Showing posts with label Denzel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denzel. Show all posts

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Tony Awards Live Blogging 2010

6:49 Hi kids. Tonight is Tony night! The arrivals have been going on NY1 for approximately 45 minutes now but what do you now? Turns out my cable was all messed up so I spent the first 45 on the telephone with Monique trying to fix this damn thing. I was distracted by occasional glimpses of the stars. It's finally back on so I get the GLEE team.


Matthew Morrison, Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff. Basically here's what happened
  • Matthew Morrison is going to try to make the PBS taping of South Pacific before it closes (he originated the often shirtless Joe Cable role in the revival) but he doesn't know for sure if he'll be able to do it. Translation: I am way too important now. Everyone must cater to my needs.
  • Lea is busy. She's singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" tonight. Didn't she sing that on Glee? She has no return to Broadway planned. Too busy. Translation: Pay me lots for a short run.
  • Jonathan is about to do the revival of Death Match (fun play -- Christopher Reeve played this role in the 80s movie version) and hopes he can bring it to Broadway, too. "If it's any good," he says. No translation required.... so points for honesty.
6:57 Michelle Williams -- not the great actress but the Destiny's Child -- is on screen right now. "Broadway is a new form of expression for me." Translation: "I'm famous enough for stunt casting. Yay!" She's playing Foxy Roxie Hart in Chicago right now. That role is basically The Slut of All Time (sorry Liz). Everyone has played that role. Chicago is currently the 6th longest running show of all time.

7:00 A few minutes ago the legendary Bernadette Peters was on the screen (left) and proclaimed that she has a Mutual Appreciation Society going with Elaine Stritch. Incredibly they are both going to be taking over for Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury in A Little Night Music. Translation: It's going to be impossible to get tickets. They're both pure magic live. The legends are fully earned. Trust me. I've seen both live and would never trade those experiences.

7:18 Marian Seldes = Greatest Acceptance Speech of All Time. And it's not even being broadcast. I hate CBS and the way they treat the Tonys. She just won the lifetime achievement award. Made this expression...


...and then walked away from the podium.

Awesome, amazing, awezing. Amazsome?

Marian hasn't made that many movies but she's a stage legend. The last time I saw her on stage was in Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby which is basically an abstracted version of his own Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

While Marian awezed in that show, I would also like to say that David Burtka performed completely starkers. And then Neil Patrick Harris went and snatched him up in the real world. Well, maybe it didn't happen in that order but David Burtka is a beauty, clothed or starkers, is my point and who wouldn't snatch him up? is my second point.

7:31 Memphis and Red are winning lots of tech prizes. Maybe they'll take Musical and Play, tonight? Fela just won Costume Design. American Idiot won lighting design. They are just speeding through these awards. Strangely they are playing CAMELOT's ballad "If Ever I Would Leave You" to celebrate a win for Greenday's "American Idiot" musical. Is there a round table in that show? Or a virtuous knight who gets a lot of royal action?

7:40 Somebody just threw glitter on stage at the Tonys. As if the Tonys needed any encouragement!

7:43 I keep missing things. Live Blogging is hard [/whine]

7:45 I'm always surprised when men thank their wives at the Tonys. I apologize for my reflexive homonormativity.

Now the show proper is being broadcast on CBS

8:02 Wow. They opened with a piano medley which broke into "Blue Suede Shoes" And Sean Hayes can really play the piano. Who knew? Kristin Chenoweth joins him to sing "Say a Little Prayer" and then we get a little Sherie Rene Scott. If I were someone famous, people would say... things ... about my love of blonde divas. I'm insatiable for them.

pint size greatness | regular sized greatness

It's like I'm Alfred Hitchcock only I don't want to visualize them as pretty corpses or terrorize them. Unless you count forcing them into a lifetime servitude of singing, dancing and acting for my entertainment as terrorizing. And you shouldn't. I'm a good grateful fan. Love those two girls.... so... much.

8:10 Green Day is performing. When one of their songs isn't playing I always forget that I like them. I also L-O-V-E that song that Billie Joe Armstrong did with the Go-Gos "Unforgiven". If you don't know that Go-Gos song, you must download it now. It's a beaut. Shoulda been a massive hit.

