Take Three: Dianne Wiest

Craig here. It's Wiest week on Take Three.

Today: Dianne Wiest

Take One: Avon calling!

As Peg Boggs, the perkiest, friendliest Avon lady you’ll ever meet at the cinema, Wiest introduced Edward Scissorhands (1990) to the curious inhabitants of pastel-perfect suburbia with the kindliest demeanour seen in a Tim Burton film; she’s the most good-natured character he’s conjured yet. She trots from house to house in matching mauve, enthusiastically spouting her cosmetic spiel, but getting no joy from the idle ladies of Burton’s uniformly stylised Fantasyville, America. So off to the dank, dark castle on the hill she goes - and finds a guy with mangled scissors for hands. Edward needs love, acceptance and Peg offers it; she’ll be the mother he never had. But she thinks he needs a makeover too - it’s his scarred and pallid complexion which brightly troubles her: “at the very least let me give you a good astringent - and this will help you to prevent infection,” she offers with a nod and a smile.

Mother courage: Wiest, as Peg, wanders Ed's castle
for cosmetic custom in Edward Scissorhands

Peg’s the motherly vanguard: a polite, one-woman call to arms for the housewives of Burton’s sickly-sweet suburbia to embrace the change and accept the strange. They get their hedges, pooches and bonces trimmed and fulfil their gossip quota for a year, but when it’s open season for exploiting the scissor-handed one - due to a series of unfortunate incidents unattributable to Depp’s Ed - Peg’s the one who sticks by him. A character like her stands for what Burton’s really getting at, what he’s always getting at: embedding the otherworldly into the everyday. She takes the sharp-fingered weirdo in and oh-so-nicely dismisses the mediocrity of middle-America with pleasant tilt of the head to top it off. She’s spearheading Burton’s cutesy damning of selfish small-town mores like a lightly-rouged trooper.

Wiest 'making up' for Edward's lost time in Edward Scissorhands

Wiest’s scenes with Depp were a joy to watch again (it’s been roughly ten years since I saw the film). Looking at it now I can see why Burton cast her. No one does homely eccentricity quite like Wiest. Whether she’s slapping Depp with make-up, dressing him up in ill-fitting clothes or proudly parading him around town, their shared screen time is one of the most becoming components of the film. In fact, they have just as much of a central relationship as do Edward and Kim (Winona Ryder). And the bit where Peg talks about him leaving for everyone’s good? Well, that bit just cuts me up.

Take Two: Quiet on set: Dianne Wiest, synecdochally, is acting

Despite two viewings I’m still rather baffled by the fiction vs. reality conundrums in Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York (2008). I’m sure there’s some definable logic to the repetitious characterisations and psychological brain boggling of his directing debut, but I’m happy to remain blissfully none-the-wiser for now. Like David Lynch’s and, of course, Michel Gondry’s cine-universes, what’s real, dream, movie (in this instance, play... performance art) or merely imagined is somewhat beside the point; the journey through Kaufman’s monumentally dissociative deathly fugue-movie is the crux of the matter. The goods lay in how Caden’s (Philip Seymour Hoffman) slippery grip on existence comes unstuck, and the women who accompany him along the way - especially cleaning lady Ellen Bascomb.

What is apparent is that Kaufman’s a one-man female-talent magnet. He fruitfully snagged Samantha Morton, Hope Davis, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Emily Watson for his first directing gig; years of screenwriting respect are splendidly rewarded with some of filmdom’s finest female thesps. But of all of them, the one Synecdoche lady who bested all the above six - and quietly, elegantly walked off with the film - was Wiest as Millicent Weems, the woman Caden casts as the aforementioned Ellen Bascomb, who then (as either Ellen or Millicent) plays the final, “weirdly close” version of Caden.

Wiest as Ellen, as depicted via the stunning paintings of artist Alex
Kanevsky, who provided Synecdoche, New York with his talents

Things get tricky, but it’s in the film’s almost unbearably elegiac last 15 minutes where - despite the eternally-burning house, endless enactments within re-enactments of Caden’s life/play and the musings on the inscrutability of life - the film hits a perplexing and gut-punching emotional stride. Amid a rolling, constantly-dissolving sequence of Caden’s last actions, a peek into what the film may be really about is hinted at.

A brief shot of a lonely Wiest - bookended by past and present snippets from her (real?) life - staring out of an open window, her face crumpled into teary despair, suggests we may have been watching Ellen’s life, not Caden’s, all along. This shot, accompanied by the static-faltering audio cues that she feeds Caden through an earpiece, as he strolls through the body-strewn devastation of his Synecdoche set, ushers in the end of the film. As he sits with the woman who played Ellen’s mother in a re-enactment (dream?), she disconnectedly delivers Synecdoche, New York’s final three-letter word that stops the film dead.

Mrs. Mop: Wiest cleans up for Caden in Synecdoche, New York

Wiest is the key component of Kaufman’s film: it’s all her (in the way that Inland Empire could actually be about Grace Zabriskie’s visitor - due to one telling late shot in that film - more than it's about Laura Dern’s Nikki/Susan.) Wiest plays her triple role with subtly affecting shifts in tone. The beauty of her performance(s) is how she underplays each mournful angle of the women she’s portraying; there’s an uncanny sadness, hinting at something more, right from her first scene. Despite her fragmentary moments, Wiest makes each one matter for the brief amount of time she’s on screen. Things get very blurry and indistinct indeed, but she guides us through Kaufman’s head-scratcher casually but regretfully, gently evoking all the feeling that the earlier parts of the film lay in place for her. Now, I don't know about Caden, but if Kaufman and Lynch could just hook up and make a mind-warping movie with Wiest and Zabriskie as a pair of bizarre, neighbourly cleaning ladies I’d die a happy man.

