While I loved and wanted most of her wardrobe, Angelina Jolie's makeup and hair made her look so much older than she actually is; she instantly reminded me of Dynasty-era Joan Collins. And, even though she uses a good British accent, I could not forget that I was watching Angelina Jolie. I wish they had picked a lesser-known or unknown actress rather than the most famous one in the world. Angelina Jolie is good as Elise, but the character is too cool, mysterious, and untouchable. Elise seems boring to me, yet everyone who sees her trips over themselves in her presence. Because of the huge gap between Frank's naivete and Elise's uber-sophistication, I didn't see much chemistry. After the movie, I started imagining Scarlett Johanssen or Marion Cotilliard in the role of Elise.

Did you know that there are other interesting people in this movie? As expected, Paul Bettany is great as Inspector John Acheson. But my favorite costar is the real bad guy, mob boss Reginald Shaw, who is wonderfully played by Steven Berkoff (right). In this movie, you also might recognize Timothy Dalton and Rufus Sewell.

You're in Venice; enjoy it!

Despite the complaints I just unloaded, I don't think The Tourist is nearly as bad as everyone said. In fact, watching it again recently for Johnny Kitties, I really liked it, Angelina Jolie and all. The Tourist is a movie you have to be in the mood for because you just have to go with it and enjoy the scenery. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck concurs, "I really hope that, over time, this will be the film that people turn to when they feel low and just want to spend two hours soaring through the beauty that the world has to offer and when they just want to relax for two hours."

The Tourist is only his second movie. His directorial debut was The Lives of Others, an excellent German drama about the secret police's surveillance of artists in East Berlin in 1984. It won a bunch of awards, including an Oscar for best foreign language film in 2007. No wonder critics blasted The Tourist as a sub-par follow up. "I think a lot of people, a lot of critics certainly, misunderstood this film when it came out and somehow thought I was going to make another The Lives of Others and, because it turned out to be The Tourist, it must have fallen short of that ambition," the director says. "One thing that was very important to me in this film was to have ultimate clarity at all times. I wanted this to be the kind of film where you could just lay back and know that you didn't have to think too hard or exert yourself, that you could just be enveloped in this world of clarity and luxury and beauty and, hopefully, some suspense. But I wanted it to feel easy."

When I first saw The Tourist in the theaters, I knew immediately why it was being compared to Alfred Hitchcock's movies. They were aiming to make a glamorous mystery reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Whether they succeeded is debatable, but I saw that spirit in it immediately. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was researching and writing a script about suicide when Angelina Jolie asked him to direct The Tourist. It was a welcome relief from the dark subject he'd been studying: "I was really looking to do something completely different after The Lives of Others, and The Tourist really seemed to fit that bill because it was really all about beauty and humor and glamour," he says. They talked about bringing old Hollywood glamour back with The Tourist. "When he spoke about the importance of just something luxurious in cinema, and something fun, and something exciting for people to watch, like those old classic movies, it seemed like a perfect match," Angelina Jolie says of her initial talks with the director. Producer Graham King adds, "What Florian wanted out of this movie was the elegance of a European movie with two great American movie stars."

I left the theater feeling like I'd been on vacation. People who don't watch as many old movies as I do may have wanted more action and explosions, but there's nothing wrong with this movie's slow pace; it gives you more time to enjoy the Italian scenery. "Florian and I really wanted the film to kind of speak to the beauty of Venice," Production Designer John Hutman says. Venice is another character in The Tourist, and I loved the decadence of it all. "I had the ambition that with every picture that we made here, with every frame, to create a painting," Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck explains. "There's never an excuse in this film not to go for the maximally beautiful. Nothing is easier to create than random ugliness. You can point a camera at anything, but to create beauty, that's really very, very hard."

Despite all the bad reviews, The Tourist was nominated for three Golden Globes - best actor for Johnny, best actress for Angelina Jolie, and even best picture. Johnny won a Teen Choice Award for favorite male action star that year too.

Despite all the water, The Kitties can handle Venice.

