Smokers Scoop and Parenthood SCHEDULED!!!!
June 29, 2001
Smokers Scoop: Take a look at the DVD cover (above) for the soon to be released in the UK on DVD (region 2)"The Smokers", Thora's "tribute to Brad Pitt as Floyd in True Romance", as she says. Thora only worked 2 days in the film (which explains her SHORT screen time) and did the part for fun.
On other news, the short-lived tv show Parenthood (based on the Steve Martin film), in which Thora played Taylor, will actually be re-ran on the WB11 (WPIX) in New York!!! It is still uncertain whether it will only be one episode, a marathon or whether the show will be aired from start to finish in an ordinary schedule, but when more news on this come by, I will surely let you know. The starting date for the show is Saturday July 28 at 1:00 pm eastern time on the WB11 (WPIX) in New York (the WB11 is a New York channel, like KTLA 5 or WGN but in New York). Info from tv-now.com . Be sure to catch the show if you can because it is not usually on, in fact it is rare that it is being shown mainly because it is old and wasn't very succesful when it originally aired, which led to the show being cancelled, still, it promises a VERY CUTE Thora performance, check out the gallery and you will see what I mean. I hope Day By Day is scheduled soon too, Thora looks so cute! :)
Hole US release date hint, SIFF photos are in and other image updates including the Mint Jubilee event!
June 28, 2001
Well, let's start with the first. The Hole book by Guy Burt (who wrote it at age 14!!!) in which the film was based on is scheduled for release on October 2001 and it's now available to pre-order at the Thora Store , so go pre-order it now!!!!
Anyways, since the book is scheduled for October this year, perhaps that's a hint saying the movie will also be released near the release date of the book in the US, I mean, it sort of makes sense, doesn't it? I hope it IS a hint, I HOPE. Meanwhile, the UK release of the The Hole DVD seems far, up until now it is not even scheduled for a December 2001 release date as research tells me, Nick Hamm's "Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (The Very Thought Of You)" was released like 7 months after the theatrical release but up until now, The Hole is not scheduled, too bad :(
On other news, the Seattle International Film Festival images are in!!!!!! Unfortunately, we would have to pay $10.00 dollars per image to post them at the site and we don't have that much money (there are lots of images) so we can only offer a link to the images.
Click here to watch the images of Thora at the Seattle International Film Festival Cruise
Click here to watch the images of Thora at the Seattle International Film Festival Ghost World Party at Sazerac
On event news, thora.org reported that Thora recently attended the Cats and Dogs premiere with her brother Bolt in Los Angeles and the Vespa Fashion Extravaganza in Hollywood.
Finally, there is a NEW GALLERY!!!! Yes, the "Mark Twarog" Gallery featuring miscellaneous images of Thora including an image of Thora at the Mint Jubilee event!!!!
Visit the Mark Twarog Gallery for the 6 NEW images!!!!!
Thora triumphs, Smokers Scoop, Thora at the Kentucky Derby and more....
June 22, 2001
First of all I'd like to apologise for the lack of updates in the past week but I was in exams week so I really didn't have time to update, but no worries, we're back!!!! :)
First of all, I am VERY HAPPY to tell you (as reported by thora.org ) that Thora WON BEST ACTRESS at the Seattle International Film Festival for her work on Ghost World!!!!!! She beat the following actresses: Gong Li, Leelee Sobieski, Judy Davis and Charlotte Rampling and as thora.org reports, "Over 70,000 votes were cast to select Thora from a large field of respected nominees. Co-star Steve Buscemi was first runner-up in the Best Actor category and Ghost World won 3rd place in the overall voting." That's VERY GOOD NEWS!!!!! Congratulations Thora!!!!
Now, on Smokers scoop: The film is actually available for PRE-ORDER at amazon.co.uk NOW!!!! The film's release in DVD and Video in the UK is July 23, and the DVD includes the following special features:
Photo Gallery
Trailer
Animated Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Unfortunately Thora is not much in the film as we reported in previous updates. Also, please HAVE IN MIND BEFORE PRE-ORDERING that the DVD will only play in Region 2 DVD players or Multi-region DVD players since it has a region 2 encoding (for the UK). The film's confirmed rating in the UK is 18 and the following summary for the film was found on another UK online retail store:
Jefferson, Karen and Lisa are a trio of seventeen year old girls surviving teenage life in the straight-laced world of a middle American boarding school. Fuelled by rampaging teenage hormones, their search for sex usually ends in humiliation and disappointment. Angry and frustrated at how they are treated by men, the girls embark on a quest to even the score with the help of a .44 calibre revolver...
On other news, Thora recently attended the Kentucky Derby and the Mint Jubilee at Louisville, Kentucky, and E! Entertainment television aired a special edition of their show FYE! dedicated to the event, and I've made a transcript!