Take Three: Holly-Woody

Of the five films Wiest made with Woody Allen, her role as recovering coke-head and flaky actress, Holly, in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) was perhaps her best. It was also one of the most deserving Supporting Actress Oscar wins of the last 30 years). Of course she won a second for Bullets over Broadway, but Holly’s the Woody gal getting the Take Three treatment.

A disastrous date in progress

Holly is the more forceful, wayward and insouciant sibling - the black sheep of Hannah’s clan. Where Hannah herself (Mia Farrow) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) were passively thoughtful and fretfully adulterous respectively, Holly was the sloppy interloper, still very much in the process of shaking off the remnants of her former self; still asking her sister for money or favours. (The scene where Holly sheepishly asks Hannah if she can borrow $2000 shows off Holly’s blithe dependency to a tee.)

One of Wiest’s – and indeed Hannah’s - best moments is when Sam Waterston gives Holly and April (Carrie Fisher) a tour of his favourite New York architecture. Wiest’s resigned interior monologue in the car afterwards, when, much to her chagrin, she gets dropped off first, is one of the most concisely delivered in an Allen film, and unreservedly sums up Holly’s regretful and self-depreciating attitude to love:

"Naturally I get taken home first. Well, obviously he prefers April. Of course I was so tongue-tied all night. I can't believe I said that about the Guggenheim - my stupid little roller-skating joke. I should never tell jokes. Mom can tell 'em and Hannah, but I kill 'em... I hate April -- she's pushy...

Now they’ll dump me and she’ll invite him up. I blew it – and I really like him a lot. Oh screw it, I’m not gonna get all upset. I’ve got reading to do tonight. Maybe I’ll get into bed early. I’ll turn on a movie and take an extra Seconol.”

Wiest’s facial expressions are perfectly in sync with her voice-over monologue. Her face adds to what’s said; her eyes aptly convey Holly’s agitated acquiescence. Undoubtedly it was moments like this that went toward her nabbing that first Oscar. Holly’s unlucky, can’t get the breaks, and Wiest ensures we give a shit every step of the way. Her impatient and jumpy neediness to be liked translates wonderfully.

Wiest is a perfect fit for Woody’s world; it’s no wonder he used her five times (and let’s hope for a sixth in future). Her often mile-a-minute line delivery never misses a beat. Her natural, unaffected interactions with Farrow and Hershey are faultless. (With that title it’s vital they click, even when they don’t). A late moment, when all three meet up at a restaurant, showcases her flawless timing and comfort in the role: the camera roves around the table, catching every one of her well-placed lines and gestures. And with similar ingenuity she conveys two character extremes on the two very different dates she has with Allen’s Mickey, which speak volumes about Holly: one a punk gig (lively, involved), the other at a jazz club (fidgety, despondent).

Everything about Hannah is solid; it’s the perfectly-balanced study of Allen’s core, ongoing obsession with the lives of likeable, entertaining folk - folk we may rarely meet, but take pleasure in spending time with onscreen. Whenever I come back to Hannah it’s as deliciously, surprisingly funny as it was the first time. And Wiest’s scenes are always the ones I look forward to watching the most: they’re relaxed, agreeable and full of character.

I like Holly. She’s not pushy.

Nicki Kidman, Mallrat

Um... Perhaps our Brazilian friends could help us out with this one?



I saw this ad at Styleite and I have to echo their perplexed takeaway...

...then there’s the larger question at hand: Why on earth is Nicole Kidman doing a commercial for a mall in Brazil? And why does the commercial end with her walking down a red carpet in an ill-fitting gown?

I have never been to Brazil and this makes me sad. But if when I go I would like to travel like Nicole. Perhaps someone can roll a red carpet out for me at the airport?

Flashback: Best of the 90s. (Pt 1)

Remember when I shared those 80s scrapbook pages on "Before Websites Pt 1 and Pt 2"?

Well inbetween scrapbooking two decades back and the total new digital world of the Aughts, there was the long transitional period of the 1990s. Remember when the internet was just text (Anyone? Anyone?). The last two issues of my 90s zine (that pre-website relic mentioned in the Julianne Moore interview) were published in 2000.

<-- "90s character collage" Oil on canvas. I'm confused why I included The Phantom Menace because I hated the movie. I think I wanted something "up to the minute" Ha!

I had just moved to NYC and was in the process of chucking Quark for Dreamweaver. The first version of the site was already up and rapidly taking over my life so I'm not sure why I was trying to do both web & print. It was transitional hedging maybe. Plus html was way confusing at first before apps starting doing all the coding for you. Different era.

Interior "Ten Best" pages --- >

I thought I'd share these ancient lists on "Best of the 90s" for fun. I can't really stand by half the choices now 10 years later but can you stand by all your choices from Spring 2000?

Best Supporting Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. The very first one surprises me like you don't even know but we'll get to that in a minute.]