8:13 Mandatory reaction shots from movie stars: Will Smith, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones. We'll get a lot of those tonight.

8:16 Sean Hayes just tongued Kristin Chenoweth. Hee. Kristin is highlarious as usual although her voice was not in great form earlier. Never heard her voice that weak. Maybe Sean Hayes has cooties.

8:19 Brilliant point from The Boyfriend. Look at Sean Hayes... He could play John Edwards "And you know that's a TV Movie waiting to happen." Look at him. You'll see it.

8:20 Katie Holmes is presenting "Film goes by at 24 frames per second..." Like you know that, Katie! If not for the teleprompter...

<--- OhMyGod. Scarlett Johansson is now a Tony Winner (Best Featured Actress, A View From the Bridge). She just called Ryan Reynolds "My Canadian who I live with" That's quite a weird new way to say "Husband."

8:32 Now that commercials are playing I am forced to consider that Scarlett Johansson may one day be a Triple Crowner. She just needs a deglam movie in about 6 years for the Oscar. The Emmy is easiest.

8:36 ----> Eddie Redmayne just won Best Featured Actor (Red). You've seen him getting randy with screen mommy Julianne Moore (Savage Grace) and trying to kill Cate Blanchett (The Golden Age) and now you just saw him win a Tony. And, as In Contention points out, he'll probably be the lead in Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2012). Could Oscar follow Tony?

8:40 Charming performance from La Cage Aux Folles which I've heard is great. "Zaza" targeted Matthew Morrison and Will Smith in the audience. Really really funny bit with being unable to tear herself away from Matthew Morrison but of course Will Smith had to act horrified that "she" sat on his lap. I hate it when Will Smith reminds me about what an ass he was about the kiss in Six Degrees of Separation (1993).


8:51 I totally can't keep up with this show. It's so speedy. Antonio Banderas was on a few minutes ago and he's SO going to have a major career revival: a Broadway starring role (Zorba the Greek revival) and a new Almodóvar role. Score times two.

8:53 They're talking about Next Fall which I think must be closing any second. I really want to see it. That was cute banter. Maybe it'll sell a few more tickets?

8:56 The Lovely Laura Linney is promoting her play Time Stands Still (I went to an evening where she spoke of this, too) which is returning to Broadway in the fall. But do you think she's thinking about ScarJo right now? Like 'Damnit. She won a Tony before me?'

8:57 That was generous. Jon Bon Jovi just did a live feed intro for Memphis from a stadium concert.

9:00 Commercials. Breathe.

9:04 Angela Lansbury. If she wins tonight, I think that's a record.

---> 9:07 Nope. Katie Finneran wins the category Best Featured Actress in a Musical Promises Promises. No record breaker for Lansbury just yet. I hear from everyone that Finneran is amazing. GREAT speech about focusing on what you love. This bit was so cute. 'Kristin Chenoweth lent me her eyelashes.' And she also informs that Angela Lansbury took her out to dinner. Classy.

9:10 Memphis performance "Never let anyone steal your rock n roll" Fun number but I feel like someone has stolen my showtunes tonight. Not that many yet.

9:20 Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, co-stars in Promises Promises are practically co-hosts tonight. She's SO much better in this setting than she was on the BFCA awards. She's just hilarious collapsing when she hears she wasn't even nominated. I guffawed, dear readers. (That means I literally LOL'ed, youngsters). She may have lent Finneran her eyelashes but she keeps several spares. Obviously. These lashes are extreme.


9: 24 Catherine Zeta-Jones singing "Send in the Clowns". Just sublime. Nobody can write a song like Stephen Sondheim. I love that he gets these huge birthday extravaganzas every few years. People are scared of losing him. Me, too. It's going to be so so sad. But if Luise Rainer can keep on ticking past 100, so can some of these other showbiz troupers. Random! I know that was random... but Send in the Clowns can send you spinning into all sorts of heartrending places.

P.S. I love CZJ as a musical star. I wish she would star in movie musicals all the time.

