Tuesday, March 25, 2008

GOOD MORNING CROWN POINT!

Crown Point Weather - Tuesday - Windy. Considerable cloudiness. Highs in the lower 50s. Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph at times until late afternoon becoming west and decreasing to 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph at times late in the afternoon.
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Well - I am certainly disappointed. You see for 24 hours I thought John Michael Bolger was the great nephew of Ray Bolger who play the scarecrow. However - it is not to be! Different people.

So - there goes THAT little tidbit of information down the Truthiness toilet.
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We have news from Crown Point - this comes from Bryon and his first hand report, augmented with photos from NaSkAr's Flickr site.
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Ok, here is the scoop on Crown Point day one.

I am a Crown Point native so it was really exciting to have everyone here. I arrived the first time at 5:30 in the morning because I heard rumor that they were to begin filming at 6. This turned out to be inaccurate. That is the time they asked the extras to show up. We watched as semis came and went and saw various wardrobes being brought inside. Luckily there was a mother of one of the extras standing next to us and her son was texting her from the inside.

He was cast as one of the inmates. He said there was about 15 inmates, about 15 reporters, and about 10 police officers. I left around 7 am because of the cold and came back later in the day. They had laid down the fake cobblestone out front and kept asking everyone to be quite while they were shooting inside. So we did not see any actual filming taking place. Although the extras came out for smoke breaks from time to time.

Lili Taylor, who is playing the Crown Point Sheriff, came and went several times. Johnny Depp and Christian Bale (note - I believe this is the first siting of Mr. Bale) came out once but pretty much walked right inside and ended up sneaking out the back door at the end of the day.

Everyone was pretty upset they didn't even come out and wave. Michael Mann ended up coming out onto the porch and talked for about 5 minutes to various crew members before hoping into a white range rover. I have several pictures of him. He was nice enough to wave to everyone. The shoot wrapped for the day around 5:30 pm. No one is really sure how long filming is going to take place, some say today is the last day, some say they are filming tomorrow. We will see.
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Here is another first persons account - this one comes from Johnny Depp Reads Forum - any JD fans MUST go to this forum. Thanks cpgal. You can see this thread on THIS link. Photo by Jon L. Hendricks of The Times nwi.com

Just got back from the first day of shooting in C.P., and OH MY GOSH, He shook my hand!!!!!!!

First of all, we were there most of the day, Johnny came on the set via the black Expedition. He rolled down the window to waved and when he got out of the truck the first time, he clasped his hands together and bowed to the crowd. He waved and then went into the jail. When he came out, he always waved at the fans and rolled down the window and waved as they drove him to his trailer in a bowling alley parking lot located behind the jail.

Lily was there and Christian Bale was said to be shooting a scene, but we never did see him. Well at about 7 pm, they wrapped up the set and Johnny slipped down the alley and back to his trailer. Michael Mann left via a white Range Rover, but Johnny was not around. I thought at first he was gone. I kept thinking to myself that it was odd for him not to acknowledge the fans. So since we were freezing we went back to the car and were going to leave.

My daughter and her friend talked us into staying so here is where the story gets funny, at least to me. We took a chance and went down the street between the barricades that stated the road was closed. I actually shut my lights off and we literally parked where the snow making truck had previously been parked! Nobody was bothered by us so we just sat for a minute when my goofy sister decided to climb on the roof of the van to see if she could see anything, about 3 minutes after, a man got out of another black expedition(there were three) and had a megaphone stating that Johnny would be greeting the crowd but no autographs or hand shaking.

Well at that time, we ran over to our old spot-which of course was occupied by one of the hundred of people still there. He started at one end and shook anybody and everybodys hand that was there!!! He was so close to us, he wasn't reaching, but literally right next to the fence!!! As he was approching my spot, there were a couple of teens infront and a bunch of people screaming JOHNNY, so I just yelled MR. DEPP, MR. DEPP and he acutally looked me in the eye and shook my hand!!!!!!!!

All I could think of saying was "Thank you for coming to our town" He smiled at everyone and really looked at you!!!! In million years, I could have never thought this would have happened. He went down the line and there were hundreds of people there, but do you know that I did not see anyone get over aggressive. Rumor has it, that he is staying at a hotel in Merrillville, the next town over. I do have pictures, if some one can tell me how to post I will, as he was approaching me I only got his profile, but I have some of him when he arrived earlier today. I am still so excited and my husband thinks I'm nuts, but all I have to say is don't hate-congratulate!! I am hoping to go again tomorrow. By the way, the cobblestone street is actually long pieces of carpet that look like cobble stone- I guess tomorrow they will be shooting outside-we will see!!!!!

