Out, Rich and Powerful. Envy Them!

I can't resist a list. I try to resist, I do. Out Magazine just released their list of the 50 most powerful gays in the world. They've judged them on

1. political clout
   
2. cultural resonance
   
3. individual wealth
   
4. personal profile... whatever that means

I don't know why they couldn't have made it a Top 51 so that I could appear. I mean have they forgotten

1. How I campaigned for Meryl Streep's birthday to be a Federal Holiday and for her face to be carved into Mount Rushmore and both things came to pass? [shut up!]
   
2. How I invented* actressexuality and the blogosphere totally uses the word now?
   
3. HA HA HAhaha haha... um, this is not funny. Disqualified!
4. I didn't understand what 'personal profile' meant anyway.
   

Maybe if they had a Top 1,000,001 powerful gays and lesbians list, I'd make that one ??? I'm losing the thread. Oh yes, power. And those who have it. Like many a website that thrives on "page views" Out has made the list hard to navigate so that you have to click on 50 different pages to read it. So I've done the work for you. Here are the ranks useful to our purposes here at the Film Experience i.e. people that are involved in movies and/or narrative television. It's not a list of out actors (like that list I made some time ago) but of the very successful / powerful and mostly offscreen movers and shakers.

• #10 David Geffen, the G in Dreamworks SKG. Remember that hilarious rumor in the 90s that he was married to Keanu Reeves. HA! The internet is so weird sometimes.
  
• #14 Gus Van Sant, Milk delivery man. I hope he gets another shot at Oscar. It's quite an interesting filmography and singular too, despite all the borrowing from Bela Tarr.
  
• #18 Scott Rudin, Oscar Lust in Humanoid Form. See also: Julie & Julia, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Notes on a Scandal, The Queen, The Hours, Closer, Iris...
• #25 Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter/Oscar winner/ridiculously young looking 35 year old. I'm curious as to how he'll follow Milk up (I'm talking features... not MTV telefilms)
• #26 Bryan Lourd & Kevin Huvane, CAA partners. If someone made a movie about CAA it'd probably be as crazy / shady as SD-6 on Alias or possibly the Dollhouse, don't you think?

Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible and with his actor boyfriend David Burtka (who was excellent in Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby some years back Off Broadway). Burtka is from Michigan like myself and one of my best friends from high school even knows him *gag* [/name dropping]. Blah blah blah... In short, if NPH were a movie star, I would probably never stop talking about him. You've been spared!

• #28 Neil Patrick Harris, TV star. I love NPH but mostly because he sings so beautifully and happens to be hilarious. That said, I haven't seen How I Met Your Mother. I can't do laugh track shows anymore. I honestly can't and I have tried. Even the funny ones make me cringe. 30 Rock, Sex & the City and Arrested Development among others have spoiled me forever. I will laugh when I damn well please, thank you very much, TV suits.
  
• #29 Michael Patrick King, Sex & the City svengali
  
• #35 Wanda Sykes. Hilarious diva. Also moonlights as cartoon animals with alarming frequency.
  

Unprolific Jodie: Only three lead roles this entire decade?
Prolific Greg: 1 movie, 6 tv series this decade alone. Writing/producing Green Lantern

• #36 Jodie Foster. I'm a smidge annoyed that the gay media keeps saying she's out because she mentioned her partner Cydney once at an industry function. That's technically "out" but if you adjust for the proportional scale of being a household name and one of the most famous respected celebrities on the planet, Jodie is still a stealth lesbian. I also find it hilarious that the article mentions her Leni Riefenstahl biopic. Like that's ever going to happen. That's becoming as funny / fantastical as every new casting announcement for Flora Plum. It's too bad really that she never gets anything off the ground because I'm confident that both those movies would be way more fascinating than the next thriller she'll inevitably agree to star in next.
  
• #38 Tom Ford, He Who Whispers in Naked Keira's Ear. His debut feature as a writer/director A Single Man starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore is due this year. But there's always that fashion icon thang for a safety net. What a safety net, huh?
  
• #47 Greg Berlanti TV man. I once hated him (long story but it involved The Broken Hearts Club) I have since learned the error of my ways and am completely addicted to Brothers & Sisters. He's totally gorgeous and talented. So in a sense, yes, I still hate him.
• #49 Simon Halls and Stephen Huvane of PMK/HBH. Their PR firm represents Jennifer Aniston, Julianne Moore, Uma Thurman, Anne Hathaway and Neil Patrick Harris. (4 out of 5 ain't bad!)
  

Now that I'm done sharing this information I've realized I have no idea what these lists are for. To make mere civilians jealous?

* Technically speaking George Cukor invented it. Or maybe Warren Beatty. But they didn't name it, did they?!

A Wedding

I can't imagine directing one.

Francis Coppola on the set of The Godfather

I hadn't been to a wedding in so long and suddenly I can't escape. I blame my niece, the first infant in my life (I was the baby of the family), who up and got married last year making me feel ancient. She seems to have set off a trend. Strangely, three of my five closest girlfriends are getting married back to back to back in the hot months this year: Texas, New York, New Jersey. Will your summer be as matrimonial and festive?

What's your favorite movie wedding?

P.S. Here's a newish Vanity Fair article on the making of The Godfather films, from which I snagged the photo above.

