The Most Hilarious Thing About The Globe Nominations Is...

... no, no, no. It's NOT that hideous Comedy/Musical best picture lineup. It's even more absurdist than that.  

The most hilarious thing about the Golden Globe noms is...

[photos from: Return to Cranford and The Client List]

Dame Judi Dench vs. Jennifer Love Hewitt

Only at the Globes, people, only at the Globes.

This is the first and last circumstance in which they'll ever be mentioned in the same breath. We hope. LOL, this is so not a fair fight. (FWIW, the other nominees for Best Actress in a Miniseries are: Hayley Atwell in Pillars of the Earth, Emmy winner Claire Danes for Temple Grandin and Romola Garai in Emma.)

The Eyre Above

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JA from MNPP here. If Nat were around he'd perhaps do one of his "Yes No Maybe So" posts for this, but I've got nothing but yes for this, the first trailer for Cary Fukunaga's adaptation of Jane Eyre, which isn't out until March. (via)

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Fukunaga's Sin Nombre - and I know Nat agrees with me on this - is a wonderful film. Thrilling and moving and gorgeously shot. So no matter what he did next I'd have been paying attention, but an adaptation of Jane Eyre was not at all what I was expecting and that makes me even happier. Love it when a director throws a curve-ball. And the cast... the cast! Michael Fassbender, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins and Michael Fassbender... drool.


And that trailer is just stunning. I posted a slew of screencaps over at MNPP in case you want to ogle it that way. What do we think?
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Dame Judi is Rich

I've heard Dame Judi Dench perform this classic before but I somehow missed this particular performance from a Sondheim 80th birthday celebration this summer.



Isn't she rich?
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Dave on Kate as "Iris"

It's "Kate Winslet Day" Pass it on.

Iris doesn't really get mentioned much any more - I expect it'll be remembered in the footnotes of cinema for Jim Broadbent's Oscar win. But it also brought Kate Winslet her third Oscar nomination - her first since Titanic. It's probably the film that really made it clear that she would be one of the pre-eminent actresses of the 2000s. And it remains one of her finest, most overlooked performances.

The film intercuts between the deteriorating Iris Murdoch (Dame Judi Dench) and her husband's memories of her as a vibrant young intellectual who he fell in love with. Winslet moves between the effervescent passion with which Iris delivers all her philosophical reflections and her guarded, cautious approach to her actual life and work. But it'd be easy for Winslet to stick to simplistic characteristics as they are essentially all the film requires of her - it's John's memories, of course, and they could be played as uncomplicated remembrances. But Winslet gives the edge of slight condescension, hidden inadequacy, deep sensuality - and all the other things we see reflected in Dench's performance.

My main memory of the film is Winslet's squeals rising over the fade out of the previous scene where Iris has recieved the news about her condition - and then her younger self is carefreely spinning down a country road on a bicycle, a sad counterpoint to the older Iris' acceptance that her career, and her life, are ending. Or matching John's panic as he searches for Iris with more cycling and a yelled out discussion of Proteus. But as for her Oscar clip, that was probably either her soft, warm singing, or her confession of past lovers, delivered with a mix of defiance and tentative sadness. "You know more about me than anyone on earth... you are my world." It epitomizes what the film is about - what is, ultimately, a complex but dedicated love affair. And Kate delivers it beautifully.

Nine Thoughts I Had On... Nine

In lieu of a traditional review of Rob Marshall's Nine, which opens Friday in limited release and then expands a week later for the Christmas box office rush, I've opted for random thoughts, nine of them, strung together. This is a survival tactic. I've spent so long obsessing on the movie prior to its release (prior to even its casting given my enthusiasm for the mid-Aughts Broadway revival) that a review proper couldn't contain me. It would kill me. I got no choreography, I'll just have to spit out my words however they come out. Picture them flying from the blog like sand from Fergie's fingers

Beeeeeeeeee Italian. Beee Italian....

Story. The plot of Nine, as you may know, is about a film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) suffering an artistic crisis: His production team is ready to shoot, his costume designer (Judi Dench) is ready to stitch, his muse (Nicole Kidman) is ready to act but there's no script (!), no story even (!!!). I haven't read even one of the supposedly many negative reviews of Nine but surely some of them will gripe that the same is true of this movie. This is what's known as "missing the point". Nine is based on the stage musical Nine which is itself based on Federico Fellini's masterful 8½ and none of them have anything resembling a traditionally satisfying plot. Not the point. The original movie, the stage musical, and the new movie musical share a premise rather than a plot, which is the director's crisis. That's it. The concept is the plot. The rest is all flourish and curlicues of self awareness. It's the cinema as memoir or character study (only without the character... sort of. We'll get to that). Guido spends the movie running away from this crisis but the crisis follows him. You can't escape yourself.