• Tommy Lee Jones, JFK (1991)
  Tommy back when he was exciting to watch onscreen.
  
• Michael Lerner, Barton Fink (1991)
  The funniest supporting turn of the decade
  
• Leonardo DiCaprio, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
  The breaking point of Hollywood's It Boy.
  
• Ralph Fiennes, Schindlers List (1993)
  Astoundingly frightening American debut.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Gilbert Grape) & Ed Harris (The Truman Show)

• Samuel L Jackson, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  Much celebrated bible quoting hitman. Great.
  
• Martin Landau, Ed Wood (1994)
  Great character actor doing comic justice to a legend.
  
• Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (1995)
  Kevin's much lauded Keyzer Soze role.
  
• William H Macy, Fargo (1996)
  Almost as great as McDormand. High praise.
• Rupert Everett, My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
  Wasn't even nominated. What?!?!
  
• Ed Harris, The Truman Show (1998)
  Terrific work from the ever magnetic actor.

That's what I said then. As you can see I wasn't yet a frothing at the mouth "Category Fraud!" crusader since there's at least two "leads" in there. In fact, for '99 I chose Haley Joel Osment (ru: Jude Law) who is obviously the lead of The Sixth Sense and in my runners up I list Rupert Graves in Where Angels Fear to Tread and how is that anything but the lead role? The weirdest nominee in this best of decade top ten is Tommy Lee Jones. I barely remember that performance -- I think he had white hair and that there was some rabidly anti-gay tone to his scenes? -- and what I do remember I don't like. I'm so confused that it's listed but that's what the pages say. The other thing that sticks out at me is that I was apparently on a first name basis with Kevin Spacey (unhh....) and I excluded Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (very odd).

So yeah, I'm not happy with this list at all. I'd probably only keep half of it. But I'd need to watch a few movies again.

Best Supporting Actress
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed]

Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear) & Patricia Clarkson (High Art)

• Annette Bening, The Grifters (1990)
  As the delicious decadent Myra Langtree she was radiant.
• Uma Thurman, Henry & June (1990)
  Seduced Henry, Anaïs and the world as June Miller.
• Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear (1991)
  At just 18, stole the show from Lange, Nolte and DeNiro.
• Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives (1992)
  Gave Allen's neurosis a whole new energy level.
• Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  The hip film's central female role. Uma nailed it.
• Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
  Dianne is always a treat. Against type, she soared.
• Joan Allen, The Crucible (1996)
  Breathtaking. One of the great screen presences.
• Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights (1997)
  Should've won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Christina Ricci, The Ice Storm (1997)
  Smart sad work. Confirmed her best-of-generation status.
• Patricia Clarkson, High Art (1998)
  How did this marvelous turn go so unnoticed?

That's what I said then. Obviously Catherine Keener would've made the list for Being John Malkovich had I waited a year to compile this. (I'm always so hesistant about brand new movies. A weird tic. And apparently I did the same thing here declaring 1999 movies ineligible for these top tens. Weirdness.) But nothing much surprises me about these supporting actresses. Love them all and the next ten would be almost as wondrous.

Best Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. I've recreated the illustration here just because I thought it was funny and I remember being super angry that Anthony Hopkins started going hammy and/or phoning it in starting about the mid 90s.


I no longer have any strong feelings about him. The quality dropoff was so severe that even know 15 years later I see his name in casting items and I feel nothing more than "Why'd they go with him? Laziness in thinking about their options?". Like, what was he doing in The Wolf Man? I feel like you give that same part to some hungry actor his age who never got inundated with huge offers and they're going to reward you with something special even if the movie bites. I don't mean to sound cruel about Sir Hopkins and I did name him Best Lead Actor of the Decade and that's saying something. He'll always have 1991-1993 when every performance was an event!]

• Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  Perhaps overcelebrated but it's a juicy star turn.
• River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho (1991)
  A transformation that made him an icon.
• Denzel Washington, Malcolm X (1992)
  Should have easily bagged him the Oscar.
• Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father (1993)
  Does anyone else miss this guy? Great actor.
• Anthony Hopkins, Remains of the Day (1993)
  Unquestionably fine. Does repression like no one else.
• Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  His last great performance before big budgets beckoned.
• Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking (1995)
  Completely believeable difficult turn as a repentant killer.
• Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
  A performance as complex as the film. That's high praise.
• Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters (1998)
  Should have won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Edward Norton, American History X (1998)
  Fierce work that confirmed his best-of-generation status.

That's what I said then. And said rather repetitively, too. I used some of those exact same lines for Best Supporting Actress. Where was my editor? Oh, yeah. That was me. Elsewhere in the magazine I proclaim Kevin Spacey in American Beauty Best Actor of 1999 and now I would definitely rewrite history to pretend that I chose Jim Broadbent in Topsy Turvy (who I at least nominated. Yay, me). I had also forgotten that DDL made so few movies in the 90s (only 5) despite becoming a big star with the first of those (The Last of the Mohicans). And then he made even less in the Aughts (4) ! Does this mean we can only expect 3 movies from him from 2010-2019? And if so, does one of them really have to be a Sherlock Holmes sequel since he works so infrequently?

I'm also a bit surprised that I didn't give the top prize to River Phoenix as I was quite obsessed with My Own Private Idaho in the 90s. River Phoenix would've turned 40 last week. One has to wonder what would be different in the movies had he lived. Which star would never have risen up instead. Which roles we're familiar with would he have ended up playing?