April Showers: Dollhouse 1.8

"April Showers" evenings at 11:00 all month long.

I'm killing two birds with one stone tonight, by starting the April Showers series with the latest visit to Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. [Here are thoughts on episode 1, 2 and 3 and 4 through 7 in case you missed them.] "Needs", the 8th episode, pleasantly dispenses with the usual three-plot structure. Hopefully the writers have realized that they've been leaning too heavily on the imprint assignment plots. The Dollhouse itself is the heart of the show. It's where most of the good potential metaphors lurk, this episode hinting that the writers might eventually find them. The Dollhouse could be entertainment itself (actors playing dress up / people as product) or a dysfunctional home (the executives as bad parents, the dolls as abused children, the handlers as elder siblings? enabling spouses?). If it keeps going in this direction Dollhouse might eventually be able to do what Buffy the Vampire Slayer once excelled at: illuminating universal emotional realities within outlandish genre trappings.

I love that this episode's plot essentially mirrors our own everyday routines: We wake up (for the dolls something's gone wrong. They don't know who or where they are), eat breakfast (The troubled dolls -- Sierra, Victor (Enver Gjokaj), Echo and Millie are terrified about the simplicity of the other dolls and their banal pleasantries about bananas), we shower to get ready for the big day ahead (for the Dolls, it's a co-ed experience. They didn't see that coming. The kids in the idyllic garden have finally realized they're naked).

What's so smart about this eighth episode is that each of these regular daily events fills the troubled dolls with fear and confusion. Essentially they're damaged children in adult bodies. Reality is going to be difficult for them. But the show, like all of Whedon's shows, has several tones to juggle. The shower scene is played for comedy but we've been prepped for it. Previous episodes have made the funny about Victor's "man reactions".

Victor walks by Sierra, averts eyes.

He's not supposed to pop a boner in the shower when he sees Sierra but he always does, which has caused much hand wringing among the staff. The dolls imprinting should be keeping them in a childlike state. The tingly parts are for paying customers only!

So Sierra and Victor enter the shower together. The newly aware Sierra warns Victor to watch where he looks and Victor tries to. He recites sports figures to stay calm. (I've been meaning to ask straight boys if this really works to prevent "man reactions". My equivalent would be Oscar statistics but I think that would just get me hotter. TMI!!!)

Mike (right) swims several laps every day. Sadly we don't watch him do so.

Weirdly none of the dolls get wet. Sierra looks a bit sweaty but that's it. The co-ed shower has more steam than water (It's network television. I guess steam comes in handy). The dolls have a weird encounter with "Mike" (adonis Teddy Sears) who's been reprogrammed. I love it when the dolls seem eerily vacant. The show is more fun when they tilt ever so slightly towards creepy and away from stupid.

Finally we move into the "get dressed" and "leave home" parts of the daily routine and here's where things really pick up, metaphorically speaking. The dolls find their wardrobes. The Dollhouse suddenly feels like a television set? Ooh, the places they could take this show, you know. Please be renewed for a second season. Pretty please.

Naturally the "leaving home" part doesn't work out well. (It's all been a test for the staff and a medical experiment with the dolls who've been showing memory glitches). They can't really leave. They're broken. Even if they escape the Dollhouse they're still dolls. Have you ever tried walking away from your troubles? Your troubles come with. B+

2009 Oscar Predictions, The Actors

We've chatted about the women. Now it's time for the men.

I'll start with the big omission news. I know most every Oscar pundit is predicting Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine (the Musical) but I think they're all forgetting an important and peculiar truth: DDL does not get nominated for performances that center around his romantic relationships. Even when the Academy likes the film.

Consider...

• A Room With a View (1986) 8 noms/3 wins
  
• My Beautiful Laundrette (1986) 1 nomination.
  He wasn't a known commodity in 86 but his double dip was incredibly chameleonic. And in two movies that were raved far and wide and that Oscar voters liked.
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) 1 nom/1 win.
  Certainly one of the most bizarre Oscar snubbings ever for an entire film. It was epic, beautiful, period, popular and moving. And it got one nomination... for sound?
  
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) 2 nominations
  
• The Age of Innocence (1993) 5 noms/ 1 win
  
• The Crucible (1996) 2 nominations
  

Oscar loves Day-Lewis when he's malevolently masculine (Gangs and There Will Be Blood) or when he's starring in biopics (Left Foot, In the Name of...). But when he's romancing the ladies? "No thanks!" says the average voter. Even when the romance is a "wow" (Mohicans) or when the movie manages an acting nomination (Crucible, Innocence) they still pass. I'm not seeing it. Here are my BEST ACTOR predictions.

I generally do well at Actor predictions this early, managing 2 or 3 of the 5. Yet Best Actor was hard to suss out beyond Morgan Freeman this year. He's the only person in any category you can probably ink in already. Revered actor playing famous recognizable role + Eastwood + bio elements (though thankfully it focuses on one time period) = they will go nuts.

Supporting Actor was far more difficult. And for the obvious reasons of 'what the hell?' who is playing who? will the films be any good? In other words, we know little. So here's my stab in the dark when it comes to the men who will be recognized for boosting the appeal of movies much bigger than their roles. I'm guessing on a double nomination for Matt Damon. Why not?