"Guido... Ciao!" Guido, despite the character details embedded within his womanizing, his fame and general obsessiveness is not a fully fleshed-out character. I don't even think he was in original form in 8½ when he was played by Marcello Mastroianni though my memo

ry on this point might be faulty. It's been years since I've seen it. Guido is the stand-in for the offscreen author, around which everything swirls. This is why I think Daniel Day-Lewis is miscast. Here is an actor who is great at filling in details and what the role needs is someone upon whom the movie can project its issues. Day-Lewis is good at mapping out Guido's evasiveness and his oddly symbiotic self-regard and self-doubt but he's not good at being a blank slate for the man behind the curtain. Guido's most elaborately fleshed out incarnation was when he was called Joe Gideon in All That Jazz but that's another masterpiece altogether.

Or is it?

No Man Behind the Curtain In some ways though, Day-Lewis's detailing helps. For Nine doesn't come across as a self-portrait unless Rob Marshall is having a post Memoirs of a Geisha crisis. As well he should! All That Jazz is a far better musical interpretation of 8½ than Nine has ever been really, because it's also a self-portrait by a narcissistic but brilliant director. Nine the musical doesn't have and has never had that potent force of personality. But it does have...

Music. Which is delicious. I've heard a lot of griping from fellow critics that the songs aren't catchy but, right or wrong, I always view this particular gripe as a complaint of the unwashed masses, he said fully aware of his own musical snobbery. It's the same complaint you'll sometimes hear from tourists about Stephen Sondheim musicals. And Sondheim is a genius. The songs are just a little more challenging than those insant sing-a-longs that people who don't really love musicals want when they attend a musical. But even when you don't love a song, and I've listened to the original cast recording of Broadway's Nine revival hundreds of times and never found anything to love within "My Husband Makes Movies", one singer/actress's interpretation can change everything.

The Mrs. Marion Cotillard plays Luisa Contini and I call her a singer/actress because that's what she is. Her international breakthrough came while playing a singer (Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose) but she wasn't actually singing in that film. Who knew? She sings so well that she's able to act through her vocals without the dread talk-singing that many actors opt for [*cough* Daniel Day-Lewis and Johnny Depp] when they're trying to sing. She's doing both simultaneously and organically and it's exceptionally pleasing to the eyes and ears. You can tell that Rob Marshall knows it, too. It's the one moment in the film where he seems to just slow down (Nine is very ADD in its editing, as is the habit of most movies, particularly action films and musicals) and watch and it's mesmerizing. It's so mesmerizing that one of my least favorite songs in the show suddenly reveals itself as the key song, the film's highlight.

My husband makes movies.
To make them he lives a kind of dream
In which his actions aren't always what they seem.
He may be on to some unique romantic theme.
Some men catch fish, some men tie flies, some earn their living baking bread.
My husband, he goes a little crazy...
Making movies instead.

The Cast. Not everyone fares as well. Kate Hudson can dance but she's saddled with an extraneous character and the worst number, a horrid if catchy song "Cinema Italiano" that was written for the film (for what purpose, I do not know. Perhaps to educate young audiences about mainstream America's fascination with foreign auteurs in the 50s and 60s?). I hate this song but suspect we'll be hearing it on the Oscar broadcast. Whatever my feelings about Kate Hudson, I hope she agrees to perform it. It sucks when movie stars are replaced by other people when the Oscar performance of their song rolls around.

The Song Score. I've tried but I can't let it go. I have no idea why Marshall thought it wise to remove "Nine" which is a far better number for Sophia Loren (playing Guido's Mamma) than the new lullaby she's given. And the film's title makes little sense without the number. Marshall has also removed "Simple" which is one of the best songs in the whole score, and which might have been a terrific way of pulling all the female supporting characters together. Nine in its new form has a distressing tendency to separate all its players on their own soundstages as if they're all figments of Guido's imagination. Even if that's a valid read of the story, it seems to me that they should start colliding once Guido's compartmentalized world starts crumbling. "Simple" was the number to do that. That said, the new number "Take It All" is a great addition, again focusing on Marion Cotillard's soulful performance and vocal prowess. She's so good in the film, she nearly justifies the restructured if rather more generic emphasis on Failed Marriage that this new Nine leans so heavily on. At the expense of...