I'm disappointed looking back that I didn't list Christopher Guest whose "Corky St. Clair" in Waiting for Guffman is arguably the finest comedic character creation of the 1990s. He should've made the list.

River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho) & Christopher Guest (Waiting For Guffman)

You know what to do in the comments. Your lists please... and how have they changed over the past ten years. What did you love or hate then that you've changed your mind about now? And let's say you were born in the late 80s or in the 1990s. Which of these movies have you always meant to see but just haven't got around to yet?

p.s. If you're new to the blog and want to see more recent "best ofs" you can check out Best of the Aughts or my awards for 2009.
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The Wizard of Link

Journalistic Skepticism What are the 20 Best Movie Weddings? I'm surprised the AFI hasn't made this list yet.
Mind of a Suspicious Kind looks back over Danny Boyle's filmography prior to the release of 127 Hours
Totally Looks Like Miss Hattie (Despicable Me) = Dolores Umbridge. Huh. I do see it now.
Movies Kick Ass compares The Wizard of Oz with... Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker?


Self Styled Siren has a really interesting post on the Shirley Temple / John Ford film Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and...
Self Styled Siren ...another post on the attendant hulabaloo at the time by way of controversial critic/ screenwriter/ novelist Graham Greene who called wee Temple "a fancy little piece" in a review that prompted litigation.
Coming Soon First photos from the upcoming 647th film adaptation of The Three Musketeers (2011). This one stars Mads Mikkelsen and Milla Jovovich.
Antagony & Ecstasy reviews Cairo Time. I love this bit.

Which is an extremely good reason why you should never let a plot synopsis be the sole reason you choose your movies (whereas choosing them because of the lead actress - now that's just good sense).

Total Film has been surveying the movie blog landscape. I'm happy to be included on page 3 of their "another 600 movie blogs" but my goodness... 1200 is a lot of linkage with no real gain for anyone right? I mean you can't exactly list it in your bio. It's not like "Declared one of the top one thousand two hundred movie blogs!" is much of a blurb. But I kid. It's nice to be included. What's scary is that's probably only scratching the surface of all the movie blogs in the world.

offscreen
Wall Street Journal on "Judy Garland Lost Tracks"
Playbill on "Judy Garland Lost Tracks." Ummm... how had I missed this news? Seriously. Must have now. Either my brain is a sieve or the internet is because how are people totally discussing this and I didn't even know about it?! Argh. More Judy = yes.
Mighty God King "we need a human behavior patch" See, complainers? I'm not the only movie blogger who sometimes has to let off a little political steam. If you're not sometimes angry about things going on in this world, ur doin it wrong.
Parabasis "let freedom ring" another fine post on the anniversary of MLK's historic speech.
Boy Culture on last week's Scissor Sisters concert. I was there. T'was so fun, sexy, energetic, crazy, etcetera.
OMG Blog catches up with Björk. We hadn't checked in with her in awhile and we're going to Iceland soon. Yay.
The Film Doctor reads the latest horror novel The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains.

Open Thread

What's on your cinematic mind?

P.S. I am studying the fall film festivals now but will be back a little later for a 90s flashback special. Over the next several days I will be working on Oscar predictions and chart updates and such. And note: there will be Emmy live-blogging on Sunday night, so be here if you don't have party plans.
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Posterized: Peter Pans

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. You remember it well, I'm sure. She was dragged from her bed to watch an intimately staged performance of the new play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. As the play ended and the music soared, she walked right onto the Neverland set filled with fairies and crocodiles and pirates which had miraculously sprung up in her own living room. And she kept on walking right into her own spotlit afterlife. Well that was how it happened to Kate Winslet as Sylvia in Finding Neverland at least. They took some liberties with the timeline for the movie.


Davies was survived by her five sons, who had of course served as inspiration for Peter Pan. The author JM Barrie, a close family friend, all but adopted the boys after her death, as they'd lost their father three years prior to her passing.

So for today's Posterized, in tribute to the Davies boys and their mum, let's glance at the various film incarnations of the story of that boy who never grew up.

Peter Pan (1924) | Peter Pan (1953)

Hook (1991) | Peter Pan (2003) | Return to Neverland (2004)

Those are the only five "authorized" screen versions of which P.J. Hogan's 2003 version is the winner (not that the silent feature and the Disney movie don't have their moments. The less said about Hook the better.) The 2003 version is so undervalued, appropriately fantastical and is also (relatively) true to the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy which was expanded from the stage play and is how most human beings knew the myth until Disney got a hold of it of course.

The Lost Boys (1978) | Finding Neverland (2004) | Neverland (2003)

There are numerous unauthorized versions and reinterpretrations (the most recent of which, Neverland, I included above), lots of animated version from other countries as well as two films specifically about JM Barrie and his relationship to the Davies family which star Ian Holm and Johnny Depp respectively. I wasn't a fan of Finding Neverland (2004) but someone sure was; it won 7 Oscar nominations including Best Picture.

I haven't seen that Ian Holm production but I'd love to hear from anyone who did. I had no idea that existed and I find it very odd that that means that Sir Ian Holm has played not one but two famous authors who had much discussed relationships with other people's children. He also played Alice in Wonderland scribe Lewis Carroll in Dreamchild (1985) which is about Alice as an older woman remembering her youth and her friendship with the author. I guess Ian Holm has been cast as an eccentric writer more often than that even. He's also Bilbo Baggins and played strange scribes in Joe Gould's Secret and Naked Lunch. Funny how actors get in those weird casting grooves.