Go check it out NOW!!!
Finally, thora.org also reported that Thora was named as one of Maxim Magazine's "Hot 100" in their May issue!!!
They also reported that there's a skin of Thora for ICQ users here
Ghost World release change (so soon!), Thora on a magazine, Ghost World site update and Premiere images!
June 14, 2001
It seems like what the Fantagraphics e-mailer reported had a minor mistake, according to the Official Site, the film will indeed enjoy a July 20th release but only in Los Angeles, the sign at the site says: "OPENING JULY 20TH AT THE SUNSET 5 IN LOS ANGELES. LIMITED RELEASE AUGUST 3RD". Also, the Official Site now has a cool flash animation before you actually enter the site, it is basically like the trailer but there are some changes. Visit the Official Ghost World Site NOW!!!
On other news, Thora is featured on the March/April 2001 issue of the international magazine "Preview", she is on the cover and the issue contains four pages on The Hole, you can bid on it at ebay.com now, but the bidding is about to be over, so run if you want to get it.
Finally, the promised premiere images from the "Shrek" and "Tomb Raider" premiere have been added.
Visit the NEW Shrek Premiere Gallery for the 2 new images!!!
Visit the Paul Smith Gallery for the 2 NEW images of the Tomb Raider Premiere held June 11, very recently!!!
More Hole Pics, More on Thora's Song and Ghost World Release seems set
June 12, 2001
I have added 17 new images from The Hole!!! They are all great!!!!
Go check them out now at the The Hole Gallery 3!!!
Now, on "Thora's Song" news, the following (a reply from a letter) was posted at the thora.org message board by Thora fan Danny Bludwing:
"Thora's song is Chris Ramsay's musical interpretation of his own life-long crush on actress Thora Birch. Detailing all of the quirks and emotions that come with it. Chris is 18, so he has grown up with Thora in the spotlight and on various television programs and in her film work.
"Thora's Song" will be released as a single to Canada and Japan in early August. It will be backed with a cover of the classic oldies tune : "Crimson and Clover" and two original bonus tracks and a remix of the title song.
Chris is currently very busy. So we apologise for his failure to reply to you himself. His official website will launch later in the summer. International orders will be available from there.
Chris has sold nearly 1,000,000 copies of his assorted releases through the independent Japanese and Canadian markets.
He also creates the cult classic comic book "This is... Rocky" which is still in print and active through Big Grey Dog Marketing.
We hope you will forward this information to anyone for whom it may interest.
I hope these details help you out. Thank you for your questions. Betsy, Eleven eye music
Whoa! interesting, I can't wait to hear it.
On Ghost World News, the latest Fantagraphics e-mailer reports that "GHOST WORLD film premieres JULY 20th in LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, and will go into national release on AUGUST 3rd.", they also said that "Zwigoff, Clowes, and star THORA BIRCH (lucky Seattle fans!!!) will all be on hand and participate in a Q & A after the Saturday night screening (at the Seattle International Film Festival)." "Tickets for both are already sold out." They also mention that the May/June issue of FILM COMMENT, on sale now, includes a rave review of the film. Mark Olsen writes, "Most everybody's felt it, at one time or another. That I-don't-belong/where-did-I-go-wrong? feeling. Some feel it more than others, or maybe some just hide it better, pushing it to the back of their minds and quietly trudging ahead with their inner demons and their deepest fears beside them. And some succumb, boarding themselves up inside lean-tos of despair. GHOST WORLD, directed by Terry Zwigoff and written by Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes, creator of the comic book/graphic novella on which it's based, fitfully essays a small circle of loners and losers perennially stuck in the psychic crawl-space between their fears and ambitions. With the same gentle grace he brought to CRUMB, his documentary portrayal of acclaimed cartoonist and unrepentant misfit R. Crumb, Zwigoff's latest film forges a deep personal connection to material that could easily have been a glossing and smirking hipster's holiday." The issue can be purchased at here
Let's hope those are the final dates!
Finally, Thora attended the world premiere of Tomb Raider yesterday! We will be adding images from that event and from the Shrek Premiere (no, I haven't forgotten) soon, so stay tuned and keep voting for the SECOND ANNUAL THORA BIRCH NEWS AWARDS: 2001
Second Annual Thora Birch News Awards: 2001, Burn Hollywood Burn and Touched By An Angel on Pax!
June 6, 2001
First of all, the voting for the Second Annual Thora Birch News Awards: 2001 starts from today, as I said, I will not say when the voting is going to end or anything, it will just be ending by surprise, also, there isn't a set date yet for the "ceremony" in which the winners will be announced. So go VOTE NOW!!!!
