Wednesday, January 31, 2007

They Don't Do Windows


It takes a certain amount of entitlement, arrogance, and self-absorption to be a proper diva. In the classical sense it takes a booming voice and one of our contestants has that in spades, but some divas are so large and in charge that they can control their fans / peons with a mere whisper or a look that could kill. One diva is a straight up killer. Another, you get the sense, is only a diva by circumstance and privilege but she helped set the mold. She's an ur-diva.

Bow down. It's the best cinematic Divas of the Year

Other Updates: Best Heroes. They're more worthy of your worship but they're not going to ask for it. They're too down to earth. Even if they're up in the sky. Best Casting (click and scroll down). Which movies made winning choices before filming even began? And a Best Actress poll @ headquarters.


Tags: marie antoinette, , al gore, gong li, jennifer hudson, dreamgirls, diva, Film, casting, casting directors

7 comments:

J.D. said...

Good nominees.

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Anonymous said...

I can't support the casting nomination for Shortbus if only because its peculiar structure led to the creation and distribution of Jonathan Caouette's wretched "documentary" Tarnation. Minus a billion points for that.

NATHANIEL R said...

do share. what was wretched for you about tarnation. i thought the reviews were a little hyperbolic but it certainly was an interesting oddity

but maybe i like tarnation because while watching it I realized I lived but a mere two blocks from where it was being filmed in NY while it was being filmed but of course knew nothing about it as I'm not acquainted with Caouette.

Glenn Dunks said...

Good nominations! Can't really disagree with the ones I've seen.

Keith said...

I dunno about the casting nod for Little Children. The movie (and the novel) tell us over and over again how plain Kate Winslet's character is supposed to be; whatever else Winslet may be, she ain't plain. It came up several times during the movie, and it grated every time.

Anonymous said...

Casting nod for THE PRESTIGE?
That very canny use of Jackman's gift for showmanship and Bale's reclusive screen image? Not to mention that guy who played Tesla...

Anonymous said...

This is the same anonymous poster as earlier, I was too lazy to post a name. For me, Tarnation was just a completely reprehensible movie. I tried to sympathize with Caouette, but I just finally couldn't stand him in the end. He turned his camera into an extension of his ego and exploited his tragic past and mentally disturbed family into a "woe is me" freak-show narrative. To some extent there is no way to describe such a bizarre upbringing without being somewhat explotitative (Augusten Burroughs toes this line slightly better, but even he crosses it a little bit), but Caouette went way too far. The scene that pretty much sums up the movie for me (I must admit I don't quite remember it exactly since I haven't seen it since it was out in theatres) was when he was trying to get his mother to display her mentally disturbed outlandish behavior for the camera so he could show everyone how difficult his life was. If that was all that he did, it would still be disgusting (using footage your admittedly disturbed mother as a means to drum up sympathy for yourself), but then after a little while when she still won't "perform" for him, he turns the camera on himself and makes this exasperated expression to his audience as though we are supposed to sympathise with his plight. I would have walked out of the theater right then(something I have only done once in my life, and I see a lot of terrible movies) had I not needed a ride home from my friend. Tarnation did have some interesting editing (the fact that he was able to make it with mostly iMovie almost justified the film's existence) and some interesting sequences (the Blue Velvet Musical and the part where he films himself in poor white trash woman drag as a 12 year old), but I couldn't help but be disgusted with what I was seeing, and even worse, that I was supporting its existence by paying to watch it. It is probably the only movie I have seen that will always have a home on my worst movies of all-time list.