How many versions of Peter Pan have you seen?
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Fall Films: Harry Potter, Anne Hathaway and More

A movie tagline from Warner Bros...


Do you promise? Because I am so ready for that particular franchise to wrap up. I didn't say nice things about the Deathly Hallows in my FALL FILM PREVIEW over at Towleroad because the corporate greed has left a bad taste in my mouth. Movie tickets are like $13ish now in NYC but 3D is like $18ish so instead of people paying $13 to see the Potter finale they're going to have to pay $36. No way does that book need 5 hours to tell itself. That's like when TV series end their seasons with those bloated 2 hour finales and it's totally obvious that they're only used to dreaming up 1 hour of drama. Prepare for FILLER at high prices.

"Movies are as addictive as dope, but they are far less injurious to health and they ought not to be as expensive."
-Quentin Crisp

Anyway, that's just a small part of the article so go read it.

Which film are you most looking forward to in the next three months? I'm getting more excited about David Fincher's The Social Network which I understand would be a classy answer to the question. I like nearly all of his movies and l-o-v-e a few of them. I haven't read the rave reviews that have been making the rounds (I don't like to read reviews before watching movies) but I did think it was absurdly hilarious that Blurb Whore Peter Travers is suddenly acting like he's a tough-to-please Slant critic or something.

If it's the first film he's given 4 stars to this year, how does he explain all those 'Hallelujah i've seen the face of god in this masterpiece' type of quotes that are plastered all over 2010 movie posters just like they are every year?

This friend-of-a-friend style -"review" for Love and Other Drugs seems much less suspicious...


I don't necessarily think LaOD is going to be a great movie but it's probably the one I'm most looking forward to (prior to December that is. Black Swan is the ultimate "want now"!). That's entirely due to my twin devotion to Jack & Lureen Twist. I was watching The Devil Wears Prada again the other night (post forthcoming) and just stunned myself with how much I love looking at Anne Hathaway's face. I could watch her closeups in slo-mo for hours.

A loyal Film Experience reader who wishes to remain anonymous also saw a recent screening of LaOD and sent a few thoughts:

The movie is well above average in the world of romantic comedy, and rest assured, that's what it is. As you could clearly note from the trailer, it has all of the usual romcom trappings and succeeds primarily due to the strength of Jake & Anne's chemistry - which is ENORMOUS and immensely satisfying. I must admit, and then dodge anything you might throw my way, that I'm not a big fan of Rachel Getting Married, or Anne's performance in it. So, given that, I'd have to say that this is her best performance. It's really a perfect role for her, as it's mostly comedic (which is where she excels) with tinges of drama.

Jake pulls off the smarmy-but-charming almost George Clooney-esque character incredibly well, and his character's transformation as he becomes more involved with Anne is not necessarily written as well as it could have been, but he's great. And he ultimately sells one of the rather cliché romcom moments far better than anyone had any right to. It's really all about the two of them, so the supporting cast's screen time is quite limited, although Oliver Platt steals every scene he's in.

P.S. Jake & Anne spend like half the movie completely naked. This movie is sexxxxxxy

I ignored the heresy about not loving Anne in RGM. Wha...? We briefly talked Oscar. He thinks Anne is a real possibility but only if the movie itself gets good reviews but even though he loved it, he doubts that a movie that is essentially a romantic comedy will get much play.

Of course, there are a lot of factors involved in winning Oscar favor and the court of public opinion can be very persuasive for voters. I haven't seen the movie yet so I'm speaking generically about Oscar races. When movies are big hits, they often transcend feelings about their genre. And couldn't this be a big hit?

• Which fall film are you dying to see?
• Are you aching for a rom-com that isn't terrible? (There's been a famine)
• Do you mind parting with $36 to see the conclusion of Harry Potter?
• And I guess we should start discussing it. Do you see a bright Oscar future for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (either part)?
  

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First and Last 4.15

the first image after the opening credits...


and the last line of dialogue

Son of a bitch stole my line.

Can you guess the movie?

Highlight for the answer if you're stumped... Yes, that's Good Will Hunting (1997)
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The Wildest

Mais non, Isabelle. C'est toi.
*Isabelle Huppert

Modern Maestros: Mike Leigh

Robert here, with another entry in my series about great contemporary directors.

Maestro: Mike Leigh
Known For: modern kitchen sink dramas.
Influences: classic kitchen sink dramas.
Masterpieces: Secrets & Lies

Disasters: some less memorable entries, but certainly no disasters
Better than you remember: depends on how you remember things.
Box Office: Secrets & Lies with over 13 mil (such is the power of Oscar publicity)
Favorite Actor: Leslie Manville

Mike Leigh often gets short changed as the king of crying. This is undoubtedly because his two best known films of the past twenty years (thanks to a pair of best actress nominations) have been the copiously, though not excessively weepy Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake. Which is why it was such a shame that Sally Hawkins failed to be nominated for Happy-Go-Lucky. Aside from the fact that she was great (usually an afterthought for the Academy) it certainly couldn't have hurt to have drawn attention to the fact that not all of Leigh's films are devastatingly depressing. In fact, the proper constant of Leigh's films isn't sadness but insight, honesty and the routinely fantastic performances that bring it all about.

