Monday, April 21, 2008

A Blog And Its Links

Bauer Griffin Woody Allen makes a good point
Awards Daily Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart for 2009. Is Oscar #3 in her future? god help us all. Anyone remember when Julianne Moore was supposed to do this?
The Movie Blog
speaking of downgrades. Emma Watson (Hermione) is replacing Scarjo in the film Napoleon & Betsy. I know Scarjo has her detractors but if you lift the cloud of Potter fan-tinted glasses and Hermione as loveable character fact, you'll notice that Watson probably cannot act. Good luck Movie!
New Now Next Firefly/Serenity's Alan Tudyk (me likey) just got the lead in the new sitcom from Will & Grace team

Speaking of gay...
Have any of you seen this clip from VH1's Viva Hollywood that's making the blog rounds. It's so ridiculously offensive.

This guy is in an acting competition and absolutely melts down when he's asked to do a gay scene. In other words: not a real actor. I wish pop culture could get away from all the wannabes that reality TV keeps pushing on the public and find a way to celebrate real talented up-and-comers instead. To add insult to injury the scene they're asking him to play requires him to REJECT the gay man. So he has to struggle through his homophobia to do the scene which then rewards his homophobia. And then the homophobia is quadrupled because the show rewards these guys with the win for being brave. There is nothing brave about pretending to be someone other than yourself. If you're an actor that's your f***ing job! Ayiyiyiyiyi. What a world. And what a completely useless wuss this guy is. If this show had any integrity (I know that's asking for a lot out of reality TV) they would have just booted him off the show as soon as he refused.

PopWatch an excerpt from the awesome Battlestar Galactica panel I attended at Comic Con --definitely the frakkin' highlight of the convention
Culture Snob has a great (but NSFW) post on Kubrick's The Shining
A Socialite's Life Blanchett honored by Jackman. Pics of new baby
USA Today Harrison Ford disses Han, prefers Indiana
Reverse Shot
gushes about Yentl (1983). For real

and finally...
Man vs Horse has an interesting piece on structural problems with the screenplays of a few films from the Oscar crop of 2007. I don't necessarily agree on all of these --particularly when it comes to No Country For Old Men which I think has a phenomenal ending, couldn't be better actually --but it was a good read. No word on whether the horse liked the Oscar nominees better than the man (Dante)

19 comments:

Luke said...

Julianne Moore was meant to win three Oscars? Explain, please! That's almost as frightening as the Swank scenario.

RJ said...

Replacing ScarJo makes perfect sense, actually, considering the character in Napoleon and Betsy is supposed to be, like, 14 . . .

Anonymous said...

I agree w/ rural juror that replacing ScarJo makes sense. Also, Emma Watson is a decent actress who comes across as being pretty well adjusted considering her massive fame - something I always admire and try to support (of course, this observation is coming from seeing her once on Letterman, but whatever). I think it will be good for her to stretch her little wings and dive into acting territory beyond Hermoine.

J.D. said...

I really hope Napoleon & Betsy does good for her, and isn't just another in the line of Driving Lessons and December Boys, ya know?

Emma 4ever.

Anonymous said...

Ditto on the ending in NCFOM. Somehow it manages to be so sadly hopeful and extremely unsettling at the same time.

And that blogger mentions the disregard for plot structure as if it were a bad thing. It's a resoundingly good thing in my book...

Anonymous said...

Isn't the guy having the meltdown Vinci from "8th and Ocean"? He was trying to make it as a model then. And he was a jerk on that show, too.

Anonymous said...

"I wish pop culture could get away from all the wannabes that reality TV keeps pushing on the public and find a way to celebrate real talented up-and-comers instead."

Amen to that.

Iggy

NATHANIEL R said...

Luke --HA. and err, what? I meant the Amelia Earhart gig.

anon -- she might be well adjusted and everything but I don't think she's exhibited any skill thus far. If people didn't love Hermione the character, I think they'd notice how many problems she has as an actor. I mean she can't hold her facein repose at all. She's always doing some eyebrow flourish or overdoing something in her line readings. It's so much overkill, like she can't just be on camera.

vienna --yeah, it's the same guy. Or so i hear. I had no idea who he was. I wish i'd stayed ignorant ;)

Anonymous said...