How can you not appreciate a movie that has Johnny running in pajamas on the rooftops of Venice? Here, we capture some lovely Italian scenery while Elise (Ashes) recognizes someone she knows...in a precarious situation. (Yes, in the movie, that's really Johnny running across terra-cotta tile rooftops in Venice. He got bloody feet to prove it! My question is where were the safety nets?)

What else did Johnny accomplish in the 2000s?

Johnny is a busy man. Here are a few more highlights from the decade.

2002: In April, Johnny and Vanessa Paradis welcomed a son, Jack! In 2004, Johnny explained to Oprah how different it'd been raising his son compared to his daughter: "My daughter, from the first second, was just a little princess - very delicate, very girlie, and incredibly, you know, soft. My son, almost immediately, would volt himself into walls. He runs around with these plastic pirate swords swatting at everyone."

2004: Johnny partnered with producer Graham King to create a production company called Infinitum Nihil. Over the years, this company has snatched up interesting prospects, like adapting Nick Hornby's Long Way Down and Gregory David Roberts's Shantarum. These films have yet to come to fruition, but in the meantime, Infinitum Nihil has supported several of Johnny's own movies as well as Martin Scorsese's wonderful Oscar-winning film, Hugo. Rent it!

2005: Johnny joined Hollywood royalty, setting his prints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre!

2006: As you might remember from Johnny's participation in The Source in 1999 and other related activities over the years, Johnny's been a lifelong fan of the Beat Generation writers. He contributed to another documentary called The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg. In this DVD re-release of the 1993 film, he shared his memories about the poet, with whom he was good friends.

2009: Returning to his love for good music, Johnny narrated a great documentary for American Masters, The Doors: When You're Strange.

What's Next? Johnny kicks off 2011 as a lizard in a Spaghetti Western cartoon called Rango.

For more images from The Tourist and information about Johnny Kitties, see my original blog post here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2014/01/johnny-kitties-celeb...

www.redbubble.com/people/tranquilwaters/works/21562564-sl...

‘Slumber’ is an original enso fine art drawing.

In Zen Buddhism, an enso is a circle that is hand-drawn in minimal brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create.

Enso symbolizes enlightenment, strength and elegance…..attributes that much embody the spirit of a cat. I have created my own unique version of enso inspired by the majestic beauty and zen qualities of the fabulous feline.

The original is drawn on desert sand colored paper with prisma pencils.

I dedicate this drawing to dreaming.

Note: For information about Johnny Kitties: The Johnny Depp Project, please see my introductory blog post about it here: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2010/06/johnnys-kitties-john...

Fox’s weekly hour-long drama, 21 Jump Street followed undercover cops who posed as students in high schools to investigate crimes. Creators Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh based the show on a real program in Los Angeles.

Filmed in Vancouver, 21 Jump Street became the first big hit for Fox, a network fighting for an identity among the major networks. I didn’t watch the show from its start, so when the series became available on DVDs in 2004, I was first in line to buy them.

The Cast

The 2-hour pilot introduces officers Judy Hoffs (Holly Robinson), Harry Ioki (Dustin Nguyen), Doug Penhall (Peter Deluise) and Tom Hanson (Johnny Depp) and Captain Richard Jenko (Frederic Forrest).

The cast also includes one of Johnny’s childhood friends, Sal Jenco as maintenance engineer (as he called his position) Sal “The Blowfish” Balducci. Sal is prominent in several episodes—mainly for comic relief—and you’ve got to appreciate that! [Trivia Alert: Sal appears in two of Johnny's later movies, Arizona Dream and Donnie Brasco. Johnny also mentioned his name in Dead Man.]

The Pilot

In the series pilot, Tom Hanson is a recent police academy graduate, whose green behavior and baby face land him in trouble at his precinct. They reassign him to the Jump Street Program, where his young looks can work to his advantage in local schools.

Hanson reports to work, located in an abandoned chapel, dressed in full uniform and bogged down by procedure. He initially clashes with everyone, especially Captain Jenko. Captain Jenko, head of the Jump Street Program, acted like a hippie trapped in the ‘60s. Frederic Forrest, who played him, was a big draw for the cast. Assuming that the series would not last more than a year, Johnny took the role of Hanson for the chance to work with him.