The Muse & The Mistress. Claudia (Nicole Kidman) and Carla (Penélope Cruz) aren't quite as prominent here as they have been in past incarnations but both movie stars send jolts of electricity through the film with their diva entrances. Kidman is the first woman to enter the film, blissfully appropriately bathed in spotlight in the film's opening swirl of cast introductions. Claudia must have been the hardest role to cast, since the character isn't in much of the film but must convey something you can't act: global fame, untouchable star persona. I can't think of many actresses outside of Kidman who could have sold this role... possibly Angelina Jolie? So Kidman's vocal limitations -- she has a pleasant enough voice but it's not musically specific enough to match the depth of her normal acting -- aren't as much of a problem as they would be in another role. Cruz, has a different problem. She's terrific in the film but for her big scene, the musicals best number, which she undersells. She's sensationally sexy in "A Call From the Vatican", don't get me wrong. But her adroit skill with comedy is partially lost in the musical performance (the lyrics to "Vatican" are hilarious and it's tough to hear them in Cruz's rendition). She's far far better in her non-singing scenes where she totally nails both the drama of Carla's desperation and the comedy of her guileless desire "I'll be waiting right here. With my legs open."

Marshall. If it sounds like I'm hopelessly contradictory about the quality of Nine, I am. The source material (both on stage and previously on film) is strong and Marshall's wise decisions are frustratingly intermingled with his poor ones (and the latter will make some people justifiably cuh-razy). Chief among the triumphs is his choice of cinematographer. Dion Beebe does phenomenal work and its a marked improvement on his similarly premised work on Chicago. Marshall also stages the musical numbers well (unobscured by eager film editing, I'm guessing they'd be great on stage). "Be Italian", while arguably too similar to Chicago's "Cell Block Tango", is still thrilling to watch and ferociously performed by Fergie.

Even while I was enjoying the numbers I found myself still resenting Marshall's status as THE go to man for film musicals, especially since he doesn't seem to fully trust the form. He employs, again, the overly literal notion/gimmick that musical numbers must take place in the imagination because people don't sing in real life. Note to everyone: If people don't like to watch people burst into song, they probably aren't going to go to musicals. People who go to musicals WANT to see people burst into song. It's not a realist film genre.

The only huge disappointment in terms of a "number" is Judi Dench's "Folies Bergeres". It's so busy visually that it runs into the same problem as Chicago's "Razzle Dazzle" number: so many bright competing colors combined with too much movement and it all becomes a muddy mess. And it goes on forever.

But again for every couple of failures, a triumph: the finale is perfect. And don't you have to end well? Marshall closes the movie with an inspired, beautifully simple fusion of stage trope and literal movie-making. The finale is both a curtain call and a new beginning and I left the movie theater humming Nine's 'lalalalalas'.

You should always leave a musical humming.

Grade: B

If you must know it's like... Marion: A, Penélope: A (but for "A Call From the Vatican" which is a B), The original score: A-, the two new big songs: B+ and D, Nicole: B+, Judi: B+ (but for "Folies Bergeres" a C), Fergie: B (but please note: this is not an acting role), Daniel Day-Lewis: B-, Sophia Loren: exempt from grading. She's only there because they have to do something authentic for Italia!. Kate Hudson: C , Rob Marshall: C+

On the Nine Test Screenings

I've been withholding. Not purposefully or vindicatively but all the same...

I've heard from two readers who saw Nine (the musical!) at two different test screenings and I thought it was time to share their reactions.


The first to write me (test screener #1) saw what might have been an earlier cut in the summer. The second (test screener #2), whom I've met and who looooves musicals, saw it this past Monday. I didn't ask them to do this but they both divided their thoughts by actor, so let's take it that way. Neither of them gave many details about the songs that have been cut and added but I've been alarmed to read elsewhere about the multiple changes, including switching characters on key songs and the removal of "Nine". It's the title song, people! How can you go without? But the movie doesn't open until November 25th so perhaps they're still tinkering.

