I have finally sorted out my DVD screencapping problems, so first on my list to screencap was The Cove! I’ve added caps from the film itself, plus the one deleted scene Isabel was featured in. The caps are not the best quality, but that’s because most of Isabel’s ‘scenes’ were from the Taiji paddle out and were filmed on hand held cameras.

If you haven’t seen this documentary yet then I’d definitely recommend trying to get your hands on it, as it’s a hugely moving and informative feature.

• The Cove (2009) > Film Screencaptures x16
• The Cove (2009) > DVD Screencaptures – Deleted Scenes: Surfer Paddle Out x52

I don’t know whether I reported this here before, but The Cove is nominated for the Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards, and tonight is the event itself! While it is unlikely that Isabel will be at the event, we can cross our fingers that she may be at one of the after parties! I believe she is still in Australia filming A Heartbeat Away, but we hope she might make an appearance in Hollywood.

The main point of this post though, is to say a really big and supportive GOOD LUCK to the The Cove team who are nominated and attending the Oscars tonight. I think we all want them to win, and a win of this magnitude would surely be fantastic for the cause. So good luck to The Cove!!

EDITED very early in the morning GMT time: The Cove wins!! A really huge and heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS goes to Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens, and all of the team involved in The Cove for their well deserved Best Documentary Feature win at the Oscars tonight. I’m so happy for them that their brave and inspiring work was recognised. I hope this win brings even more attention to the cause.

Remember to visit thecovemovie.com to find out what you can do to help the cause.

The Japanese town made infamous by the movie The Cove has temporarily suspended its hunt. The annual Taiji hunt claims around 2,000 dolphins, killed by hand after being herded into a shallow cove.

The Japanese town chronicled in the award-winning film “The Cove” for its annual dolphin hunt that turns coastal waters red with blood has suspended killing the animals, at least for this week’s catch, following an international outcry.

The western Japanese town of Taiji (TAH-ee-jee) will sell some of the dolphins to aquariums as it does every year, but the remainder of the 100 bottlenose dolphins that were caught early on Wednesday in the first catch of the season will be released.

Traditionally, theyre captured and most are then killed and sold for meat.

While Japan officially declares that the move had nothing to do with the protests, an official at the Taiji fisheries association, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday that the decision was made partly in response to the international outcry created by “The Cove.”

SOUNDBITE (English) Ric O’Barry, Earth Island Institute and Lead Character, “The Cove”: “Well it seems as though the town of Taiji is responding to the world community, asking that this dolphin slaughter stop and today they implemented a no-dolphin-slaughter policy, so that is cause for great celebration. Not only for dolphins and whales but for Japanese people who are being contaminated by this product.” Dolphin meat is consumed as a delicacy in Japan, and hunts date back thousands of years. Meat from one dolphin fetches about $500 US dollars but dolphins can be sold to aquariums for 10 to 20 times that price, with some kinds going for as much as 150-thousand US dollars.

Under the International Whaling Commissions ban on whaling, hunting for dolphins and small whales is still permitted, but draws sharp criticism from activists around the world.

Editor’s Note: This piece was written by guest contributor Richard O’Barry of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition. As TakePart reported earlier this week, O’Barry is currently in Taiji, Japan with European and Japanese journalists in anticipation of the start of the annual dolphin slaughter. Today is September 1, the first day of the dolphin slaughter season in Japan. But when I arrived today by bus from Kansai Airport with media representatives from all over the world, the notorious Cove from the movie was empty. There were no dolphin killers in sight.

So today is a very good day for dolphins!

I vowed to be back in Taiji when the dolphin killing began. I’ve often been here alone, or accompanied by a few environmentalists. Sometimes, I was able to talk a major media organization into sending someone. But the people of Japan never learned about the dolphin slaughter, because none of the media in Japan (with the exception of the excellent Japan Times) have ever sent reporters to the killing Cove. Until today!

Last week I posted that Isabel would be attending the opening night of The Cove in Los Angeles on Friday 31st. She did attend the event but no pictures of her there surfaced … until now! I’ve finally been able to find 5 photos from the event, and a big thank you goes to Shannon for getting them for me.