Mike Leigh is one of the few filmmakers still dedicated to the idea of kitchen sink realism. His films frame the messy imperfect lives of the Britons with sincerity, never judgment. The principles of the great British filmmakers of the 1960's which seemed so mod and truthful then an have seemingly gone out of style are sill alive in his movies. While his themes may seem old fashioned his method is one rare enough to seem perpetually modern (though it secretly isn't). Leigh's films are created through dramatic improvisation, which requires first and foremost a total trust of the actors' abilities to build, understand and evolve their characters to create reality. As a director this requires such a high level of giving and trust in your actors, it's really no surprise that few filmmakers employ it. For most movie makers are craftsmen turning out scripts, auteurs declaring a vision, but Leigh has taken the process to a truly communal place. When you consider the quality of his actors, it's really evident how the result is usually phenomenal.

The lives and characters embodied by these actors are usually the misfits of society (then again, who isn't?). Whether it's Naked's criminal Johnny, Vera Drake the abortionist, or eternal optimist Poppy, Leigh and his actor's characters live in a world that seems to have no simple place for them. Whether they deserve the consequences of this are quite beside the fact for Leigh. He's more interested in understanding people than making overreaching statements. And through his insight, and the insight of his collaborators we come to understand these people as well.

The trailer for Another Year

For his next film, Another Year Leigh continues to demonstrate his interest in people who seem to have found peace and the world that continually, inevitably antagonizes them. It received positive reviews in Cannes for not only Leigh but for, you guessed it, the performers.
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Links: One Hendricks, Two Goslings, Multiple Albees

Have you seen that Christina Hendricks is the new face of London Fog? Such a delectable woman.

I caught the commercial to the new Katharine Heigl movie Life as We Know It (2010) recently in which Hendricks dies and Heigl, her best friend, turns out to be the "raise my child" choice in the will. The whole time I was watching the short film (I'd say "trailer" but it contains the whole movie. No need to buy a ticket) I kept thinking 'Wait. You're going to tease me with Christina and then make me watch Katharine instead for 2 hours?' And bear in mind, I like the oft-hated Katharine Heigl. Honestly, sometimes Hollywood is really slow on the draw with what the public responds to. People are nuts for Christina Hendricks. Look around the web. Where's her big movie role? It's not like Mad Men doesn't have long hiatuses.

Film Brain Jean Luc Godard's no show letter for a career honor in 1995. Think he'll show up for the Governor's Ball in LA? I don't.
Film Business Asia Monga will represent Taiwan for this year's foreign film Oscar race. Yeah yeah, I know I need to update the pages.
Village Voice fun interview with Edward Albee who has a new play Off Broadway. You have to admire his self regard...

The world would be a better place if theaters were filled with my plays all the time.

because, you know, he's right about that!
Washington Post Bernadette Peters in Sondheim's Follies. Holy ____ Consider my ticket bought.
Guardian Gerard Depardieu doesn't get the fuss over Juliette Binoche
Movie Dearest reviews the first season of Cougar Town
Gawker "Anne Rice Quivers with Delight" at...


Drive in Double marquees for the win!

MNPP who wore it best? confident men in pink bathrobes. Hmmm, I wanted more options. Didn't Grant or Hudson don one, too?
The Wrap Anthony Mackie for MI:4? We keep rooting for him. A big budget action flick probably couldn't hurt.
/Film All Good Things starring Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling will get a tiny limited December release. All the better to compete directly with Ryan Gosling's other tiny limited December release Blue Valentine. I seriously don't understand movie distributors.
MCI Scott Pilgrim vs. The Matrix
Boing Boing not cinema but this "Tom the Dancing Bug" cartoon about evil fetuses is hilarious especially if, like me, you need to laugh to stop from crying about what's happening in America right now.

First and Last: 'You don't have to tell me.'

the first and last images from motion pictures (minus the credit sequences)


Can you guess the movie?

Highlight for the answer if you're stumped: BRICK starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt
for previous puzzles, hit the label below
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Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Bring It On

It's time for Best Shot, in which we choose a favorite single image from a film. 

This week...

BRING IT ON !

"I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore."

Damn but I didn't know how hard this week's decision would be. Sometimes you love a movie for the entire duration and it's hard to single out a scene. Bring It On is 98 minutes of uncut joy.

Today is the 10th anniversary of its release. My anniversary with it is tomorrow. I still remember my first encounter vividly. I had spent the whole day at the beach with my best friend. I was probably a little crisp and was definitely sun fatigued. We had planned to catch 'that cheerleading comedy' on our way home but I was wavering, tired. We trained back into Manhattan and hit the Union Square multiplex with our beach bags in tow. The movie was so high spirited and well executed that it was as bracing and life-affirming as jumping back into the ocean again.

To this day I'm so proud of putting it on my top ten list of 2000. [It's also on my 50 best of the decade list] Great comedies endure but they rarely get critical props during their actual run.

But best shot? That's a tough tough call. Peyton Reed is an underrated director and totally thinks about the framing, the costumes and the actors (see also: Down With Love). I really hope he gets a solid project again soon (forgive him the unfortunately blah Yes Man). I almost went with the beloved toothbrush scene. It's the single cutest and most confident romantic comedy scene of the past ten years. Call it hyperbole if you will but I stand by it. Bring It On is, as a whole, more of a sports comedy but today's sorry romcoms could learn a lot from studying any sequence here that pairs Jesse Bradford's crooked smile with Kirsten Dunst's hyper cuteness.