9:43 Commercials. But first we had a little Tony sponsored tribute to the NYPD from Kerry Washington. I love Kerry quite a lot as you know. But loving actresses is way more fun if Hollywood plays along. They need to give me more Kerry to love.

9:53 Best Actor and Best Actress went to Fences. That'd be Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (yay! Though I'm sad for Laura Linney who always loses both Oscars and Tonys despite being one of the most amazing actors on the planet).

I find it so odd that none of August Wilson's cycle plays have been made into movies. Don't you find that odd? Is there a playwright of similar stature that has never been translated?

Viola wins her second, Denzel wins his first

Viola gives a beautiful speech but part of me couldn't quite fall in love with it because when people talk about God in their acceptance speeches I always think "Does that mean God loves you more than the other nominees?" And in this case. Well... I'm pretty certain that God loves Laura Linney because, I mean, look at all the gifts he gave that woman! Anyway. I love Viola Davis, too. Denzel's speech was annoying. He didn't know the names. Denzel now has two Oscars and a Tony. But he's never going to be a triple crowner because he just doesn't do television. Not since St. Elsewhere.

10:11 SERIOUSLY? Promises Promises, a full on musical, just did a dance number with Sean Hayes sitting at a desk. Lame. This night is bereft of show tunes.

10:15 Sad Face. In Memoriam... the people the theater lost this year. The theater may lose me tonight if I don't get some show tunes. SAVE ME GLEE PEOPLES.

10:18 It happened ages ago but it's already burned into my mind so it's only fair that it's burned into yours, too. Sean Hayes with padding and Sean Hayes as Lil Orphan Annie.


The sun will not come out tomorrow.

10:20 Cate Blanchett and her Need To Be Ubiquitous share the stage to present Best Revival and Best Play. I kid, I kid. Fences wins Best Revival.

<--- EXCLUSIVE: CATE BLANCHETT TO PLAY TILDA SWINTON IN BIOPIC

10:22-10:35 It just occurred to me that I asked a television show to save me from the lack of showtunes at the Tony Awards. Something is amiss. That said, thank God (who loves Viola Davis more than Laura Linney) for Glee! Lea and Matthew perform actual showtunes. YAY.

P.S. I TOTALLY caught Will Smith enjoying Lea Michelle's Barbra Streisand number. Won't he worry that people will think he is... well... you know?

10:43 La Cage Aux Folles won Best Revival and now American Idiot is performing. This show looks fun.

10:47 I am not a fan of Sean Hayes but I think he's doing a really good job tonight. Here's why I know: I keep giggling about things he did minutes before minutes later. It's a hosting job that keeps on giving. That Spider-Man singing "don't rain on my parade" bit was priceless -- especially when he was scared of the spider on his chest after taking the mask off. Ha!

Well, you probably had to be there. But funny it was.

10:57 Someone much less composed than CATHERINE ZETA-JONES has possessed the body of Catherine Zeta-Jones. That was as spastic a reaction as I've ever seen at an awards show and that includes Meryl Streep marathon hug run at the SAGs and Ally Sheedy's freakout at the Indie Spirits twelve years back. CZJ was crazed. She almost did a spinning heehaw jig after hiking up her dress. She'll be calling her agent tonight demanding an HBO telefilm so she can grab that triple crown.

I'm sad for people who aren't movie stars tonight. Especially my Sherie Rene Scott. So much star-f***ing tonight.

11:02 Memphis closes the night with a Best Musical win. God loved Memphis most. Now I depart for the comments section to try to catch up with y'all.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Screen Queens: Hollywood Does AIDS

Hi everyone, MattCanada here with another weekly dose of gay cinema. This week we're looking at Philadelphia, the Oscar winning courtroom drama, essentially the defining Hollywood response to the AIDS epidemic.


I first saw this film as a kid. I must have been about seven when I watched it with my parents and it was definitely my, and probably many other people's, introduction to AIDS. For me it continues to shape how I think about the virus, the stigma, and the epidemic. Longtime Companion opened a few years earlier but this was the first mainstream prestige film to deal with AIDS and homophobia. Having two big stars in Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington must have seemed like a big step for Hollywood. All of this is well and good, but rewatching the film for the first time in over a decade, I had serious problems with its filmic construction and especially its politics. While it remains important for being 'the mainstream gay AIDS movie', the film has definitely not aged well.