I'd really love to hear your opinions for Supporting Actor because I wouldn't be surprised at all to be 100% wrong for 2009. This tends to be my worst acting category for 'year in advance' predix. I score either 1 or 2 out of 5. I've never hit 3/5 this early like I have in the other categories.

Still, if I'm right about the general field (if not the big contenders) we're going to see a lot of first time nominees this year in the supporting actor category.
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I'm Still Link

PC World Dr Manhattan... is blue (hee)
YMFY Japanese poster for Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary. love. [thx]
/Film Helena Bonham-Carter's role in Terminator Salvation (beware spoilers. Will there be ANY secrets left about this movie by the time it comes out? I know so much about it)
Guardian on Joe Wright and Keira Knightley's jolting anti-abuse ad and its debt to Peter Greenaway


NY Post some Cannes lineup rumors
NewNowNext Sex & the City 2: Now With Actual Release Date. Once a movie has one of those you know it's actually going to happen. Weirdness.
Just Jared has the Moet & Chandon Scarlett Johansson ads. Maybe she was always meant to be seen in still photos, ever luscious. There's no chance she's ever wrong for that part.
Getty Images Stritch Style!

Remember that ABSOLUTELY NON-COMPREHENSIVE favorite film characters post I did? I tagged five people and 80% of them answered and I lurve their answers. You must go read what Adam, Dave, Fox and JA said, okay? It's totally good read. I pinky swear. Okay? Okay. Peace and out.

2009 Oscar Predictions, The Actresses

It's the first Oscar predictions of the year. Well, the first ones by me. In the olden days -- in internet time I am now practically Methusaleh (sigh) -- I was nearly always first with my April Fools based predictions. Now everyone and their shut-in neighbor does them before the current years winners have even shaken their hangovers. (The booze flows at that Vanity Fair party, man). So now I pull up the rear. I don't look at anyone else's predictions (well, except yours... because I have to) until I've made mine so as not to be unduly influenced by someone else's prophesies or overall groupthink.

And I do well [pats self on back].

I usually begin by amassing a gargantuan list of possibilities. I then whittle away using gut instincts, past performances, the director involved and the type of role until I'm left with a bakers dozen or so who I could easily see being in play. Then I torture myself and put them in order of likelihood (to be nominated, not to win). And then I hand you the BEST ACTRESS chart.

For entertainment purposes only. The charts don't reflect my specific preferences since I don't have them yet (beyond the generalized love for certain actresses). For the past two years in Best Actress I've scored 3 of the 5 correct this far in advance. So, once you've seen my predictions... feel free to trash 2 of my gut instincts.

Naturally, I'm a little shakier in Supporting Actress. It's harder to understand the supporting races before the films arrive. Often we don't know the details of the roles. We never know the amount of screentime. These categories are also far more prone to being influenced by the overall feelings towards the film that houses them than the lead categories are. That makes early predictions tough. I've only scored 3 of 5 once in supporting actress a whole year in advance. That was the banner year of Chicago (2002) where I saw Queen Latifah coming (among others) months before anyone else did. Last year I managed 2 of the 5 this early (Viola & Taraji) -- 3 if you count Kate who ended up winning in the Best Actress category. That same "half right!" event could happen again this year since I've opted to put Meryl Streep's Julia Child in the BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Chart.

More categories to come. Discuss!
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Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole and the Legacy Factor

Why is it so hard to stay in the present with the movies? The news cycle is constantly asking us to look ahead a year or two. Just barely came to grips with performances we might be loving in 2009 and already we have to think about Nicole Kidman's 2010? Alas, it can't be helped. When it comes to Nicole Kidman we can't look away.


She's taking over Cynthia Nixon's (Sex & The City) TONY winning role as the grieving mother in the hit play Rabbit Hole. Aaron Eckhart takes over for silver fox John Slattery (Mad Men) as the grief-stricken father. Emmy regular and TONY winner Tyne Daly was the third name actor in the Broadway production, playing the wife's mother. No word yet on which movie star will be getting her part. This is yet a further reminder that it's nearly impossible for actors to be cast in the screen versions of their stage successes, even when they're already known quantities. You only get lead movie roles if you're an 8 figure salaried movie star.

News about the transfer of the Pulitzer winning Rabbit Hole spread like wildfire Thursday. I'm not quite sure what prompted the sudden news surge since Nicole Kidman was booked for this film as early as January 2007 . Maybe it's that the whole thing is more real now with Aaron Eckhart in place and none other than TFE favorite John Cameron Mitchell (himself a Broadway vet) signed to direct.

<-- John Cameron Mitchell (right) with fellow firestarter Bruce LaBruce last year. John is 45 years old and he still looks like he's 25. I hate him.

It's that last bit that's most interesting. John Cameron Mitchell has made one widely acclaimed outré miracle (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and one divisive but still award winning outré picture (Shortbus). He has never directed someone else's material for the screen. It makes sense to employ him for a theatrical conversion since he understands the medium but why Rabbit Hole? It doesn't seem to fit into what we know of his sensibility. It's a relatively conventional story of a husband and wife whose child is accidentally killed. It won stellar reviews for its performances and its incisive look at grief but studies of grief aren't exactly untrodden ground at the movies and the material isn't out there in any way. Its detractors claimed it wasn't theatrical enough for the stage. It was more like a screenplay already.