LOOK - IT'S DENNIS LEARY!!!
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I think we will be seeing more and more "new" actors turning up as we get deeper into the movie. It looks to me that they are now starting to ramp up the stars.
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Giving credit where credit is do. It seems the above photo of JD was altered by someone. Here is the REAL photo from missbarrierouxsparro from her flikr. This came from Darlington.


NEWS from Oshkosh - Oshkosh - 2nd week of April and last several days. Mainly around Main Street and Algoma. The First Nat'l Bank will have a shoot out.

The Movie - I think we can get 5 to 10 classic autos to attend and park in front of the theater for the Columbus Movie Party.
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And now I must regress into random bits of innuendo, rumors, half truths and down right Truthiness.

The movie The Kingdom is still in my head. It's odd how you can watch a movie and think it was good but then days later you are still thinking of it and wishing you could watch it again.

The new Indiana Jones is coming out this summer. I think I'm the only human that saw the trailer and yawned. Yea - I'm excited . . no I'm not . . why is that, everyone else is. It just seemed like the same old scenes I saw before. I love Indiana Jones but . . . . been there, done that.

Today in the USA Today George Lucas is trying to down play the movie and HIS title is "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:Don't Get your Hopes Up."

Maybe I'm not the ONLY one!
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY!

In 1932 Tarzan open starring Johnny Weismuller

In 1955 The Blackboard Jungle opened. This movie associated youth violence and anarchy with rock and roll, a link that would become a underlying theme in the genre. The movie's theme song, "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and the Comets, became a top seller.

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Did I mention the woman who was pouring a bowl of Corn Flakes and a flake that looked VAGUELY like Illinois appeared. She saved it and sold it on ebay for $1300.

And I'm not even going to mention what happened to the Cheeto that looked like Jesus, who the congregation named Cheesus!

I am pouring out my bran flakes praying for a Wisconsin flake - I'LL BE RICH!!!
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GOT Columbus PHOTOS - go here - get them in a book I'm TRYING to create

Rod


29 comments:

  1. That is so funny.. they were just talking about Cheesus on the radio!

    I better buy a lottery ticket because the odds of hearing about Cheesus twice in 5 minutes is very slim :)

    Have a great day everyone and those in Crown Point HAVE FUN!!!

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  2. Loved the Crown Point account! Isn't Mister Depp wonderful to his fans? Lucky you! You'll always remember last night! :) I just love his humble hands-together, half-bow gesture. He's so very warm to his loyal fans. Wunnerful, wunnerful..... I'm tingly!

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  3. Thanks Rod for yet again keeping us up to date on the filming and making me smile in the morning!

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  4. Notice I put a new thingy on the right side with filming dates - if you hear/see anything new - I'm all ears!

    Sort or quite around here today.

    We're in Public Enedrawl.

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  5. Does anyone know what they are coming back to Columbus to tape? One of the security guards told me on Thursday that JD would be back in 2 weeks, but gave no details.

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  6. Thanks for the johnnydeppreads plug today! AND here's casting info for Aurora. Note the date change, they had been saying Arpil 6 & 7, not those scheduling rascals are saying April 5 & 6... Here's the link to the info.
    http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/entertainment/859629,AU25_DEPP_WEB.article

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  8. Christian Bale must be a total snob if didn't even come out to at least say hi. What a jerk!He must really be pretentious :-/!

    At least Johnny Depp is nice to his fans.

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  9. Yes, I am going through withdrawal. Watched Pirates III and Who's Eating Gilbert Grape to get my JD fix.

    I can't wait to see PE!

    Maybe we should all dress in period costume for the Madison premiere of PE.

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  10. Speaking of Johnny movies, I just saw Secret Window for the first time on Sunday, and had to watch it again last night. Very...interesting!

    So we're getting more actors on site, more info...is there anything *YET* about Rory??

    And who here among the Rod Regulars plans to be in Oshkosh? I'm hoping to be there.

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  11. According to cpgal on JDReads, filming was inside again today and she only had pics of Johnny walking from his trailer and a wave. Escape scene to film tomorrow AM according to her post. I'm not sure about other actors showing up today. Two newspapers have a couple of nice gallery slideshows of the scene in CPoint from spectators to extras, to Johnny Depp. Here's a couple of links:

    http://www.nwi.com/story_tools/player/?type=slideshow&id=49

    Pic of Lili Taylor(Sheriff Holley) in this set:
    http://www.post-trib.com/-1,DEPPGALLERY0324.photogallery?index=0

    cpgal pics from 3/25:
    http://johnnydeppreads.com/index.php?showtopic=5260&hl=

    Thanks for posting her account on your blog Rod

    I'm sorry, but I have to agree about the new IJones film--I'm sure it will do well because of the new young actor, but I'll wait for the DVD.....