Like A Nightmare on Elm Street, someone else was originally cast in Johnny's role. Can you imagine??? Jeff Yagher filmed for the first few weeks before the producers realized that things weren't working with the character. They went back to the audition tapes and called Johnny. He reshot the scenes and everything was a go!

To see more photos from 21 Jump Street, Season 1, visit Melissa's Kitties at melissaconnolly.blogspot.com

Who doesn't want this job?

Looking for an heir to his chocolate empire, reclusive chocolatier extraordinaire Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) opens the gates of his factory to five children who have won Golden Tickets for a tour. As they get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Wonka's twisted world, he weeds them out and finds the winner. But does the winner want the prize? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is Tim Burton's take on Roald Dahl's classic book.

How dare they?

The generations who grew up watching Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory couldn't imagine another version. When I read the news that Tim Burton was "remaking" it with Johnny as the chocolatier, I was simultaneously ridiculously excited to see it and worried about the inevitable impending fury awaiting them from loyal fans of the original. I wasn't alone: "As soon as I said that I was in, I knew there were going to be great risks involved because we could very easily blow it," Johnny says. "But again, that's very exciting for an actor. It's a challenge. It's a very loved character, both from the book and Gene Wilder's brilliant performance from that earlier film. So, I knew that the risk was that I had to take it from somewhere far way from the area that Gene Wilder had stomped. There's a twisted, perverted kind of side to the character, and so I ran in the direction that seemed right to me."

Pretty quickly, everyone involved in the film clarified what they were doing: This movie is not a remake; their focus is to stay true to the book. To help with the distinction, the two films even have different titles. While I grew up watching and loving the Gene Wilder classic (and still do), I always think of this one as separate and different. This one is a Tim Burton movie, and Tim Burton movies are unmistakably Tim Burton movies. I knew it couldn't go near anything like Gene Wilder's Wonkavision. Tim Burton even had the Dahl family's blessing, with Felicity Dahl serving as one of the executive producers. Everything would be okay.

Really, what's the difference?

"We just decided, when I got involved with it, to just go back to the basics and try to be as true to the book as we could be," Tim Burton says. Screenwriter John August can attest that Johnny was in on this plan too: "When I sat down with Johnny to talk about the character and as we were looking through the last three of four dialogue changes, what I loved is that he pulled out his Roald Dahl book and wanted to go through and add in a few extra lines from Dahl's original book." Dramatizing the book did call for some deviations, but it all seems to work. "Even with the things we added, we tried to at least channel the spirit of Roald Dahl," Tim Burton says.

The film spends more time exploring who Willy Wonka is: How did he become a chocolate magnate? Why did he close his factory for 20 years? Why does he need an heir? Once all those questions were answered, they added some closure to all his issues at the end. (Willy Wonka has some serious issues!)

I recently read a fan's take on the two films, observing that the Gene Wilder version focuses more on a child's innocent love for candy while Johnny's version shows the greedy side. I'd agree with that.

Willy Wonka is weird.

Johnny's Willy Wonka didn't sit well with most critics who said he'd gone too far in the weirdo direction. I admit there are moments in this movie when I've agreed, but I blame the reviewers who contaminated my first impression. Once I heard what other people thought of it, I couldn't get those ideas out of my head. So, I won't repeat them here. (This is why you should never read reviews before seeing things for yourself.)

Despite the critics, this film did really well at the box office and is popular among a new generation of fans. These days, it's on TV just as often as Gene Wilder's version, and as I've watched it over the years, Johnny's Willy Wonka has really grown on me. He's supposed to be eccentric, bizarre, and questionable. Who pulls that off any better than Johnny? I admire his subtle moments amid the gam-show atmosphere in which, with a quick look or move, Johnny makes you wonder if you should feel sorry for Willy Wonka or call the police about him. As Felicity Dahl says of Johnny, "he just has that twist, that humor, that wickedness, that naughtiness, that delight that Wonka should have."