The lucky bastards disagree on Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role of the blocked film director

Test Screener #1: Great in this film. He can sing, he can dance, and he brings out nuances in Guido Contini I didn't know existed from the stageplay.
Test Screener #2: DDL is typically good, but it's certainly one of his weaker efforts. He'll likely be in the hunt since he's the lead and I imagine the film to go over well with AMPAS, so I'd keep him in the top 10 tier for now, but I'm sure that you've been right all along - he won't be nominated.

But what about the glamourous actresses swirling around him? Both readers jump to Judi Dench next and here they also disagree.

TS #1: She's terrific. Her "Follies Bergeres" is well sung with style, presence, wit, and a gleam in her eye. She looks killer in a bodice, too. It's her sass-mouthed wry Queen Elizabeth from Shakespeare in Love blessed with magical sewing fingers and a 1960s bob. Consider her a contender in Supporting Actress if the film breaks out in a big way.
TS#2: Dench is fine but nothing remarkable. I know she has been nominated for unremarkable work in the past, but her character and screen time are too limited to warrant a nomination. I'd take her out of the top 10, or at least keep her near the bottom.

Split decisions again.

Rob Marshall directing two of the best screen actors on the planet --->

Both movie mad guys shrug off TFE favorite Nicole Kidman as the visiting movie star Claudia. I knew that the role wouldn't be large having seen both Fellini's masterpiece and the stage musical it inspired but I always spark to the possibilities of any Kidman appearance. Hopefully I'll feel differently when I see the film.

TS #1: Gets to look pretty in a dress. And not move her forehead.
TS#2: They build up to her character's appearance, and once she finally appears, they give her a boring musical number that's oddly patched together. It's a small role, and not a great use of her talents.

In the stage play Claudia sings the best song "In a Very Unusual Way" (previous post) but perhaps Kidman has the same problem here that I pointed to when writing about her ballad in Moulin Rouge! In short, she isn't a born/trained singer and slow emotionally intricate numbers only come off spectacularly if the performer is a musical professional. It's the danger of casting for stardom rather than musical ability though Claudia is a role that requires true A list mystique so perhaps Kidman was the only choice that would have worked.

The rest of the cast? Looks like Kate Hudson will be a polarizing part of Nine.

TS#1: Hudson is fantastic in a very limited role. Her one number (new for the film?) is the absolute highlight. It's slick, stylish, well sung, well choreographed, and catchy. This early cut of the film used it as the ending credits song, so I'm assuming it's brand new. I can see a Globe nod for Hudson (and an Original Song win if it is new), but I think her character isn't meaty enough to breakthrough elsewhere.

No, Fergie Ferg cannot act to save her life. Rob Marshall actually shot her solo song around her physical placement in the scene, never coming close to zooming in on her doing anything other then pouting her lips and tossing sand in the air.

Sophia Loren is the biggest victim of the changes to the script and score but she's great in the smallest role.

TS#2: The consensus of the people I went with was that Hudson was awful. Loren doesn't do much. Fergie just has the one scene (the song in the trailer), but it's quite a scene and she undoubtedly has the best voice in the film.

In keeping with the other buzz you might have been reading or hearing, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard were both big hits with the test screeners and Oscar nominations might be coming

TS #1: Curse Cruz for winning the Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. This is easily her best performance and she steals every single scene she's in. She has the meatiest role of anyone in the film and milks it for all its worth. Think Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago - Cruz juices this orange down to the pith and drains it of every delicious, sexy drop. "A Call From the Vatican" is probably the single sexiest moment I've ever seen in a filmed musical, even with more clothes on than I expected. The only reason I wouldn't consider her a lock in Supporting Actress is her recent win.

Marion Cotillard is the safest bet for a Supporting Actress nomination. With so much of the music eliminated from the film, Cotillard is the only one to benefit from clear additional screentime. She gets to show the most range in her vocals, from soft and vulnerable to raunchy and wild. It's pure Oscar Bait suffering wife, only with singing and dancing and sexy costumes.

TS#2: The two best performances were definitely Cruz and Cotillard. As a Penélope fanatic, I'd give the edge to her. She KILLS in her musical number and is quite funny and sexy throughout her entire performance. However, her musical sequence is the second in the film and the film forgets about her early on... I wouldn't bet on a nomination.

If anyone gets Oscar-nominated, it's likely to be Marion Cotillard. She has the most sympathetic role, and she pulls it off. Her first musical number is fairly low-key but it's generally moving and she pulls off a great second musical sequence. Ultimately, she's the character you care about and the one people will likely remember.