I hope Mitchell has an interesting take on it. But even if it remains only a straightforward quality drama, good on Kidman. She can't be stopped. If there's a great or challenging director alive that she wouldn't crawl across beds of glass to work with, it's probably just because she hasn't heard of him/her yet. For all the heat she takes in the press for her box office returns being disproproportionate to her salary and her "weird" taste in unconventional projects (i.e. interesting failures or thorny near-masterworks), she'll have the last laugh. Most movie stars are beautiful and talented. Those things are givens. Few of them seem to understand the importance of working with auteurs. They concentrate instead on finding mainstream hits, franchises and middlebrow prestige pieces. Kidman has done that, too, sure. But the best thing about her is her willingness to throw herself down the artistic rabbit hole and into the wilds of auteurial visions. I'm a staunch defender of Kidman on this front. Think of Dogville, Birth, Eyes Wide Shut, Portrait of a Lady, Moulin Rouge! and even the ones that didn't work like Fur and Australia.

Auteur-loving Kidman, always plotting.

I'm of the opinion that stars that serve auteurs first and foremost have the best chance of being remembered once they're dead. Uma Thurman has had a continually rocky career. Will she be remembered in 50 years time? Absolutely! Playing muse for Tarantino seals the deal. Stars that don't challenge themselves by working with real auteurs tend to fade, no matter how blinding their spotlight currently is. Box office is mostly irrelevant to the legacy equation. Consider this current example: Julianne Moore. She started her acting career in the 80s but found her first substantial fame in 1995. Guess which movie people associate with her ascendance: Assassins which grossed $30 million or [safe] which grossed $512,000? That's what I'm talking about! And that's with only 14 years of distance. Imagine what happens to the collective cultural memory in 50 years time.

So... Nicole Kidman. Mega famous now. Mega famous forever. Add John Cameron Mitchell to her ever expanding list of auteur conquests. Cross your fingers that their collaboration makes Rabbit Hole really sing and sting on the screen.
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Seen anything this weekend...?

I haven't. Oops. Out with two blog buddies you know and love. The conversation was a fun brew of Let the Right One In, Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness's marriage, Mamma Mia!, lack of NYC sightings of Jake Gyllenhaal (he seems to have left us for California), Kath & Kim (Australia vs. US), Broadway shows and the ease of internet searches in the movies (the information always comes instantaneously. No scrolling and excessive clicking required).

Tell us about your weekend. Which movies surfaced in your chatter?

Next up: Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole, Oscar Predictions (starting with the actresses & supporting actresses)

Signatures: Chloë Sevigny

Adam of Club Silencio here with another look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.

Many actresses say the secret to an interesting career is working with great directors who know how to use their strengths. Chloë Sevigny's career has been dominated by work with some of filmmaking's finest, but even they don't always know quite what to do with her. Take the envious line-up of collaborators like Lars von Trier, Woody Allen, Harmony Korine, Jim Jarmusch, Olivier Assayas, and (still to come) Werner Herzog, and you understand why Chloë's a cinema-lover's darling. But then you also have to wonder why she's often relegated to the table scraps of screen time, and why her best role to date is only available once you contact your local cable provider.

Chloë Sevigny truly knows the weight of a secret.


Her Oscar-nominated breakthrough as Lana in Boys Don't Cry remains Chloë's most rewarding cinematic role to date; a sensitive Midwest beauty with her share of sensuality and secrets. Lana's dreams of being a karaoke superstar having mellowed in the local dive bars of drunk, deadbeat friends, until an even more secretive stranger, Brandon, stirs her passions once again. Lana carries the load of star-crossed first love and stifled small town idealism, with the added burden of Brandon's gender identity being tragically taboo in her one-note town. All that horror, heart, and eventual hope is captured in Chloë's quiet concern.

As if we weren't concerned enough after her disturbing debut as Jenny in Kids; traipsing across town, traumatized with the negative news that she's HIV-positive and that her infector's still on the prowl. Even by the film's scarring finale, Chloë's kept her inner turmoil to herself.

But I'll let you in on something... Chloë's haunting turn as Daisy in The Brown Bunny IS the film's secret -- the reason we've been watching Vincent Gallo drive around depressed for seventy minutes meeting girls named after flowers. His character's crux and (literal) climax all come back to Chloë. Her presence alone gives the film its momentary warmth, momentary bit of hardcore, and a final painful blow that justifies and replenishes all the lingered longing that's come before.


Which seems to have all been leading up to her tightly wound turn as Nikki Grant on HBO's Big Love -- Chloë's finest hour. Secrets are being ripped open left and right; the very least of which is her following the whole "married to one man and two (sometimes three) women" thing. Somewhere buried deep inside Chloë are so many untapped layers and mysteries just waiting to be unleashed -- if her filmmaking friends would just find the time to delve. Can't you just imagine reading that diary?!


Even if Chloë's keeping mum, you can still spill your own sociopathic secrets in the comments!

Heath

Heath Ledger would have turned 30 today. We lost him so quickly.


