Saturday, August 08, 2009

Red Carpet Lineup

A random sampling of people hitting the red carpet the past... uh... couple of weeks (Yes, I'm on time delay) Girls and boys for a change and some random thoughts regarding them.


Penélope Cruz. is having a rather extended bout of premieres for Broken Embraces and by the time that winds down she'll be starting it all over again to promote the musical Nine. Too much of a good thing: Nine and Broken Embraces premiere in the US within five days of each other in November. It'll be all Penélope all the time and if the baby Bardem rumors are true, she'll be 7 months preggers when those hotly anticipated titles arrive.

Diane Kruger confuses me. I normally love these androgynous outfits on women but it doesn't work for her. Maybe because the body is too emaciated / boyish to offset the masculine attire with femininity? You'd think working on Inglourious Basterds would have given her more of an appetite, a carnivorous blood red meat kind of appetite.

Gillian Armstrong is still alive! She's been very low profile for the past decade -- her last film was Death Defying Acts, that barely released Harry Houdini film with Catherine Zeta Jones and Guy Pearce -- but since 2009 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for female directors (so many in play), it's good to be reminded of those who came before and paved the way. Armstrong gave Diane Keaton one of her best dramatic roles (Mrs. Soffel) -- Keaton would be smart to find a good drama again, I think but most importantly, Armstrong basically introduced the world to both Cate Blanchett (Oscar & Lucinda) and Judy Davis (My Brilliant Career) so the world owes her.

Speaking of people who owe Gillian Armstrong...

Claire Danes -- who got her first shot at movie stardom with Armstrong's remake of Little Women (still one of Danes' best) -- looks awesome in blue, don't you think? Her movie career isn't so enviable lately but in 35 days she'll be Mrs. Hugh Dancy so it all balances out, don't you think?

Amy Adams will survive the lack of affection people feel for the Julie part of Julie & Julia.


Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia) should co-star with Meryl Streep in every movie from here on out. I've said this a few times now but that's only because it bears repeating. They're wonderful together. My friends and I have taken to calling him "dreadful Stanley Tucci" in replication of Streep's hilarious Globe speech for The Devil Wears Prada. Remember that?



Streep & Tucci are clearly very fond of each other and it shows onscreen. Not too many people have commented on this but isn't it kind of wonderful that two of Tucci's most memorable roles involve the love of food? See also: Big Night.

Hugh Dancy is dreamy.

Chris Messina has played the steadying-influence husband twice in a row now with Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Julie & Julia. What else you got Chris? That's meant as a compliment. We want to see.

Sam Rockwell can currently be heard in that guinea pig movie G-Force. But more importantly his one man show Moon (Katey & Nathaniel's review) is still playing in various and sundry parts of the world. I was anxiously awaiting your thoughts on it but I haven't heard a peep from readers, really. I guess it was too slow to expand, never reaching more than 251 theaters. That's a shame. Rockwell has always been prolific and he's not slowing down. Next up: the remake Everybody's Fine, the Hilary Swank working mom drama Betty Anne Waters and Gentlemen Broncos from the Napoleon Dynamite team.

19 comments:

JS said...

Chris Messina has been on my radar since Six Feet Under, he always plays that same guy though...I guess he gives off an air of "reliability" LOL He's very underrated, reminds me of James Marsden.

anna said...

Mmmh, Hugh Dancy... Have you ever seen "Ella Enchanted"? That film is a guilty pleasure of mine..

Jim T said...

Alright Nate I have to tell you. Hugh Dancy is with me so you have to stop hoping. Just don't tell Ben Barnes. He thinks we're exclusive. Turns out, I'm a bit of a slut. :p

Rebecca said...

I have been recommending 'Moon' to everyone, I liked it a lot. Rockwell was really good, and I liked the way that the script handled Gertie - it played on HAL in '2001', and set it up so that the audience had certain expectations of the character, but took it in a different direction.

Morgan Leigh Davies said...

My movie friend and I went to see Moon a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Pretty much agreed with your take in every way, actually. We thought he was great and were totally boggled by all of the special effects (especially given their budget).

Jim T said...

Morgan, your movie friend? I have to get one. Do you comment on the film after the viewing?

Anonymous said...

Nat: What are you thoughts of Kimberly Pierce directing Danish Girl if Imdb is to be believed?

Agustin said...

Chris Messina is incredibly hot, nobody else seems to notice.

whitney said...

I loved Moon. I'm going to brag: I'm quoted on the trailer!

Cinesnatch said...

Moon was good, but I'm ADD, so I got bored after a while. Rockwell was great, but the most memorable element of the film was the driving soundtrack.

Cinesnatch said...

... Spacey was also appropriately cast.

Wayne B said...

Agustin - totally agree with you on Chris Messina.

Got six days before "Moon" leaves the city. It sounds worth it though.

adri said...

I read that Stanley Tucci co-authored a cookbook with his mom, an Italian one. Fascinating, if true. He'a actually my favorite in "Julie and Julia". Streep's best scenes are with him.

He's done so many good roles. I think my favorite is him as Puck, with Rupert Everett as Oberon in A Midsummer's Night Dream.

john said...

I'll chime in with the Moon banter, its still around, (over here in the UK that is)i can't recommend it highly enough.
As for Diane Kruger, please she comes off as a Z grade Cate Blanchett, attemtping to come up with fashion-forward choices on the red carpet. And of course she's desperately channeling fellow German, Marlene Dietrich.

Arkaan said...

Quite disappointed with Moon, actually. Good Rockwell performance, great score from Mansell, intriguing art direction.

But surprisingly mundane, with insufficient exploration of the ideas it presents (the ending is a major copout) and it lacks dramatic momentum.

NicksFlickPicks said...

I'm with Arkaan on Moon, give or take that I was a little cooler on Rockwell's and Mansell's contributions. Fine, but no great shakes.

Chris Messina also pulled Supportive Spouse duties in Away We Go.

Jordan Wellin said...

I wish that Meryl would win every award from now on because no one comes close to equaling her acceptance speeches: no tears, no histrionics--just pure class.

NATHANIEL R said...

This is pretty funny. Seems there's another Chris Messina who tweets the following regarding Agustin's comment:

"'Chris Messina is incredibly hot, nobody else seems to notice.' http://bit.ly/304lHt Sigh. Sucks sharing a name w/ an up-and-coming actor."

ha!

Agustin said...

LOL!!
I noticed on your twitter you were talking to chris messina and got excited! Then I read what he said, and thought, hey this guy stole my post!! hahaa
it's funny that they're not tweeting the actual filme experience post, but a comment to the post
the time they are a changin