Johnny's first inspiration for Willy Wonka was a local children's television show host, "a guy who certainly puts on a face every day." Tim Burton explains further, "You don't question it as a kid, but as you got older, you kind of go, 'That guy was really wierd!' So, we sort of got into that kind of thinking about those kinds of people that stay in your subconscious somehow."

Being a recluse for 20 years with only Oompa Loompas for company, Johnny figured that Willy Wonka is stuck in an era of the past, makes old references from that time, and doesn't know how to relate to people anymore, least of all children. This guy didn't get out in the sun, which is why he's so pale, and he has that awful haircut. (I think that haircut disturbs me more than anything else.)

As a result, at times, Johnny's laugh-out-loud funny in this movie, especially when interacting with his guests. "I always like working with Johnny because he's an actor who likes to try different things all the time, and that excites me," Tim Burton says. "And, each time I work with him, it gets better." Co-star David Kelly, who plays Grandpa Joe, agrees, "Watching Johnny, you can't see the wheels going round. You keep saying to yourself, 'how is he doing that?' I don't know!"

Welcome to the factory.

Aside from Johnny, the two other best things about this movie are the supporting cast and the production design.

The Costars

Everyone is fantastic in their roles, including Helena Bonham Carter and Noah Taylor as Charlie's parents, David Kelly as Grandpa Joe, the three other grandparents (Eileen Essell, Mrs. Snow in Finding Neverland, among them), and all the other winners' parents. I can't imagine anyone else playing them.

The Oompa Loompas are all played by the same person, Deep Roy, who I think got the hardest job of all. Every shot of an Oompa Loompa doing something new--dancing, playing an instrument, making a face--is all him. They used a combination of animatronics and computer graphics to multiply his work in the musical numbers. For one scene, they may have shot him in various spots doing different things 60 times and then compiled everything together into one. His days must have been long.

The biggest surprise was the amazing kids: Philip Wiegratz as Augustus Gloop, AnnaSophia Robb as Violet Beauregarde, Julia Winter as Veruca Salt, Jordan Frye as Mike Teavee, and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Buckett. "I was lucky," Tim Burton says of casting them. "I think, most of the time, when the right one walked in, I just sort of knew it." You may remember that Freddie Highmore did brilliant work with Johnny in Finding Neverland. Reunited here, he fits right in: "Not only did he look the part, but you could just tell he's an amazing person and has got a real gravity to him, a simple but very deep emotional depth," Tim Burton says. "There was just no question about it!" But more impressive is that some of the kids had little or no experience in movies. Can you imagine your first movie being this one? There's a Golden Ticket prize for you! "They're just an incredibly varied bunch of kids, and they're just great fun to be around and great company," Adam Godley, who plays Mike Teavee's dad, says. "They keep us all in tune with what this whole project is really about and who it's really for."

Willy Wonka's World

I love that Tim Burton goes old school: As much as possible, he had real sets built so the actors could really get a feel for it. "Willy Wonka--It's kind of all about texture," he explains. "It was important for us to build the sets, make a real chocolate river, make a real chocolate waterfall....To have as many real things for them to react to, I think, was really important. If you're in one of those green screen rooms for too long, you know, you start to go kind of nuts after a while."

The rooms in the factory are a treat for the senses; each is unique with its own character. As Johnny describes it, "the factory itself is like walking through Wonka's brain--complicated, strange, fun, disturbing, outrageous." Only on a Tim Burton movie would you have Squirrel Training Camp for a scene in the Nut Room. Again, they used a combination of animatronics and computer graphics. For this scene, they created a room full of 200 busy squirrels on the job, 40 of which are real, very talented nutcrackers.

The Chocolate Room is the stunner, where edible delights abound! Johnny remembers visiting Pinewoods Studio early on in production and seeing the production designer practicing chemistry in a bucket to concoct the perfect chocolaty mixture. "I came back a couple months later, and the bucket had turned into huge vats. There were millions of liters of this chocolate flowing!" It took them 5 days to fill the studio with it. Seeing the final result, Felicity Dahl approves: "When I went to Pinewood and saw the whole of the Pinewood lot covered in Wonka, I knew if Roald had seen that, he would have just said, 'This is what I had in my mind.'"