The Major problem is with the Denzel Washington character, Joe Miller. Joe acts as a guide for the straight audience into the scary world of gay-ness. His arc from homophobic to mildly understanding is shown as a victory, and it is Joe, not Hanks's Andrew, who goes through a pivotal transformation. He is the true hero of the film: not only does he save the gay victim, he grows as a person, thus giving the audience someone to root for. But this leaves Tom Hanks' gay character at a mediated distance where he can be sympathised with (or pitied depending how you see it). This film was made at a different time in both Straight society's relationship to homosexuality and the mainstream gay community's stance towards the oppressions and exclusions of straight hegemony. Today, the politics seem conservative and even condescending, positioning gay men as victims needing to be rescued and protected by the good straights from the bad straights. Contemporaneous films from New Queer Cinema, especially Derek Jarman's Blue, Gregg Araki's The Living End and John Greyson's Patient Zero, are much more relevant now for an understanding of the AIDS epidemic, and the anger and response of the gay community. Philadelphia is a film from another time in mainstream culture and it's unable to transcend its dated approach and politics.

The other problems are minor in comparison. Tom Hanks doesn't give a particularly remarkable performance (in my opinion it was the weakest of that year's Best Actor nominees). It may have been a brave choice of role and a good performance, but it's not on par with other AIDS performances (Steve Buscemi in Parting Glances, the cast of Angels in America, Penélope Cruz and Toni Canto in All About My Mother).


Jonathan Demme's directing also overreaches at points, especially the Opera set piece and the courtroom scenes with canted camera angles. Demme is at his best when he keeps his stylistic flourishes to a minimum. The strength of his classics, namely The Silence of the Lambs and Married to the Mob, is the seeming simplicity of his directing, which allows for pitch perfect performances, flawless narrative progression, and a complex and inventive intermingling and subversion of genre. Philadelphia is too fussy, especially in the moments when we are most required to empathize with the characters.

There are incredible parts of Philadelphia though. The performances of Mary Steenburgen, Antonio Banderas, and Joanne Woodward are all fantastic. Mary in particular, I think, deserved a Supporting nod for transforming a one dimensional role into something memorable.

There are also two sequences in the film which are incredibly moving and show Demme at his musical best: the opening credits sequence with Bruce Springsteen's "The Streets of Philadelphia" and the closing home video section with Neil Young's "Philadelphia" overlayed. Both sequences are so simple, yet the combination of music and expressive imagery are perfect distillations of the humanity of people with HIV and AIDS. For those two sequences alone I think the film deserves to be watched and remembered.


Bruce Springsteen takes those Streets of Philadelphia to an Oscar win

I would love to hear your thoughts on Philadelphia. I'm interested to know if people remember what the discussions surrounding the film were like on its original release? Was Tom Hanks' win one of those inevitable Helen Mirren/The Queen steamrollers or more of a surprise?

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

For Your Consideration in All Categories, INVICTUS

Clint Eastwood is coming. Hide your Oscars!


I suppose you've already checked out the trailer for Invictus in beautiful Quicktime. Soon it will be embedded everywhere in crappier looking formats. The movie, based on this true story, is about Nelson Mandela's efforts to unite a divided South Africa through rugby. The trailer and synopsis suggest that it's a two-lead film as Morgan Freeman (as Mandela) and Matt Damon (looking athletic as Francois Pienaar) work together towards making this happen. Freeman is the mastermind, Damon acts as vessel. But since Invictus is another December Eastwood Oscar lob (oops, that's a tennis term. What do they say in football?) Matt Damon will obviously be demoted to supporting for the pursuit of Oscars.

I'm not quite buying the accents they conjure for Invictus but it is only a trailer and Freeman and Damon are both hugely talented fellows. It's hard to tell about actor's voices in 150 seconds of ittybitty clips anyway. When I first saw the Amelia trailer I was nearly sold on Swank's vocal work but stretched out to 120 minutes it made me ca-razy with its strenuous affectations.

Here are the beloved stars...