The horniest (known) call ever made from the Vatican

Neither of them consider the movie an unqualified success though they both obviously enjoyed it. Some final thoughts:

TS #1: Rob Marshall's direction is near-perfection. The difficult integration of fantasy/reality brought on by Guido's crisis is genius. The problems mostly come from the screenplay's adaptation choices. What could be a strong examination of deep emotional issues is whitewashed. For all the sexuality in the movie, the film has been turned into a sanitized version of a very engrossing and original musical eliminating any psychological complexity beyond "my husband doesn't love me" or "I'm very stressed". All the elements are there that a fan of the show would know, just not in a recognizable form. It pulls its cues from the lighter Broadway revival, down to a slightly more optimistic ending in a single staging decision. The screenplay pulls every punch, reducing what could be a knock-out climax to a slap on the wrist.

TS#2: I can tell you that it's a very good film that will likely go over very well with the Academy. It's made in the same style as Chicago -- the musical numbers are fantasies -- and I think it works. I don't think it's a GREAT film, but it was entertaining and handsomely made.

So there you have it. Or two of it. Moviegoing is a personal thing, even when the theater is sold out. Your reaction may well differ and maybe these two voices won't be 'on consensus' but if they are, Oscar will bite in several categories (as most expected) and Marion Cotillard is the one to watch for Oscar... again.

my current Oscar predictions
For more on the film or any of its actors, click on the labels below.
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Hump Day Hotties: The Cast of Nine

Hello, all. Kieran here (aka the Know nothing Know it All) filling in for Nathaniel with another edition of Hump Day Hotties. Okay...so I have a problem with Nine. I'm a little obsessed, but I'm trying to be guarded about my excitement. We've heard the famous “The Musical is Back!” tune many times (and to no avail) over the aughts, that one has must be guarded. For every Chicago and Moulin Rouge!, there are several Rents, Producers, Dreamgirls, Hairsprays and Sweeney Todds (in ascending order of achievement), failing to land that elusive best picture nod. A plus: Nine is helmed by the man who last took a musical all the way to the win, and is sometimes credited for bringing the musical back (even though he didn't). Regardless of how the film fares, you can't deny that the talent has talent...and hotness in spades.

Marion Cotillard

That Oscar still burns a big question mark in my brain. I'm more forgiving than some of her turn in La Vie en Rose. The movie is undeniably (and often unbelievably) awful, but I haven't decided how much of that is her fault. Still...cute as a button!

Penelope Cruz

She's on a career roll, recently capped off with a very well-deserved Oscar win. Even the trailer seems aware of how sexy she is, showing mere glimpses of her lingerie clad legs, building up to her full awesomeness, as if knowing we can't handle her all at once.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Fun fact: Didyou know that all four of Day-Lewis's Oscar nominated performances came with accompanying best picture nominations? And...he's obviously no slouch either.

Dame Judi Dench

I don't discriminate based on age. Poise, grace and style are sexy, damn it, and Dame Judi has it all. She's always delightful, even when phoning it in. I would love to see anyone try to tell Judi that she isn't sexy, and get met with a fierce “You're not young! I say this to help you.”

Nicole Kidman

I ALWAYS rush to Kidman's defense. Her celebrity often overshadows the talent. People miss what a daring risk-taker she is in her acting choices, fixating on financial flops, rather than taking notice of how bewitching she was in her non-Oscar-nominated performances such as (wait for it) Birth, Dogville, Margot at the Wedding, The Others, To Die For, The Portrait of a Lady, Eyes Wide Shut, Fur, etc. etc. etc. And I can't wait to hear her sing again

Sophia Loren

One of the few international symbols of sexiness. She is legendary and has herself said that “Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got.” Amen, sister.

And thus concludes my rundown of the cast members of Nine who happen to be sexy. Happy Hump Day!

Oscar Updates: Supporting Actress

Since April's predictions, three things have happened concerning this category.

1. Mo'Nique's buzz continued to grow for Precious (formerly Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire... why hasn't the IMDB changed this title? It's been weeks, nay, months)
2. The NINE trailer debuted and surprisingly it hung on Judi Dench's dry humor and Fergie's vocals rather than on Daniel Day-Lewis or his three paramours (Cruz / Kidman / Cotillard)
3. Cannes didn't do much for Imelda Staunton's buzz for Taking Woodstock. Though folks in the know expect reaction outside of Cannes to be more favorable since the film is light and funny. Cannes isn't so big on light and funny.