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was nominated for an Oscar for costume design. While it didn't win that, it was nominated for a bunch of other awards and won a couple for favorite family film. Freddie Highmore won a best actor award from the Broadcast Film Critics. And, despite his controversial performance, Johnny earned a couple of acting awards too. Was there ever any doubt?

The Kitties are all about the candy.

On February 1, Willy Wonka opened his factory gates to five children and their parents for a tour. With the Oompa Loompas (Simon) always on the job, Willy Wonka whittles down his choices to find the perfect heir to his fortune. Greedy Agustus Gloop (Norman) gets sucked out of The Chocolate Room. Competitive Violet Beauregarde (Mini) balloons into a blueberry. Squirrels toss spoiled Veruca Salt (Lily) down the garbage shoot, and cheater (or "Mumbler!") Mike Teavee (B.J.) shrinks down to size after he breaks some rules. In the end, both Charlie (Comet), who inherits the candy-making business, and Willy Wonka, who is warmly welcomed into Charlie's family, are the lucky winners!

What's Next?

Johnny gets animated and accidentally married in Tim Burton's Corpse Bride!

To see more images from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and learn more about Johnny Kitties, visit my blog: melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2013/05/johnny-kitties-celeb....

What is Johnny Kitties? See Johnny Kitties: Celebrating Johnny Depp for all the details. Visit the Johnny Kitties page for a full list of Johnny Depp's filmography and links to all previous Johnny Kitties blog posts.]

I really only wanted Johnny Depp for this role. I know there was a version of Russ Poole in someone else's hands that was just potentially boring, and uninteresting – and I knew in Johnny's hands, that would never be the case. – Director Brad Furman

This is the guy you want on the case.

Based on true events, City of Lies presents the intricate unsolved mystery around the murder of rapper Christopher Wallace – better known as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls – who was gunned down at a stop light after leaving an event in Las Vegas in 1997, just months after the similar death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Based on the nonfiction book LAbyrinth by Randall Sullivan, this film follows Detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp) as he seeks and becomes obsessed with the truth – at the cost of his family, health and faith in the Los Angeles Police Department.

Why is everyone shooting each other?

City of Lies was a surprise release in 2021 that I found out about from Johnny himself when he publicized it on his Instagram account. (I could get used to this.) The movie was actually ready in 2018 but shelved days before it was supposed to be released. There are many theories why, but none provide a definitive explanation, so I will just take this sudden treat and forget about the drama around it.

This is a fast-paced, intense movie that presents plenty of theories of its own about the murder of Biggie Smalls. Detective Russell Poole was hot on the trail but hit roadblock after roadblock as he discovered involvement and cover-up activities by several of his fellow police officers in the Los Angeles Police Department. He became so obsessed with cracking the case that he studied it for more than 20 years, until his death in 2019.

The film was originally called LAbyrinth, after the book on which it's based, because that's what this investigation became. There are so many people involved, it took me a few viewings to track who they all were and why and how they took part. (I'm not sure I fully get it yet, but it doesn't matter.)

To help us along, Forest Whitaker plays an invented character, Darius "Jack" Jackson, a journalist who reported wrongly on the murder when it happened and is now trying to correct his past mistakes. He seeks out Detective Poole, hoping to figure things out together. "Jackson is a made-up character, but he's the kind of made-up character that's necessary because Poole's going through something very serious and very intense, and he's got no one to turn to," Johnny says.

This is not a spoiler: The murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur remain unsolved. Despite the subject matter being more than 20 years old, the topic is extremely relevant today. Director Brad Furman hopes City of Lies will peak enough curiosity to keep the investigation going.

Was this one worth the wait?

Of course, my answer is yes!

City of Lies is like a mix of documentary and film noir styles. Director Brad Furman strove to give it a more realistic feel, and I think he succeeds. It starts off with a bang, literally – a case of seemingly unrelated L.A. road rage – and doesn't let up. It's dark, gritty and uses footage of actual news reports and interviews about Christopher Wallace's murder. In fact, his mother Voletta participated in one of the movie's scenes. The director read LAbrynth years ago and wanted to make the movie but wouldn't do so without the approval of both Wallace and Shakur families. He got it. And, with the untimely death of Russell Poole before production began, everyone involved with this film was committed to getting the message and story right for the real families involved. They still seek resolution and peace.