It's more and more obvious that there's more community and discussion revolving around movie trailers on the web than there is on actual movies themselves. This is one of the many reasons conversation seems to die on opening weekend. So trailer madness is fitting for any Oscar discussion, unfortunately, since you know that many of the ballots are cast through a complex combination of buzz factors, hype power, the power of suggestion (sometimes literal -- like the precursor awards), industry schmoozing, the general tone of reviews... and film clips! (Yes Virginia, not every AMPAS voter watches all of their screeners, dutifully.)

Check out this random tweet about the trailer.

I think this happens more and more with trailers. Instant love. I can't say I've never experienced that. I remember falling head over heels for Milk in its 2 minute form. I mean there was no movie in sight! It was just a commercial.

Movie trailers are like frozen Buzz Concentrate. Just add water eyeballs. But, that said, it is a bit horrifying that we decide whether we love movies in their larval stage now -- we don't even wait until we get to the theater to see what's emerged from the pupa. At least that how it feels lately, buzz and hype and expectations trumping actual experience.

So I shan't say anything qualitatively about the movie (haven't seen it and a trailer is still just a trailer) except that it looks right up Oscar's alley: inspirational with an overlay of "important!" Best Picture nominee fer sure. Plus, there's the Eastwood factor. Gran Torino aside, he is, to steal from this trailer, the 'master of the Academy's fate, the captain of their soul.'

[editors note: Speaking of Clint Eastwood. The next episode of Best Pictures From the Outside In is coming up next week! "Casablanca and Unforgiven"]


And Morgan Freeman isn't without his own faithful voting block in AMPAS either. With four Oscar nominations and one win, he's pretty far up the hierarchy of the Academy's favorites. Useless trivia alert! One more winning nomination and he's actually tied with Denzel Washington as their favorite black actor of all time.

But what about you? "This trailer made me ___________" -- complete the sentence in the comments.
*

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Link With a Stranger

Empire new character shots from Up (so cute!)
Mike Leigh's Oscar Diary fun stuff. Like this
At one, weird moment, some strange force suddenly convinces you that you're about to win, while you affect to look benign and generous for the camera that's suddenly in your face; then you don't win...
I love him. But I don't think he's ever going to win.
Filmbo's Chick Magnet asks if John Williams is a douche
Twitch
First look at Zhao Wei as Mulan.


Socialites Life Katie Holmes films a crying scene. They totally neglect to mention that Paul Dano is her screen partner. Try not to get blown off the screen Katie. He held his own with Daniel Day-Lewis for chrissakes. You're toast!
Towleroad Gay Oscar speeches censored in Asia
NYT Great piece on the always thorny / fascinating Rupert Everett. The reporter follows him apartment hunting in NY
“It’s like a place for orgies,” Everett murmured, being led through it. “Thank you very much, it’s very nice, but I don’t think I could really live in it,” he said. Once in the car, he laughed. “Can you imagine having Angela Lansbury back there? I don’t think so.”
I meant to link that over the weekend. Oops
/Film Denzel Washington still from The Book of Eli. Geez how many post-apocalyptic movies are there going to be in the next few years? Hopefully by the time they all arrive we'll all be so optimistic that we can ignore them and chalk them up to a very negative very sad 8 year downward spiral that is OVER.
Defamer on that horrible idea to remake the NeverEnding Story

Saturday, November 17, 2007

American Gangster Cop

Late to the party here, but I thought I'd throw this out there: I would've liked American Gangster better had it been titled American Cop.

"I thought this was Denzel's movie! Where the hell did he go?"

Much to my surprise Denzel Washington (an actor I love) bored me as Frank Lucas, drug kingpin extraordinaire, while Russell Crowe kept me in the moment, his performance bristling with drive and conflict. This is a problem since the movie probably shouldn't be about Crowe's cop. Supporting characters like Josh Brolin's crooked Detective Trupo and Ruby Dee's Lucas matriarch are scene stealers but they don't have much competition. In scene after scene Denzel stares vacantly from his handsome movie star face telling me nothing about the character that isn't evident from scene one. It's a letdown after his electric Training Day performance and his lively star turn in last year's Inside Man. The material does insist that this performance be more muted (Frank doesn't like showing off) but did he have to remain so vaguely drawn as a character? You can be restrained and still reveal oodles. The examples are numerous... [name your favorite quiet unhistrionic but potent performance in the comments]

American Gangster is solidly made and easy to watch. But it lacks specificity and spark and a strong point of view. Ridley Scott is always a competent 'man behind the curtain' but he seems as personality-free as Denzel this time. When I exited I noticed that Blade Runner was playing in the very next theater. Now there's the auteur at work.