I couldn't stand either ending to No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Meh.

Hilary Swank looks EERILY just like Amelia Earhart. That's insane. She's getting nominated again. Watch out La Bening! LMAO.

And why is Vh-1 doing some Spanish reality show anyway? The guy that protested about doing the scene can't act his way out of a paper bag. The other one wasn't that much better, but he's ten times hotter. I could barely sit in my chair properly after watching him. Whew!

Anonymous said...

OMG Nathanial you took the words literally right out of my mouth about Emma Watson, they even have videos on it in youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL3p9AQPcVk

but I'm all for giving her a chance. I haven't seen her in Ballet Slippers but I'm all for giving her a chance. She could grow...I've heard great things about Radcliffe in My Boy Jack and Eqqus.

NATHANIEL R said...

it's not Bening who should be worried, it's Pfeiffer. FINALLY returning to period piece / prestige dramas with CHERI and here Swank is again, just a girl from a trailer park with a dream... shaving her eyebrows to look less pretty.

i can't imagine there's a building high enough for me to jump off of it it becomes a race between those two and Swank wins.

Anonymous said...

Swank needs her oscars revoked ASAP. Witherspoon should have had the first one (I know, I know, she wasn't even nominated that year, blah blah blah) and Staunton should have number two. Oh, who am I kidding, it really could have been anyone in those two years besides the Swank and I would have been happy.

Oh, and I'm excited to see Hermione doing something besides, um, Hermione.

gabrieloak said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gabrieloak said...

Alan Tudyk is very funny but I kind of wish they had cast someone actually gay in the new show by the Will and Grace creators.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion about Swank, the first Oscar was very deserved for her work in "Boys don't cry" but the second beside I like Million Dollar Baby I think Bening and Staunton are deserve more that Oscar... Beside alonside I hate that Oscar to Reese "BARBIE WOODS" Witherspoon I recognize that her perfect performance was in "Election" and she should be nominated in that year with Cecilia Roth in "All about my mother"...

A third nomination to Swank?, that's intersting dilema:
PROS:
*She plays again a "boytoy" woman.
*Deglam factor and
*Real character about a legendary woman
AGAINS:
*Mira Nair is a (Almost) critical respected director but with the exception of Salaam Bombay AMPAS didn't like it...
*A third nomination? Not sure but possible but a third Oscar with a awful career with only four goods movies??!!... And now, Swank will be in the exclusive club alonside Nicholson and Bergman and Meryl Streep doesn't there. OMFG!!...

Anonymous said...

I will jump off the building with you if the Skank wins her 3rd from her 3rd noms.

This possibility gives me nightmare.

AMPAS, please don't do it!!!!

Anonymous said...

Nat, you know she'll be nominated.

But the win ? True, the Academy is often wrong, but they're not that crazy !

There's already lots of competition :

Jolie - Atlas Shrugged
Streep - Julie & Julia
Theron - Sympathy for lady Vengeance
Pfeiffer - Cheri
Wright Penn - The private lives of Pippa Lee
Weaver - Avatar

and it's april 2008 !!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Nat; whilst looking at your link to reverseblog I found an appreciation of Shelley Duvall in Altman's 3 Women you might enjoy:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/reverseshot/archives/016442.html

RedSatinDoll

Anonymous said...

Oh and re: the Harrison Ford interview, does the man actually believe the stuff he says? Oh, yeah, there's just sooooo much more depth, so many more layers, to the characterization of Indy than Han, there's, like, just no comparison whatsoever. *end sarcasm*

You've taken the money, Ford, you've long since ceased trying to make any stab at being a decent actor, and if Hans Solo (and Star Wars) hadn't been a hit there would be no Indy or anything else for that matter. So, please, just smile politely, take the money and shut up.

RedSatinDoll