I was also really excited about Johnny and Forest Whitaker working together in City of Lies, so many years after their first movie together, Platoon. Apparently, they were keen about this chance, 32 years later! Most of their scenes were tense, argumentative and confrontational, as they pushed each throughout the investigation. "For me, Jackson is the alter ego of Poole, but mostly the pessimistic side. Mostly, Poole is facing a side of him that he is not and refuses to be, and Jackson is looking at a version of himself that he could never be," Johnny says. "He doesn't have that purity, that belief that you can make a difference – one man."

These two actors also work differently, as the director explains, "Forest had a lot of questions and wanted a lot of things from me that Johnny just wasn't asking. They have very different approaches and my hope and goal was that that would create some time of energy on screen that would be exciting for us to watch." The rest of the cast is full of fantastic character actors, who matched their energy and created a fitting murky, volatile atmosphere for them. Two standouts for me are Glen Plummer as Psycho Mike and Rockmond Dunbar as Dreadlocks. (They both have good hair.)

These days (and, really, always), I love seeing Johnny work without any accent or elaborate costume or disguise. It's in these kinds of roles that his talent as an actor really comes through clearly. Writer Randall Sullivan knows what I'm talking about: "When I watched the film, it really struck me more than it ever has that film actors have to be masters of such subtle expression. I mean, a lot of acting is done with the eyes. Johnny was really able to convey a lot of deep emotion that brought Russ back to me with a pretty stoic – apparently stoic – demeanor."

Here, Johnny plays an average, good guy whose work has taken over his life. I can see why he connected to this role of someone who will go to extremes to get to the truth. As the director explains, "I felt, in getting to know Johnny, there was a real innocence...He's a big believer in just truth and justice, simplicity. And, when you take all that, and you understand that he looks at it through this innocent lens, I felt that the role of Russell Poole fit just like a glove...I believe Johnny felt a real deep connection to the material and his fight for truth and justice. That was something we talked a lot about on Day 1."

True to form, Johnny did exhaustive research and met with the director for hours that day, during which they connected on everything from the book and character to life and music, in general. As usual, he added his own personal touches to this project, including friends Joe Perry on the soundtrack and activist Killer Mike in a scene.

Russell Poole steadfastly believed in the Homicide Investigator's Creed, which he taped to his desk: "No greater honor will ever be bestowed on an officer than when he is entrusted with the investigation of the death of a human being. It is his duty to find the facts regardless of color and creed." After being shut out by his fellow officers during the investigation, he quit weeks before his retirement, but continued the work on his own. He lost his family over his obsession with the truth and worked at it until the day he died. "It's shocking that the truth can actually be buried if a couple of powerful institutions want to collaborate to do it, but it leaves the people who know the truth in an unbearable situation because they can't unknow that truth," Writer Randall Sullivan says. "To live with the fact that it's being buried, in Russel Poole's case, it just sort of killed him day by day."

The Kitties are on the case now.

In this movie, I loved watching Forest Whitaker and Johnny in their tense scenes and how thoroughly Russell Poole worked to put the pieces together to solve his case. Here, our Kitties, Walter and Gordon, depict one of their fights, an argument that questions Detective Poole's integrity. That's not the right thing to question because you can see how his apartment was consumed by his work, everywhere you look. He was connecting the dots all over the walls.

What's next?

I'm still waiting to see Johnny as war photographer W. Eugene Smith in Minamata, which was supposed to be released last February 5 but wasn't. Is this some strange new Hollywood publicity tactic? It's okay. I'm game for another surprise movie treat. Minamata won't be any happier than City of Lies, but I'll be happy to see it whenever it shows up. Stay tuned....

Pencil, mixed media . My senior cat Lyric feeling quite conspicious , while viewing his first snowfall . He was 5 months old at the time. This is all done in pencil, but I colored in the eye and colar just for fun. Lyric turns 10 Nov. 08