It's disappointing for a drama lover like me to realize that this is the only adult-oriented dramatic film that's catching on this year. It's #24 overall box office wise for 2007, the only true drama that's in the top 50 of the year (unless you want to count 3:10 to Yuma as a drama rather than as an action or a western --the rest of the year's 50 best performers are comedies, action flicks, thrillers and genre spectacles).

Hovering just outside of the top 50 are the dramas that are seen as mild successes or disappointments (depending on budget): The Brave One, Freedom Writers, Michael Clayton and Zodiac. Why weren't there sell out crowds for Zodiac? That's a superior procedural to Gangster... though it's less traditional in that audience friendly protagonist/antagonist way (never mind I just answered my own question), Michael Clayton has ardent fans but it's not truly "popular". Frustrating. American Gangster could learn a lot from that film. It's willing to dig deep into its conflicted character studies.

This is all a long way of saying that I will be disappointed if Oscar chooses a crime procedural for Best Picture and the title is American Gangster rather than Zodiac. I will be disappointed if Oscar chooses a star driven drama for Best Picture and it's Gangster, not Clayton. I gotta go. So much preparing for disappointment to do and so little time to do it in.

Friday, November 02, 2007

Now Playing: Save Darfur, and Rock the Casbah

L I M I T E D
Darfur Now - Did yesterday's 20:07 give you a hankering to see more documentaries? And also, are you primed to save the world? I was embarrassed how hazy my specific knowledge of the Darfur genocide really was, so I went to see this year's other Darfur documentary, The Devil Came on Horseback during its late-summer theatrical run. That film grossed a whopping $122,521 and never played more than seven screens at a time, but it did debut on DVD this week, which may or may not be coincidental to the arrival of Darfur Now in three theaters in NYC and LA (with plenty of urban expansions planned for the next two weeks). The documentary follows six stories whereby a range of people—Darfur natives Hejewa Adam and Sheik Ahmed Mohammed Abakar, UCLA student Adam Sterling, actor Don Cheadle, international prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and World Food Program officer Pablo Recaldo—as they learn about and grapple with the unfolding horror in the region. The possibility of progressive action, even on an individual basis, is a major theme here: Sterling, only 24 years old, drafts a bill that is eventually signed into California law, etc. I can't vouch for the movie yet, but let's get informed, follow some of the links and suggestions that the film and its website provide, and take whatever educated, active stances we can against the continuation of this global outrage.

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten - Should I stay on this political-soapbox tip or should I go see something a little more punk, namely this documentary on the recently deceased frontman of the Clash? What I mean is, should I stay or should I go? It's the beauty of movies, at least in major markets. You can do both.

W I D E
American Gangster - In yesterday's IMDb poll, this movie emerged as by far the most anticipated November release, which was a little hard for me to get, because the trailer looks all right but doesn't bowl me over. Denzel's "They tried to kill my WIFE!" moment seems as ill-advised as Reese's "Just tell me he's okAAAAAYYYY!!!" situation. And look how well that one turned out. Still, we are talking about Denzel + Russell + Ridley + Jay-Z, with some Harris Savides thrown in for the film nerds, some Cuba Gooding for the Boat Trip fans, and some Buffalo Bill for the serial killers, who may or may not also be the Boat Trip fans. The point is, this movie has much for everyone. It's even got Fab 5 Freddy! And if you've spent the last twelve years chairing all the meetings for your local Virtuosity fan club, your Day has truly Come, my friend. (Seriously, the reviews are encouraging.)