Reed and Jessica Bendinger, who wrote the screenplay, are also very smart about each and every character introduction. The intros are highlights throughout the movie. The pre-credit dream cheer "T-T-T-TORRANCE" is just insane comedy perfection, perfectly conveying Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) in both her joy, her pre-movie story, and her serious cheer fever. And what about the shot of Missy's (Eliza Dushku) ass entering the auditorium with dangling keys? She's about to unlock the plot. I also dig the low angle first shot of Isis (Gabrielle Union). She gets her very own halo spotlight a name check from offscreen "Isis, do your thing!" all so that you may instantly understand and worship this giantess of cheerleading.

My choice for Best Shot requires two frames with a focus shift. Missy, the new girl, is about to watch the signature Toros cheer. We see her in default hard-to-impress mode, kicking back. BAM! Torrance hair flips her way into the frame, blocking Missy's 'whatever' posturing, shouting "Ready Girls?". It's so so very funny and serves up an instant picture of both the smashingly conceived opposite-but-complimentary leading girls and of potential reactions to the movie.


You know a lot of people went into this movie just like Missy. They're all "A cheerleading movie? Puhleeze" and then, well, JOY. This movie is aggressively fun. Even if you're too cool for school, you will sign up with this team.

Ten years later, Bring it On is still the poo so take a big whiff.

"Oh, they'll bring it."
Click away for cheer fever on these participating sites!

• Stale Popcorn ______AWESOME
• Against the Hype ____OH
  
• Cheap Seats _______WOW
  
• Season Days ______ _LIKE
  
• Brown Okinawa... __... TOTALLY
  
• Nick's Flick Picks ____FREAK
  
• Sorta That Guy ______ME
  
• Missemmamm ______OUT
• The One With MJD .......I
  
• The One With MJD ---- MEAN
• My New Plaid Pants ....RIGHT
  
• Largely Unrepeatable... ON
• Dial P for Popcorn ____!!!
  

 Other Films in This Series

• Angels in America (2003)
• X-Men (2000)
• Showgirls (1995)
• Black Narcissus (1946)
• A Face in the Crowd (1957)
• Pandora's Box (1929)
• Se7en (1995) 
• Requiem for a Dream (2000)

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"Hear me, vain and foolish mortal woman!"

[Great Moments in Screen Bitchery #976, Maggie Smith in Clash of The Titans]

You know. You'd think those mortals in ancient Greece would know not to blaspheme Thetis in her own sanctuary?! Now she's only going to be happy with a human sacrifice. Maggie Smith is fierce enough as a mortal. Crossing Maggie when she's got godlike powers at her disposal ?!? Moronic.


You in danger girl!
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And The Honorary Oscars Go To...

...Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola who will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for producing, iconoclast and French new wave legend Jean-Luc Godard (I'm guessing he won't show) and two Emmy winners, actor Eli Wallach and film historian/preservationist Kevin Brownlow.

Perhaps no one is receiving the Jean Hersholt Huminatarian Award this year and all three of those men are just the standard "Honorary Oscar"? Pity that the reports aren't specific on this detail. Brownlow is the name I wasn't familiar with. His career is a mixture of television work, film history, restoration work and documentaries.

...unfortunately you won't get to hear these accomplished men giving speeches about their life's work and the cinema. Again.

The Academy is still operating on that "Keep the old folks away from the stage! Get Miley Cyrus" edict from god knows when. Never mind that The Mileys (i.e. all celebrities who have no real business being at the Oscars because they have precious little to do with the art and glamour of either current movies or legendary ones) didn't turn the Oscar ratings around. The positive spin is that these presentations at the Governor's Awards on November 13th will be more like Oscar nights of old, parties to celebrity peers without those pesky commercial breaks, and merciless 45 second time limits on speeches. But honestly, if they're going to keep making the town's legends celebrate off camera as if they've expired -- what is this Logan's Run? -- they should at least let them collectively present Best Picture each year. Or something. Lord knows Oscar needs a new thinktank when it comes to Best Picture presentations. I mean, even after I gave them a detailed and sound argument that they have no imagination in this realm -- I even helped them with household name suggestions! -- they ignored me and went with Tom Hanks. Again.

I mean just once, Academy, try a legendary Actress. It's been 20 years since you let an Actress do it on her own (Barbra Streisand) and that was even an actress who you've let do it again since with a man. Why are you so stuck and repetitive? And if you're that stuck and you simply must pull from your list of "people who've done it before," pony up and ship Olivia de Havilland over from France for a real shocker.

My longwinded point is this: It better be an actress this year, since you went with all men for your honorary prizes. Here's a helpful reminder of living actresses -- some of them Oscar winners -- who have not presented Best Picture and who the general public would recognize.


That's what's called "scratching the surface"
You're welcome.

I could totally go on. Especially if you were willing to consider people who the public would recognize after a few seconds of "oh, yeah, right her. She's important!"
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Yes, No, Maybe So: 127 Hours & Fair Game

It's a true story double feature for this installment of Yes, No, Maybe So, in which we break down personal reaction to movie trailers.