Dench could still be tripped up should she not win "best in show" reviews or if the film disappoints. But Mo'Nique is good to go. We already know that Precious doesn't disappoint. More and more people are fans. I suspect it will be a major player at the fall festivals (Toronto & New York) before its theatrical launch.

UPDATED PREDIX - Supporting Actress
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Nine for NINE

The first official trailer (not that blurry ET preview) has arrived for Nine the musical.

Nine Trailer from Daniel Shannon on Vimeo.

Naturally as a musical and actress nut, I'm beyond excited. It's a doubled whammy. My excitement is slightly tempered by the instant recall of that 2005 migraine known as Memoirs of a Geisha (Rob Marshall's got some atoning to do).

But it sure do look purty, don't it?

9 reasons I must see Nine right now

9. To witness the return of Sophia Loren (see previous post)



8. Because of the extreme likelihood of technical Oscar nominations. I need my own opinion on the cinematography, set, costumes, sound, editing but I can't get that until I see the damn thing. It's all about context. Especially when there's so much razzle dazzle.


7. To ogle the costuming. I'm not really one for gawking at Kate Hudson but I'm trying to be inclusive with these 9 photos. I'm a swell guy.


6. Perhaps I'll finally understand the world's Marion Cotillard fixation? Perhaps not. I won't know until she's singing "My Husband Makes Movies"


5. To parse the garish shots of Fergie as Saraghina, including the black and white beach shot. They make me curious to see whether Rob Marshall is going to either:

• ape Federico Fellini's 8 ½ whenever possible
  
• mimic the stage musical (the trailer looks really stage bound! Why does it look like all the musical numbers take place there? Is he using that Chicago framing device again?)
  
• awkwardly stitch them together into a glossy Frankenstein movie
  
• create a new beautiful hybrid we'll fondly call 9½

4. For the possible thrill of watching Daniel Day-Lewis give a loose funny physical performance. Can he sing? Can he dance?


3. To enjoy the chemistry between Dame Judi Dench and (Sir) Daniel Day-Lewis. It looks pretty appealing, yes?


2. To see, hear, eat, breathe, obsess over, drink up and drool on Penélope Cruz and her hopefully ace rendition of "A Call From the Vatican" (Though Jane Krakowski sure is a tough act to follow)

1. Nicole Kidman, duh.

A glamorous actress I love playing a glamourous actress who sings songs I love? I'm in. In fact, I don't just need to see this movie right now. I need to see it now and then I need them to respool the projector and show it to me again. And then I need to upload the soundtrack to my iPhone.

In a perfect world all of this would be happening today on May 14th rather than 194 days from now but this is not a perfect world.

Tell us your 9 immediate first reactions to the trailer. Don't censor yourself. Just nine bullet points off the top of your head...
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Linkables and NINE

In Contention no Kidman in Woody Allen's 2010 picture. Sorry folks. I don't wanna say I told ya so. But...
Low Resolution on the Whatever Works trailer. Woody may be back in NYC but he's never really approached southerners and gay characters before, has he?
Boy Culture a very gay 'blind item'
Cinema de Merde on X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Should you watch it? No, you should probably clean your room instead

And Your Little Blog, Too sees Debbie Reynolds in concert. Molly Brown, still Unsinkable
Hollywood Elsewhere on the talk about Sherlock Holmes "bromance" between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr
The Quiet Earth Sweden has another vampire movie.
Art of the Title Sequence looks at the Hulk movies
The Post Game Show American Idol's God vs. Devil showdown. It's no secret that I don't care a whit about AI. I think it's rotting people's brains ever faster than the Hulu aliens could have dreamed. But despite that, I made it all the way through this article and enjoyed it which means ~ must read (if you're into AI).
Thompson on Hollywood keeps us up to date on Sony Pictures Classics. They're buying what's selling at Cannes. In addition to new films from Almodovar, Allen and Michael Haneke, they've actually bought both Coco Chanel pictures: Coco Avant Chanel and Coco Chanel and Igory Stravinsky. I know the spin is that they want them both but I'm guessing it's so that someone else doesn't release one of them at the same time as the one they really wanted. Or am I too cynical?

And finally, ET's Nine preview (via). It's hard to pull anything really fron this preview really... all quick cuts and circling ladies... bad sound. But the marketing team is leaning heavily towards Dame Judi Dench, don't you think?