Isabel looks to be wearing the same outfit as she did at the Tierney Gearon Exhibition, minus the black tights and red gloves. She looks as gorgeous as ever, though

• The Cove Los Angeles Screening x5

To me it’s like Australians are on the frontlines of this war, and it is a war at the bottom of the world to save the planet.

- Director Louis Psihoyos

Doco-thriller The Cove has got people talking all over the world, but the film’s director says Australians in particular should take notice.

The expose on dolphin slaughter in the village of Taiji, Japan has been collecting awards at film festivals around the globe, including two of the audience awards at the Sydney Film Festival last month.

Director Louis Psihoyos is in Australia to show The Cove at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), and says he hopes to galvanise local support against the practice.

“To me it’s like Australians are on the frontlines of this war, and it is a war at the bottom of the world to save the planet,” Psihoyos told AAP.

“I really feel like it’s really important to give people here, organisations here, something to rally around.”

@TheCoveMovie has posted that Isabel will be attending the Opening Night of The Cove event in Los Angeles on Friday night. There is also a Facebook group for this event which you can find here, and they have posted the following details:

Friday, July 31, 2009
Time: 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Location: The Landmark Theater
Street: 10850 W Pico Blvd
City/Town: Los Angeles, CA

Join Isabel Lucus (“Transformers”), Ben Stiller, Q’orianka Kilchner (“The New World”), and world-famous surfers Kelly Slater and David Rastovich for opening night of The Cove at the Landmark!

Film Intro by Ben Stiller and Isabel Lucas.

Special Q&A with Captain Paul Watson (The Sea Shepherd, “Whale Wars”).

Hosted by: The Sea Shepherd, Save Japan Dolphins, SocialVibe and TakePart.com.

Buy your ticket now before it sells out! Go to https://tickets.landmarktheatres.com/Landmark.aspx?TheatreID=267.

Stay tuned to Isabel Lucas Online for photos from the event on Friday!

I added loads of new pictures to the Gallery last night! Isabel attended a screening of The Cove a few days ago, and pictures from that have been added. There are couple of of tiny shots of Izzy in the trailer for The Pacific (posted further below) so caps from that can be seen in the Gallery (can’t wait for this series, it looks pretty great!). And I added over 650 screencaps from recent interviews Izzy has done – she looks especially gorgeous in the The Vine interview. The 20 Minuten Online is also pretty special because she speaks Swiss in it and she’s more animated than in some other interviews. I’ll start working on a Video section pronto

Thanks so much to those of you that commented in the previous post! It’s really appreciated <3 Comments are always open, so feel free to post one (or two!) at any time!

• The Cove Special Screening x18
• The Pacific: Trailer #1 Screencaptures x4
• The Vine (Aus) – June 19th 2009 x138
• Sunrise (Aus) – June 2008 x49
• Cinefantastico – June 2009 x159
• 20 Minuten Online (Switz) – June 24th 2009 x323

Here’s a trailer for another one of Isabel’s upcoming projects, The Cove. This is a documentary about the killing of dolphins in Taijii, Japan, and features footage of the protests Isabel was involved in there in 2007.

Click ‘Read More…’ to watch the trailer…

THE Cove’s popularity will please Isabel Lucas. The former Home and Away star was one of several people arrested in the port of Taiji in 2007 protesting against dolphin slaughter. Footage of their surfboard blockade features in The Cove. Lucas was recently in Japan promoting her latest film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which opens here this week. She says there haven’t been any repercussions. “We weren’t particularly worried because it was such a vague arrest,” she tells Reel Time. The charge was “interfering with international commerce”. “I didn’t mention or bring it up while I was there because it wasn’t the time or the place and the Japanese people were very hospitable and very gracious, and I was there to talk about the film,” she adds, referring to the second Transformers film, another bombastic blockbuster from director Michael Bay, which could be a career maker for the young actress. “It is a different character that I haven’t really played before,” she says, and one she is under strict instructions from Bay not to talk about in detail. Let’s just say the character is a little Sam Worthington or Hugo Weaving. Producer Steven Spielberg’s people asked to see her audition after watching her performance in the coming World War II miniseries The Pacific, which filmed largely in Melbourne. That series will be seen on Seven next year.