Darwin Awards
Article
by SFist.com
While we at SFist have been known to stalk around movie sets, yesterday we were actually invited by our friend to the set of the Darwin Awards, which was filming at a bar in Alameda. Directed by Finn Taylor and starring Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes, the movie has a multi-layered plot about a hemophobic police officer and a comely insurance adjuster. (Do they fall in love? We're not tellin'!) From what we understand, part of the film's Bay area connection involves something about Beat poets and the City Lights Bookstore.
Having never been to a movie set before, we were entertained by watching the multitude of techs and runners standing around drinking coffee and communicating via walkie talkies. Apparently there is a lot of down time on movie sets. We watched our friend's scene being filmed, wherein music legends John Doe and Jerry Harrison portray two locals in a bar who get into an argument with Fiennes' character. We hear that it was Ryder who arranged the musicians' cameos, which makes the tiny, beautiful actress all the more likeable if you ask us. Fiennes remains likeable not only for his swoon-worthy work in Shakespeare in Love, but for his ability to sit with us through a soggy-paper-plate catered lunch with grace and dignity.
We would have liked to get a better photo to share, but were trying to be respectful and not get ourselves angrily banished from the premises. So we present this blurry camera phone photo of the stars' monogrammed chairs which we never saw them sit in.
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Pictures
01 is from the Oscars 2001
02 is from the Manchurian Candidate premiere
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