[sad now]
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It occurred to me recently that I still hadn't seen all of his work. I wasn't a convert to his gifts until Monster's Ball (2001) so I missed a few performances here and there. What's your favorite underseen or early Ledger turn? Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight won't need any help in maintaining their regard as the key works in his career but what are we missing when the conversation continually centers around only two films?
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Group Think: Best Actress 2009 Prediction

Your votes have been tallied. 262 people entered the Actress Psychic contest this year. I play too, (I just am ineligible for the win) so that makes 263 Psychics. How well can the contestants predict the future? Does the wisdom of crowds really apply to something as unpredictable as awards season, and ten months early at that before virtually any of the movies have been seen?

In late January will the Oscar nominees for Best Actress really be... ?

• Michelle Pfeiffer, Chéri (157 votes... more than half of the ballots)
• Hilary Swank, Amelia (142 votes... more than half of the ballots)
• Carey Mulligan, An Education (127 ballots)
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia (120 ballots)
• Penélope Cruz, Los Abrazos Rotos / (Broken Embraces) (on 75 ballots)

Nobody else came close to these five, making your collective prediction quite decisive indeed. That's a Best Actress shortlist composed of three Oscar winners (Cruz, Streep and Swank) and a possible comeback queen (Pfeiffer). The newbie would be twenty-three year old Brit actress (Mulligan) who has already won brilliant reviews for her portrayal of a teenager in 1960s London, greatly changed (and sexed up) by the arrival of an older man (Peter Sarsgaard). Sony Pictures Classics is saving the release of An Education until October so unless you live across the ocean or you make it to festivals you'll have to wait and see if she delivers as well as early audiences claim she does.

One of the most interesting question marks to pull from the whirlwind of possible futures these ballots offer, involves sexy sexegenarion Dame Helen Mirren. You're confident that she'll be nominated (she actually won more votes than Penélope) but you totally disagree on which performance will do the trick. This year we'll see her as Leo Tolstoy's wife in The Last Station, the owner of a brothel in Love Ranch and as Prospera in Julie Taymor's gender-reversed adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest. The last divisive auteur to take a whack at The Tempest, was Peter Greenaway (I'm definitely on the "pro" side of that divide) with the extremely naked Prospero's Books. If Julie Taymor is interested in an equally fleshy take we're certain Helen Mirren will comply. "Fish out your teats!"

Want more?
See the Individual Ballots ~ If you entered but don't see yours here, please contact me at filmexperience (at) gmail (dot) com. Maybe it went in my junkmail? I know a few did that I fished out but if you're not there and you should be, contact me. Maybe you could reforward me the original. Etcetera...

Collective Prediction/Rank ~ all 78 performances that received votes.

"What about your predictions, Nathaniel?"
Those are coming this weekend (Hold tight. I'm only one man) but in terms of Best Actress I'll just say for now that only two of these five you picked will be on my list. Streep won't be one of them. I'm guessing that her Julia Childs is campaigned supporting since it would take both a reworking of the source material to make her a lead and a non starter campaign for that Untitled Nancy Meyers feature (in which she is definitely the lead) to not make her compete against herself. But then again: look what happened to Kate Winslet this awards season past and look what happened to Streep for Devil Wears Prada. Maybe I'm wrong.
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ShoWest: The Princess and the Frog, The Soloist, Meryl as Julia Child

Here's the final bits from frequent commenter Rosengje's ShoWest journey which he generously gifted to The Film Experience. Thank her in the comments for putting us in pocket and taking us along. Here they are...

The Soloist was met with a relatively indifferent reaction following a screening at Le Theater des Arts. I respected and even admired Joe Wright's (Atonement) latest effort, but had almost no direct connection to the material. Perhaps my greatest concern going into the screening was the potential for the film to go over the top in impressing the sentimentality of the story on the audience. Instead, the movie never reached the emotional heights that it should have. Robert Downey Jr. gives a typically charismatic performance as Steve Lopez, a columnist for the LA Times. Lopez accidentally encounters Jamie Foxx's Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr., a homeless former cellist, while on assignment in the Greater LA area. Ayers was once a promising musical talent at Julliard, but suffered a schizophrenic breakdown in his early 20s. Lopez becomes increasingly invested in restoring Ayers's potential, even as his own life is in disarray. Wright effectively grounds the story in the reality of the LA landscape, not shying away from photographing the city's least desirable areas. Unfortunately, this is also one of the film's most problematic areas. I was frequently uncomfortable with the portrayal of race and poverty throughout the film. The implication that it required the presence of Lopez, a relatively affluent white male, to shed light on the city's drug problems was troubling and lacking in nuance. The movie also falls prey to the Hollywood trend of providing excessive back story. We are treated to extensive flashbacks of Nathaniel's childhood and his eventual decline into paranoia. The sequences are competently acted and captured, but they seem redundant. It would have been more interesting for the audience to piece together the character's story on their own which also would have allowed Jamie Foxx a chance to provide more nuance in his performance.

Surprisingly (or not), I found Catherine Keener to be the highlight of the film. She has a small role as Lopez's former wife, but makes the most of her screen time. Keener is able to convey an array of emotions as she watches her ex devote himself to a stranger while neglecting the couple's own son. As an upper-level staffer at the Times, she also provides one of the more compelling portraits of a powerful woman in the workplace in recent memory.

Supporting Actress Oscar campaign possibilities for Keener than, or is the role too incidental to the meat of the thing? Speak up awards season addicts.