On other news, a person at the thora.org message board posted some news about a song dedicated for Thora performed by a canadian singer called Chris Ramsay, the poster said he went to a concert and the song was introduced as "a song about Thora", and that in an interview with Chart Magazine, it said Thora BIRCH, the poster says "It's a sort of pop/glam/rock/just plain strange and sweet song", the name of the song is "Thora's song" but was thought to be called "Burn Hollywood Burn" (just as the cover of Face Magazine says, so there may be something about it on the mag). He also confirms that "in the liner notes there is a little scribble in the dedications that says : "for Thora and her monkey". The poster said "the CD is a japanese import." "I believe it is a single for another song called "Puzzle Box".
That's pretty interesting! I would like to hear the song, and although I believe none of this is confirmed, it is probably dedicated to her, I mean, everything points out to Thora.
On today's final news, thora.org reports that Thora's "Touched By an Angel" episode The Pact will be shown on the PAX cable channel this Thursday evening, June 7th. Check your local listings for availability and time in your area.
copyright©2001-Gary Wayne. Used with permission.
American Beauty set, new images, more on the Armani thing, Thora at the Shrek Premiere, Ghost World trailer on E! Latin America and Second Annual Thora Birch News Awards: 2001
June 2, 2001
I apologise for not updating the past couple of days, but I have been very busy, anyways, let's start: Thora fan Wes let me know (thank you very much!)about the American Beauty sets (you can see the exterior of the house used to shoot the interior scenes at the Colonel's house). The exteriors of the two main houses were sets on the back lot of Warner Ranch in Burbank, two real homes (a good 12 miles apart) were used for filming of the interior shots of both Spacey's house and the Colonel's house.
The actual home used as Kevin Spacey's ('Lester') house was located in Brentwood, at 11388 Homedale Street, the Colonel's house was located in the Hancock Park district, at 330 S. Windsor Blvd.
In one interesting scene involving the Colonel's house, the two Jims (Scott Bakula & Sam Robards) come to the Colonel’s door with their welcome basket. That scene was actually shot three weeks apart. The angle looking out on the Jims was shot on the Warner Ranch, and the angle looking in on the Colonel inside the house was shot here in Hancock Park, three weeks between takes.
HAVE IN MIND THAT THESE ARE PRIVATE HOMES, SO DON'T TRESPASS AND DON'T DISTURB THE OCCUPANTS.
Please click on the above house image to see the big image of the exterior of both houses.
On other American Beauty set news, remember that Mr. Smiley restaurant Lester gets a job in? Well that's located in the west Valley, at the southwest corner of Saticoy Street and Winnetka Ave. Right now, it's gone back to being a regular Carl's Jr. restaurant. The address is 20105 Saticoy Street, in Canoga Park. And there's more: The scene in which Carolyn goes target shooting was shot at the Police Academy pistol range, at 1880 N. Academy Drive, next to Dodger Stadium. Most of the high school classroom scenes with Thora and Mena Suvari (including the hallway mural and the bathroom gag) were shot at Long Beach Polytechnic High at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, CA. Isn't that cool? We now know where most of the film was shot, you can even go check the places out sometime, but remember the houses are private, I would like to go to that Long Beach Polytechnic High and see where Thora was once :)
We've got many new images:
I have added 5 new images to the Miscellaneous Thora Pictures Gallery 5 including one thought to be from that Armani event thing I mentioned on a past update, by the way, I saw that commercial again a couple of days ago and this time I was paying more attention and finally know what she said, she said:"I can't wait to see his line" (talking about Armani's new wardrobe line). Her hair was curly and she only appeared some seconds. Visit the Miscellaneous Thora Pictures Gallery 5 for the 5 new images!!!
I have also added 7 new images to the Vanity Fair Oscars 2001 Party Gallery.
Visit the Oscars 2001 Gallery for the 7 new images!!!
Also, I added 2 new images to The Hole Gallery 3.
Visit The Hole Gallery 3 for the 2 new images!!!
And finally, I added a new and very clear version of one of my favorite Thora images at the American Beauty Gallery 2, go check it out, Thora looks SO BEAUTIFUL in that image.
Visit the American Beauty Gallery 2 for the new version of the image!!!
In other news, Thora recently attended the premiere of the new hit film "Shrek" with her brother Bolt, we have 2 images of it but they will be added on the next update.
On Ghost World, well the trailer is going to be shown on E! Entertainment Latin America sometime soon so latin america fans, watch Coming Attractions next Saturday and the following Saturdays (until the trailer is shown) at 4:30 pm eastern time on E! Entertainment Television.
Finally, about the Second Annual Thora Birch News Awards: 2001, well, the nominations are finally ready and you will be able to start voting shortly (in a couple of days). The voting will be suspended when you lest expect it and the votes will be counted to get the winners, which will be announced on a live chat ceremony (like last year) sometime this year. Stay tuned!