Bee Movie - A regular bee has two compound eyes, meaning they see hundreds of images simultaneously with their eyes wide open, to say nothing of the three smaller ocelli or mini-eyes in the middles of their heads. That's 2 x (factor of several hundred) + 3 more eyes = at least 500 eyes. Which is funny – and you knew where I was going with this – because Somebody Who Must Not Be Named But Who Gives Her Voice To This Movie has zero eyes! Apparently Shark Tale didn't give a sister a sufficiently memorable experience of what it's like to bee on board a schticky and tacky-looking animated movie about sassy animals. That zzzzz sound you hear isn't the bees, honey. It's me, at home, not seeing Bee Movie. But feel free to correct me if I'm missing an actual party.

Martian Child - Now, I'm not even playing: somebody in Hollywood is trying to kill me. How many times have I seen this trailer, and how many times have I asked, "WHY??" I did learn, to my astonishment, that the spookily pale and severe-looking kid whom John Cusack adopts from inside a cardboard box is actually not played by the spookily pale and severe-looking kid from the Ring movies. (Seriously, can I get a witness?) Presumably, the same alcoholic at New Line who green-lighted Hoot and Shoot 'Em Up and The Last Mimzy and Tenacious D and How to Eat Fried Worms is the culprit behind this latest. I bet the popular kids who shepherded The Golden Compass and Hairspray and The Lord of the Rings totally ostracize this poor Martian Child exec in the New Line cafeteria. I bet even the bookish and venal Little Children team might give him the big brush-off—adding insult to injury by repeating their rejections in needless voiceover. I feel sad for the Martian Child exec, but sadder for us. Because even while buying a ticket for a different movie, looking up and seeing the showtimes for something like this and remembering that it even exists adds that razor edge of degradation, that nauseating brush with the uncanny, to an otherwise happy night at the movies.

P L U S
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead finally rolls into my neck of the woods, and I am all, all, all excited. By contrast, Wristcutters: A Love Story, despite some good notices and Indie Spirit nominations last year, just can't get me to sign on. I think the title is trying too hard. Plus, Patrick Fugit has never appealed to me, and speaking of The Ring, Shannyn Sossamon has been getting her Samara on at all the premieres. So, I'm out. But the movie does expand to 91 screens this weekend, so with whatever time you've got left after saving Darfur and calling London and running from the bee bombardment of DreamWorks advertising, you can sneak this in and report back to the rest of us.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Hugh. Orlando. Denzel. Heath. Javier.

The Top 100 Actors of the Aughts Countdown continues with numbers #30 ~ #26.

Ledger You know that moment in Brokeback when...
Washington King Kong ain't got nothin' on him...
Bloom How long has it been since a movie star swashbuckled this well?
Bardem Hollywood actors don't seem half as manly...
Grant He threatened to retire earlier this decade...

Read the rest... then discuss right here in the comments!
A new poll is now up for your ranking pleasure.

tags: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Denzel Washington, Javier Bardem, Hugh Grant, movies, celebrities, actors, lists

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Thursday Triple: Great 90s Oscar Losers

(We started this tripled "Triple" right here. This be Part 2.)

3 Great Oscar Losing Lead Performances of the 90s
(I've excluded '95 as we've discussed a jillion times already.)



Denzel's towering "Malcolm X" loses to overcooked "Scent"ed ham (92)
If there is one truism I wish to impart on any unlucky Academy voter who chances upon my annual 'i hate you and your ass face' ravings about their poor-taste choices it is this: Award people when they are great. That way you don't have to award them later on and look stupid when you do. This backward glancing keeps the Oscars in a perpetual cycle of mediocrity (more on this when we get to the 00s)

Helena's cold heat in "Wings of the Dove" loses to some crappy TV star (97)
Don't get me started. I'm a Bonham-Carter fan and even I didn't know she had this level of control. This is an awesome performance. Presumably done in (Oscar-wise) because the character is unlikeable. And we can't have protagonists with non-endearing flaws winning prizes, now can we? That just wouldn't be right.

Ian McKellen's "God" among monsters loses to a flavor-of-milisecond (98)
Nevermind about what Benigni did to the Holocaust --can we talk about what he did to McKellen, Norton, and Nolte?

Agree? Disagree? Say so in the comments. Or list the three losses that hurt your heart most.