We saw extensive footage from Angels & Demons, The Ugly Truth, Julie & Julia, The Year One, District 9, and The Taking of Pelham 123. Despite my distaste for this Katherine Heigl person, The Ugly Truth looked unexpectedly funny.

Julie & Julia looked great, and the audience burst into applause at Meryl Streep's first appearance as Julia Child. I believe we were treated to the first footage of District 9, which is presented by Peter Jackson and is currently being worked on by Weta. I am skeptical of the story, which follows the segregation of an alien species from humans, but the film had an interesting look to it. Interestingly, Sony was the only studio to require a full cell phone check. Wolverine induced paranoia?

Paranoia what. who? I got stuck on the spontaneous applause for Streep's biopic transformation... from industry folks no less. I missed the rest of that paragraph. In case you missed it here's the previous post on Meryl as Julia.

Before a screening of The Proposal (surprisingly charming), Disney had a treat in store, a scene from the upcoming The Princess and the Frog. Disney is opening the movie in New York and LA on November 25 and platforming it out on December 11. The sequence we watched had elements that were still very early on in the animation process, but the audience was captivated. Anika Noni Rose voices Tiana, a native of New Orleans, who has dreamed of opening a restaurant for 14 years. Defeated, she walks onto a balcony to pin all of her hopes on making a wish on an evening star. Well, her wish is granted in the form of a prince trapped in the body of a frog. The prince convinces Tiana to kiss him and return him to his original grandeur, in exchange for him making her dreams finally come true. The clip was hilarious and poignant, and the voice work was very impressive. I thought the footage looked right at home alongside the Disney classics and I cannot wait to see the finished product.

I had no idea what the story elements for this New Orleans musical were going to be. Opening a restaurant, eh?

Rose definitely has a beautiful voice so I'm pleased that Disney entrusted their first black Princess to her. You get glimpses of the strengths of her pipes in From Justin to Kelly (I know!) and Dreamgirls but her best role to date was definitely her TONY winning jubilance in Broadway's shortlived but spectacularly moving Caroline or Change (all of this, previously discussed). Though it's only voice work and she isn't famous enough to get marketing built around her (like Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers for the Shrek films), I hope Anika the actress manages plenty of face time when the movie arrives for the holidays. This star can shine. Hollywood just needs to let her. But you know how they have trouble maintaining interest in the black actresses, even the very talented ones.
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Michelle Diesel & Vin Rodriguez & Me

In lieu of the traditional "what just opened?" Friday post here at The Film Experience, I'm just going to direct you over to TOWLEROAD ('a site with homosexual tendencies') where I am beginning my stint as their weekly film columnist. Today's topics are many but they involve films opening this week and some David Cronenberg proselytizing because that's (one of) the gospels I preach. The big opener this week is Fast & Furious, the reunion of the stars of the 2001 action hit. After I wrote that piece I saw this splash image on their official website...


which only makes a further funny in regards to the sexuality of Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez... what with their misplaced heads and all. It's all contractual of course, this name placement, but it often leads to instances of unintentional hilarity or at least confusion.
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The Sound of (Impromptu) Music

For anyone who ever dreamed of being adopted into The Von Trapp Family singers, wearing Julie Andrews curtain line of play clothes, or just frolicking in Central Station... This is for you.



Bliss. What a great way to start the day.
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Later today: Rosengje's final reports from ShoWest, and yes... your collective Best Actress predictions.

Whatever Works at ShoWest

Here's another report from Film Experience regular Rosengje from sunny Vegas where ShoWest is closing. She has just seen Woody Allen's latest Whatever Works (previously discussed here)! I am green with envy. Let's jump right in to her slightly spoilerish thoughts.

In many ways, Whatever Works is an amalgam of all of the neuroses and preoccupations that have defined Woody Allen's previous films. Larry David plays Boris, a misanthrope who fled his "rational" marriage to live downtown in isolation, teaching chess to children through methods that involve repeated name-calling and knight-throwing. Boris's life is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood), a runaway from Mississippi. Melodie is eventually followed by her mother (Patricia Clarkson) and father (Ed Begley, Jr.).

Patricia Clarkson storms into the movie after approximately 40 minutes, and plays a role in many ways comparable to Penélope Cruz's tempestuous Oscar-winning Maria Elena. While I was initially skeptical of Allen's treatment of Wood as a young Lolita, Clarkson actually plays the much more sexualized character. After showing up on Boris's doorstep in a hot pink ensemble (scrunchy included!) fit for the Southern pageant circuit, she is quickly awakened to the culture of New York. Naturally, this involves sex and art. In an interesting inversion of the much discussed relationship between ScarJo, Javier Bardem, and Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Clarkson moves in with two men without giving it a second thought. Her character transitions from praising Jesus to opening an exhibit of nude collages. Clarkson is dynamic and sexy and once again demonstrates her unbeatable range. I don't think it is any stretch to consider her worthy of this year's Oscar race.

Patty sandwich! Apparently Woody is really into threesomes now.

The rest of the cast is also effective, pulling the humor out of frequently dark material. David's character first seems like the typical Allen prototype, but there is a bitterness to him that reminded me more of Max von Sydow in Hannah and Her Sisters. Evan Rachel Wood is very likable, but the vitality of her performance is trounced by the arrival of the inimitable Clarkson. Begley Jr. gives a hilarious turn, and Henry Cavill is both endearing and smarmy as a late love interest for Melodie.