We'll start with Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire follow up -- and boy does this trailer not let you forget that this is the follow up -- which is called 127 Hours. In the movie, James Franco plays Aron Ralston who gets pinned under a rock and the rest is, well, his arm is history.



Yes James Franco is on the rise and this could be the movie where he finally proves the extent of his talents. He does have to hold the screen for virtually the full running time. If I've understood the prerelease mumblings correctly, what we're seeing in the trailer is only clips from the first half hour ish of the movie. I'd actually love to have that be the rule for Hollywood. You may not use anything past the 30 minute mark in your trailers. Begone Spoilers! (Not that people don't know what happened in this particular story since it's so easy to sum up and everyone has already been summing online for months.)

Also Moab, Utah is ridiculously beautiful even when shot by cinematographers far less gifted than Oscar winner Anthony Dod Mantle or Enrique Chediak. I know because I once lived in Utah and every photographer, good or un, has a million photographs capturing the rocky beauty of southern half of the state.

No For lost in the desert existential survivalist drama, I'll take something more contemplative like Gus Van Sant's Gerry. Will this be too tricked up to combat those nerves filmmakers so often have about how long they can hold the audiences attention? (Hence the current ridiculous average shot length being under 2 seconds problem.)

Maybe So Even though I wasn't crazy about Slumdog Millionaire -- it's actually my least favorite of his filmography (that I've seen) -- I do think Boyle is an energetic and often interesting filmmaker. My Boyle heirarchy would break down like so.

1. Trainspotting ...choose life
   
2. 28 Days Later ...choose the future
   
3. Shallow Grave ...choose a starter home
   
4. Sunshine ...choose a fucking big television
   
5. The Beach ...choose a family
   
6. Slumdog Millionaire ...but why would i want to do a thing like that?
   

Love the top three and admire the fourth quite a lot. Slumdog and The Beach are like weird twins of the B-/C+ overrated & underrated fraternal variety. So I'm curious about this movie. Where will it fit in?

Verdict: I'm a yes all told. I'll see it opening weekend in early November if I somehow miss the critic's screenings.

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In Fair Game, Naomi Watts plays CIA Operative Valerie Plame and Sean Penn her husband the journalist in this true story that's already been covered at the cinema in a movie with Kate Beckinsale and Vera Farmiga that nobody went to see called Nothing But the Truth. (It's on that annually expanding list of December Glut Plague victims)



Yes We need to be reminded of stories like this. Particularly since the sins of the past administration are still haunting us. It's definitely a compelling and resonant story about a nation that chucks their integrity and bedrock values for political point scoring (sound familiar? see also: current events).

No On the other hand, do we need to be reminded of it again this quickly? And doesn't the casting of Sean Penn in a liberal political type movie feel a bit too preaching to the choir, a bit too on the nose?

Maybe So I'm intrigued that they choose to end the trailer with Naomi Watt's defiant line reading...

They push you until they find the point at which you break. You can't break me. I don't have a breaking point.

(even though the underscore is laughably OTT) because I feel the exact opposite about her as an actress. She often seems so broken before a movie even begins. I think she's Oscar worthy in Mulholland Dr and nomination worthy in The Painted Veil (easily her two best performances) but my principal problem with her intensely pitched work is that she always seems ahead of the character arc, rather than developing it organically towards narrative peaks. I'm hoping she's calm and nuanced her at least before they threaten to break her.

Verdict: I'm a no in terms of desire, but I try to see everything if Oscar buzz becomes involved. So if awards seasons starts calling on Naomi, I'll definitely catch it.

How do these trailers breakdown for you in the yes no maybe so sense? Have at it in the comments. Whether you're pinned under a rock or your dangerous secret has just been outed, nothing is more urgent than blog commenting!
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Tang & Takeshi Together? Excitement Meter Off the Charts

Behold this paparazzi shot of Tang Wei and Takeshi Kaneshiro together. [Thanks Tony!] Be still my heart. It appears they may be co-stars in Peter Chan's (The Warlords) next project which is titled, simply, Wuxia.

Tang, Donnie Yen (in sunglasses) and Takeshi.

... isn't that like calling a film Horror or Period Epic or Musical or Action or some such? Though supposedly Wuxia is a remake of The One Armed Swordsman (or maybe a reboot of that 70s franchise in general?)

Anywei... since that sexist ban on the Lust Caution hussy* lifted, she's been busy. (As well she should be given how tremendous that performance was, truly one of the most confident and complex movie acting debuts ever.) Tang Wei has had one new film released in Hong Kong (Crossing Hennessy). Her new film Late Autumn will be at TIFF (pictured left) and now, there's this. No word yet on her connection to Takeshi in the movie but she'll be married to Yen onscreen.

Peter Chan had apparently been hush hush about the female leads of Wuxia -- even denying Tang Wei was involved at all -- but this photo may say otherwise. Last I heard was an offer going out to Gong Li. This report, though, is semi-confusing about which movie is actually shooting, calling this movie Wu Xia or Jincheng Wu and then later implying that The Swordsmen is a different and second film project for 2010. Though it could be a case of the writing just not being totally clear else why do the earlier reports list the same cast members for the remake of the One Armed Swordsman? Here's a couple more pics of Tang & Takeshi at a nearby restaurant.

*sarcasm. be not offended
Wei Tang