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  12. I'm hoping to make it to Oshkosh at some point but it is dependant on the dates. This week has been so boring without filming time :)

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  13. i live very close to crowne point. are they doing anymore shooting this week? I also heard that christian bale will be back next week to shoot. is that correct?

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  14. anonymous-did you see Rod's shooting schedule to the right of his blog post today--that gives you a general idea of the shooting schedule. From someone there today and some news reports, filming should still be in CP at least 1/2 day on Wednesday. I hadn't heard about Bale returning next week. Remember that dates are "fluid" and may change due to various circumstances...

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  15. Sounds like I will be in Hawaii during filming in Oshkosh....I hope everyone keeps me up to date!!:)

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  16. I wrote Christian Bale on the set of The Dark Knight in Chicago this past summer. He took the time to write back, and I have heard he is very good with this fans.

    ANON @ 1:55 PM is correct. They said they would be back in Columbus in two weeks last Thursday.

    -Jess
    WisLISjobs.com

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  17. Hey 'ty'....Hawaii! So you can go to the Lost set and get lots of pics there for me?? hehe

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  18. TY - sucks to be you. If you need to sell your tickets you can contact me!

    BTW - if anyone wants to read about our Island Adventure on St. John (around where JD filmed a Pirate movie??)

    Pretty photos!!

    http://djgrinderstjohn.blogspot.com/

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  19. hey rod!! i checked out your st. john's trip the other day, and infact commented! my husband and i are leaving on sunday to cruise the caribbean ~ distinations - aruba, curacao, st. maartin, st. thomas.

    looking forward to the time away, but i too will miss out on the filming and that week of PE updates since i will be without my laptop.:(

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  20. Hey, I was in CP today 3/26from about 1 in the afternoon to 11:30 at night. I have lots to tell, but I'm still to shakin/tired to state it coherently. I will say this, the reports of Johnny Depp being the most amiable, gracious, and kind-to-his-fans actor are true. He shook everyone's hand who could get it in reach tonight. Took time and said hi to everyone, and he does look you straight in the eye and is very sincere. He wasn't going to sign autographs, but took time to talk to and sign autographs with quite a few smaller kids I was around. It was a great, great experience. I'm going back tomorrow for more! Oh, and it was hot today and then got freezing this evening. I have a sunburn! Amazing day, I will send some photos and a more detailed experience when I stop shaking.

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  21. Does anyone know locations in Chicago other than Aurora? And is it strange to shoot on a weekend? Love reading all the info about PE!

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  22. Hey Jess -

    Thanks for the Bale info. I have a friend that is really hoping to get to see him around WI as she is a big fan. I hope she is able to see Mr Bale like I got to see Johnny!

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  23. Oh i got "lost" last year when I was there! Went to the beach where they film...where the keep the wreckage of the plane...where the others camp is...and i snagged a piece of oceanic flight 815:) and none of that will mean anything to anyone who doesn't watch lost:) Also went to robins nest from magnum PI!:)
    Here are some pics...
    magnums house ( sorry about all the other random photos...)
    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1171&id=503487595&op=72

    Lost pictures...go to second page
    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1174&l=78543&id=503487595
    Ok back to public enemies...not sure Bale would have been in CP. Not sure if his character would have been around CP but I do not know. Thanks to people for the updates from CP...its fun to sit back and hear and see it all!

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  24. Has anyone written the stars in care of the Wisconsin Film Office?

    When I wrote Christian Bale, I wrote him in care of the Chicago Film Office, as I could not locate the set address in Wisconsin. Christian Bale was the only actor who responded...

    -Jess
    WisLISjobs.com

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  25. oops...set address in Chicago. My bad.

    -Jess
    WisLISjobs.com

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  26. Hey Jess -

    Can you pass that address along for me to give to my friend... maybe she can send out some love to Christian Bale that way as he seems ellusive as of yet :) My email is raetherese@gmail.com

    Thanks girl!

    Rachel

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  27. are they in crowne point on thursday or friday?

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  28. I've read that they will move into the Chicago area, late in the day, for an overnight shoot. So to speak. LOL

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