The biggest stylistic change Allen makes in this film is having Boris directly address the audience. The film opens with a lengthy treatise on the character's views on death and the cretins that populate the world. We end with a similar address, but this time it is tinged with a kind of optimism unique to Woody Allen. The character's refrain of "whatever works" takes on a slightly sweet quality. I suspect audiences and critics will debate the sincerity of its happy ending. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and believe it provides the same level of insight into the director's fears and desires that many pegged on Deconstructing Harry.

I'm encouraged to hear rosengje's positivity regarding Patty Clarkson (she who really needs an Oscar) but maybe she'll have to get there from Shutter Island instead? Would they really reward a similar role to last year's winner to get back-to-back Woody Allen Best Supporting Actress citations?

Film Experience podcast guest Katey also liked what she saw, speaking highly of Evan Rachel Wood's performance, too. I am so eager to see this. I have to have my annual Woody.
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Wolverine... starkers

I normally don't link to ohmygodhesnaked type posts but I'll make an exception this time because i'm exhausted, it was a long day, i love Hugh Jackman and... ohmygodhesnaked! At the very least this is a much needed encouragement to go see Wolverine because I am so worried about the quality of this movie. (I can't even get a bead on what they're trying to do with it in the various marketing spots... why are there so many characters? I thought this was Wolverine's show).

If you can't offer quality, at least provide eye candy.
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Rosengje @ ShoWest

Rosengje, a regular commenter here @ the Film Experience, sent me some thoughts from ShoWest, the motion picture industry convention which ends today, to share with y'all. I'm all about sharing. I haven't been to Vegas in years -- never really enjoyed it -- but I admit jealousy since so many blogposts and tweets were flying at me directly from Sin City.

Here's Rosengje....

The primary topic of conversation at ShoWest has been the digital and 3D revolution. Jeffrey Katzenberg's commitment to converting as many theaters as possible to 3D prior to the release of Monsters vs. Aliens was highlighted in Jim Gianopulos's opening remarks. (Incidentally, can anyone think of Gianopulos without reminiscing about Mickey Rourke's ill-fated attempt to thank the Fox honcho during the Spirit Awards?) The K in Dreamworks SKG made a special appearance and participated in a panel on "How to Stay Ahead of the Curve as the Industry Confronts the Future."

There was a lot of self-congratulating: the success of Monsters vs. Aliens and the industry's proven strength despite the recession were both highlighted. The tone quickly shifted during the panel, as Katzenberg was increasingly pitted against the exhibitors. The undeniable rock star of the event was Cinemark's Lee Roy Mitchell. Mitchell was interrupted three times for applause, primarily over encouraging distributors to help bear the cost of the digital conversion. Mitchell emphasized the importance of giving breaks to small towns in order to encourage digital appreciation in under-served markets.

Most relevant to the Oscar race was the discussion over the importance of programming a 52-week year. As any good Oscar watcher knows, studios relentlessly push their product to late fall. Not only does this limit audience investment in the outcome of the myriad awards bodies, but it leaves cinephiles with limited reasons to frequent the theater during off-peak months. This topic was broached, but with a mainstream focus. Almost all of the exhibitors protested the summer blockbuster glut. Perhaps the success of Monsters last weekend can help shift this paradigm.

Tuesday morning featured a presentation from Alan Horn on Warner Brothers' summer schedule. McG made an appearance to introduce a 5-minute preview of Terminator: Salvation. An extended trailer for upcoming comedy The Hangover surprisingly got huge laughs. Alas, those presentations paled in comparison to a surprise appearance by Robert Downey, Jr. to introduce the first trailer for Sherlock Holmes. The footage looked slightly campier than anticipated, but RDJ and Jude Law had a clearly defined camaraderie and Rachel McAdams provided a great spark.

I can never decided whether to be enthused about this film or not. Any suspicions out there? Seems like a wildcard equation what with Guy Ritchie behind the camera x totally brilliant cast ÷ dusty franchise character = ??? What exactly?

The most exciting development on Tuesday was the Disney Digital 3D Presentation. The audience was treated to previews of Disney's 3D projects through 2011. This included early artwork for Alice in Wonderland, in which Anne Hathaway looks divine, Tron 2 and G-Force. Disney made a number of exciting announcements. Alongside the release of Cars 2, Pixar will provide "Cars Toons." Cars is my least favorite offering in their oeuvre, but "Tokyo Mater" was endearing. The same model they'll be using for the 3D rereleases of the Toy Story movies will be applied to a 3D release of Beauty and the Beast in February 2010. This is the decision I found most problematic. We were treated to Beauty's opening song in 3D and while it is a novel experience, it seemed redundant.

Er... I'm trying to imagine this with more shadows or something.

The real, treat, however, was ushered in by the arrival of Up director Pete Doctor (Monsters Inc). Pete introduced 47 (!) minutes of footage from the film. The movie looks to continue Pixar's unbeatable cinematic magic streak. The movie played slightly less cerebral and more mainstream than WALL-E, but still featured heavy elements like the death of the main character's wife early on in the proceedings. Pixar's approach to 3D varies quite a bit from the other products that have been previewed thus far. Instead of seeking "wow" moments, the technique is deployed to heighten the spectator's emotional connection to the screen. This includes strategic flattening of images or expansion to grant a scene a more dynamic quality. We were also shown an action sequence at the end of the film that was just as thrilling as those featured in Paramount's G.I. Joe trailer.