This just in 05/14: THE REAL TRAILER HAS ARRIVED

We Can't Wait #20 Nine (The Musical)

Directed by Rob Marshall
Starring 5 Oscar winners, 2 previous nominees and, uh, Fergie
Synopsis This tuner is an adaptation of the 80s Broadway musical which was itself an adaptation of Federico Fellini's autobiographical fantasia 8½, which concerns a movie director who is creatively stuck. He seeks inspiration as his various female muses circle and/or compete for his attention
Brought to you by Oscar seeking mad man Harvey Weinstein and Rob Marshall's hefty pair (seriously, he's taking on memories of a Broadway classic AND the ghost of Fellini? Good luck with that, sir)
Expected Release Date Thanksgiving

Nicole loves Daniel in "A Very Unusual Way"

Nathaniel: I'm a sucker for a big movie musical and I think this is the rare stage musical that might be improved by bringing it to the screen. It is about the cinema after all. And since it's also about the siren call of sensationally attractive women (Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Marion Cotillard chief among them) I'm salivating and assuming the best.

I couldn't help but notice that this wasn't on JA's list but I think he doth protest too much. I bet he laughs heartily when Cruz does "A Call from the Vatican", cheers when Judi Dench reminisces about the "Folies Bergere" and weeps when Sophia Loren sings "Nine" to her baby son in grown man's body (Daniel Day-Lewis).

JA: Did I just get called out? I think I just got called out. It's not like I have a secret Fosse closet at home where I sneak every night like Carrie with her St. Sebastien statue and pay to the gods of jazz hands for some sassy forgiveness for my musical bashing sins, Nathaniel. No... not like that at all. La la la... hey, look, there's a big gory slasher movie!

Anyway, the cast is terrific - though I'm mostly curious about seeing Daniel Day Lewis hoof it - and I will probably watch this at some point. I don't think it'll be opening weekend at the Zeigfeld though because I still have traumas from seeing Chicago that way and dodging the audience's enthusiastic in-time dance-steps. Shudder. That so was not my scene.

As a side-note I need to admit that I have a deep irrational fear of Sophia Loren - when I was a little JA my grandmother told me that Loren was a witch and it terrified me; I've never seen her in a movie because of it. This movie will probably bust my Loren cherry.

Joe: This movie is yanking me in all directions. On the one hand, sprawling casts full of accomplished "name" talent like this are catnip to me, and Rob Marshall did a fine job with his last Broadway adaptation. But this particular cast? I can't argue with the talent, but none of them are actors I get excited about. The closest I get is probably Judi Dench, and I'm kind of fascinated imagining just what she'll do in this kind of movie. Of course, the fact that the Kidman, Day-Lewis, Cruz, and Cotillard fanbases will all be converging at once almost guarantees that I'll be turned off by the time opening weekend comes. In the meantime, I'll occupy myself imaging the conversations Nicole and Penélope got up to over lunch.

Fox: This is kind of one of those bizarre screen -> to stage -> to screen transmorphations a la Hairspray, yes? I would hate to see 8½ get buried somewhere under the two new layers on top of it. Though, kudos to the playwright for at least rounding the title up to 9 (Nine) so the young ones don't get confused.

My ignorance of Broadway: After we saw Chicago I turned to my wife and said "Hmm, I really liked those songs. Who do you think wrote them?". She looked at me the way Nathaniel is probably looking at his screen right now.

Whitney: I always think I don't like musicals, and then I go and see something like Chicago and go on a "He Had it Comin'" kick that lasts three weeks. Oh, and I really like The Wiz. Daniel Day Lewis should star in a new remake of The Wiz.


Nathaniel: Readers, your turn. Will you ease on down this road for DDL and assorted goddesses... or maybe one in particular? Do tell in the comments. [see also: several previous posts]

In case you missed any entries they went like so...
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We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
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There is Nothing Like A Dame Two Dames

Dame Judi Dench

photo source

Dame Jude Law

first spotted at Filmonic

It somehow escaped me that Jude & Judi had made a film together for auteur Sally Potter. I love it when name actors do one for their art. Well played, ladies.

This film, a treatise on the commodification of beauty, is called Rage and Jude plays "Minx" a supermodel whose beauty is deteriorating. Law is almost always at his best when he plays up (or directly against) his considerable beauty so I'm all kinds of excited to see him work his star mojo here. The rest of the cast is equally to die for: Eddie Izzard, Dianne Wiest, Bob Balaban, Adriana Barraza... Someone pinch me! Is Potter trying to possess my very soul?

Her films aren't always "good" but they're always worth grappling with whether they be rhyming oddities (Yes) beautiful disasters (The Man Who Cried) self-involved larks (Tango Lesson) or... you know, garden variety masterpieces (Orlando). Had I known about this movie, which premieres at Berlinale later this month, I would have put it high up on my "We Can't Wait" list.

Related Post Jude Law #1 Actor of the Aughts (the first half anyway, 2000-2005)
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Seven For Nine

Hot damn!

[img src ~ better quality but smaller image here]

It's Dame Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Marion "Piaf" Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Fergie, the Goddess Kidman and Goldie Hawn's daughter for Rob Marshall's film version of Nine.

If I weren't so excited for another big studio/big budget film musical I'd nitpick that this looks like a lost still from Chicago. But who can express reservation whilst trembling with actressexual fervor*? The best thing about Nine the stage musical (adapted from Federico Fellini's autobiofantastical 8½) is the circus of women surrounding film director Guido and even with Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido Contini, the best thing about the movie will surely be this circle of divas.

Awards history:
Oscar speculation fanatics who aren't familiar with this musical should know that the show-stopping parts from the stage show belong to Cruz as Guido's horny mistress Carla (this was a TONY award winning role in the Broadway revival for the delicious Jane Krakowski) and Dench as legendary showgirl Liliane la Fleur (a TONY award winning role in the original production and a nominated role in the revival). Another reason why Cruz may be the one to watch: Carla gets not one but two of the show's best songs "A Call from the Vatican" and "Simple". Nicole Kidman plays Guido's actress muse Claudia. In a potential pop culture explosion she'll duet with the other Tom Cruise ex on "Simple". Kidman also gets the show's most haunting ballad "A Very Unusual Way". One final note: Oscar's obsession with long-suffering wives in the Supporting Actress category could put Marion Cotillard (Luisa Contini) into play as well. Fellini's 8½ was nominated for 6 Oscars but none for its cast.

Here's Antonio Banderas as Guido @ the Tony Awards and Chita Rivera as Liliane on Broadway. Just reimagine these numbers with Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench


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*Among those who can nitpick are commenters at DListed. One of whom quips

This movie looks like its about a bunch of vampire hookers.

It's not... but let's get that movie made too, mmmkay?
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Hump Day Hotties, "M" and "Bond"

Your eyes do not deceive you. This is Dame Judi Dench working both daring cleavage and henna tattoo @ the premiere of Quantum of Solace


My guess: She's been hanging with Dame Minx Helen Mirren. Well, "M" is the original Bond girl in a way. But this is so Quantum of Mirren, is it not?

Oh... I won't deny you a little Daniel Craig, too. But you must always remember that I saw him first. And long before he was licensed to kill at that. I only loan him to the rest of the world now that he's in demand. I'm a giver.


So sexy he hurts ...himself (see far right, also from the premiere). One assumes there are millions who wish to kiss it better.

I would really like Quantum of Solace to be open right now. Not two weeks and some days from now, thank you very much. Can M and Bond ever make that crazy relationship work? You can always cut the tension between them with a knife.

previously on Hump Day Hotties
Sigourney Weaver, Lee Pace, Matthew Goode, Penélope Cruz... and more
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Nine is the New 10

So, casting for Rob Marshall's Nine - ie, the movie adaptation of the musical which itself was inspired by a play which was an adaptation of Fellini's 8 1/2 movie (dizzy yet?) has been a Hollywood wet dream. The latest news come from ComingSoon.net who are saying that F to the E R G to the I E is in talks to join the already star studded cast (a Chicago gal Ms Velma Kelly, an Edith Piaf, a milkshake drinking oil man (sans son), a Dame Mrs Brown, a smouldering temptress Satine, an always returning Raimunda, a certain Ms Penny Lane and Sophia Loren - yes, she's a character unto herself!)

First I tried to think whether spelling bee-licious Fergie had ever been in a movie and of course Planet Terror and Poseidon memories kept whopping back (I tried to keep the latter's at bay, of course)... and then I wondered: what is Mr Marshall thinking? In any other movie this would be stunt casting or a way to draw in the crowds - but really, isn't the star wattage and the solid fan base for the musical enough?

What do you readers think? N to a Ay Why or Why to Ay Y Re: Ms Fergie in Rob Marshall's Nine?