A little more a little bit later from Rosengje. I wish I could've taken in the Vegas sun (so gray here) with Rosengje and me pal Katey among other film folks... but I'll get a little film-related travelling of my own this month. I'm jurying the Nashville Film Festival in a couple of weeks and will report about that right here. Nicole Kidman has been known to show up at screenings there so wish me luck at spotting the goddess or any star wattage equivalent... not that there's a Kidman equivalent. There's only one!
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A Long Fade To A Fade To Black

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JA from MNPP here. The night before last I watched the 2006 French thriller Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne). I'm sure many of you have seen it. It's a nice, solid, little piece of work - smart and character-based in a way not enough American thrillers are and just twisty enough (plus it's got Kristin Scott Thomas flexing her Gallic-skills, which is always a treat). I had a couple of issues with the film (I'm never gonna hate on getting to listen to the entire length of a Jeff Buckley song, but the music-video-like montages were a little distracting), but mostly I was entirely involved in its drama - I found myself shouting at the screen! - and enjoyed it thoroughly.

And then it ended. Or rather, it should've ended. I saw the cut to black coming, I felt it in my very bones. Right... now. Black.... now? Fin. The End? No? You gonna keep going movie? Okay... another thirty seconds of overly sentimental hooey. Blurgh. Thanks for that, movie! Thanks. Send me out on an annoyed note.

It's just... it was so there. In my mind. That cut to black. I wanted numerous heads of lettuce and cauliflower to toss at the screen. Bales of hay. I wanted to rewind time, step into the editing suite, and smack them about the face and hands until they got it.

The movie that always gets called out for its over-extended ending is Return of the King, but that one didn't so much bother me (but then, I am a geek). I last remember this feeling hitting during Australia (and there was like forty more minutes of film to go on that one). But this did get me thinking of that very specific gut-feeling I get when I sense a perfect ending and the subsequent sense of violation when it is crossed, and was curious when the last time y'all felt that twinge... and if you take it as personally as I appear to...
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Dance, Fools, Dance

(I'm feeling the need for rapid vigorous musical movement today). What's your favorite dance number from a movie?

A Call From the Vatican

I wish my distractions were as delicious as Guido's in the musical Nine... beautiful actresses on every side, serenading me.

Jane Krakowski's TONY winning show-stopper "A Call From the Vatican"
Penélope Cruz will be interpreting this for the movie version

Oh wait! Those are my distractions. The nuts and bolts of tabulating all the submissions for this Actress Psychic Contest are keeping me quite busy. I know my own Oscar predictions for 2009 are due but the delays can't be helped. Other duties call as well. None of them are as welcome as Jane Krakowski (sigh). Posting will be light tomorrow. Collective Prediction and details will be up Thursday night / Friday morning. I'll aim for a big weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Coochie coochie coochie coo...
I've got a plan for what I'm gonna do to you

Time is Up. Actress Psychic

Update: Best Actress Psychic Contest closed for entries. Thanks to the 260 readers who entered. Do they have mad psychic skillz like Professor Charles Xavier? Do they have 'The Gift' that Cate Blanchett once had? On a clear day, can they see (Oscar) forever? 260 entries were received with 78 performances receiving at least one vote of confidence. The Ballots.
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"Corn Nuttttts!"

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of the classic high school satire Heathers.

Dear Diary, My teen angst bullshit has a body count.

It's quite a formative movie and the primary reason that people of my generation will always consider Winona Ryder's fall from the A-List a lost opportunity for filmmakers and audiences alike. Yet I didn't write about it to celebrate. No, I don't know what my damage is. In the absence of my own commentary read this fine anniversary post at Film.com. My New Plaid Pants is also celebrating in typically sick fashion.

Heathers will be on my personal canon list (the one that will be completed sometime late this century at the rate its developing) but until I get around to it, enjoy the brief group appearance of the Heathers in The Film Experience's classic "She's a B**** at the Movies" video... [NSFW]

She's A B**** At The Movies
Uploaded by nathanielr

Glenn Close Must Have Great Vision

Will she star in a Bugs Bunny biopic next?

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

lol. Tonight is the season finale of Damages. If they ever want to work a little more humor into the show Close is up for it.

Hump Day Hotties, Nathaniel's Favs!

Onesies beats twosies but nothing beats three.


Pure joy (tripled). I'm especially pleased that between them they have three Oscars!
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For the record... If we'd been doing this in the 1980s, Melanie Griffith would have occupied the same treasured room in the Film Experience mansion currently occupied by Hilary Swank in the Aughts (she won't move out!). I completely understand what Antonio Banderas has always seen in her, don't you?! The cinema was a better place when he dumped that hack Pedro Almodóvar for Melanie's possessive embraces and the opportunity to make Hollywood classics like Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Never Talk to Strangers, Original Sin, My Mom's New Boyfriend, Play it to the Bone, Two Much (was ever a film more aptly titled?) and The 13th Warrior.

April Fools!