I've illustrated this post with the new Toy Story 3 character, Ken. Because... I just can't get over it. What?! There's also a new trailer.And Your Little Blog, Too has a fine piece on one of my favorites, A Place in the Sun
Dear Jesus skewers one of my least favorites, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
Film Doctor thoughtful notes on Bright Star
Low Resolution finally sees that Jane Campion effort too. Why did it take people so long to get behind it. Argh. Maybe it should have opened in the Spring/ Summer and worked the Away From Her/Erin Brockovich/La Vie En Rose/Moulin Rouge! type of Oscar track?
Empire Untitled Spider-Man Reboot will be in 3-D. Look, I loved Avatar but every film does not need to be in 3D. How long will this craze last? Until a couple of mega flops arrive I guess.
/Film Waking Sleeping Beauty sounds like a fascinating documentary. Me want/Film Remember when I told you that Clueless director Amy Heckerling wanted Pfeiffer for her new comedy Vamps? Well, apparently she wants "Cher" too... as in Alicia Silverstone rather than Cher proper.
I'm Not Obsessed Sam Worthington for Dracula Year Zero. Uh oh. Is he going to do anything other than big franchise pics? Now might be the time to prove you can act Sam. Now, while everyone is watching: quick detour into drama. Do it!
The Advocate Portia de Rossi does Mia Farrow's classic People cover (see previous post)
by Ken Levine Julianne Moore (and other movie stars) moving to television, from the tv writer's perspective
A Must Read
Have you read the Mark Harris piece on Oscar politics yet? If you haven't you must carve out the time. It's long but it's so well observed, smart and funny. Harris also wrote my favorite Oscar book -- other than Inside Oscar which is basically my Bible. They should have it in the bedstand of every hotel room -- called Pictures at a Revolution which I'm assuming you've read by now. It's just excellent.
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20 comments:
I love the Ken doll addition. It's random as hell, but i love it.
and i refuse to watch the Spider-Man reboot. it just makes me hate Hollywood. There's no reason for it. Yes, Spider-Man 3 was a disappointment and yes, it was two movies in one.
But to start all over, getting rid of a great cast and director, ignoring the two excellent movies, not giving a chance at redemption with a fourth movie, and starting all over, in friggin 3D just makes me want to commit a violent act against the person responsible.
"Now might be the time to prove you can act Sam."
Unless, of course, he CAN'T act, in which case I personally applaud him for his shrewd decision to grab every big budget studio offer that he can while he's still all the rage.
My dad, who is not that into movies, has read Pictures at a Revolution. And I haven't.
He's read it because there was this thing where you could buy 4 of the Best Picture nominees from that year, 1967, and get the book free. The Best Picture nominee you couldn't get was Doctor Doolittle. That is how I saw Bonnie and Clyde, In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? for the first time.
That article by him was great.
Nice story you got here. I'd like to read a bit more about this matter. Thanks for giving this info.
I don't know...Sam Worthington has a certain Arnold Schwarzenegger quality about him. I'd rather not see Arnold in An Education.
Julianne to TV?I agree that there are maybe more great roles for women on TV than in movies and yes, you can win Globes and Emmys, but I wish Julianne would stick to movies and win that damn Oscar!
I saw Worthington in Somersault and while he wasn't earh-shattering, I did think there was more to him than what he showed in Avatar.So he should definitely try to take an acting acting job again.I don't really get why he's even getting all these blockbuster roles?Will he draw the viewers?It's not like anyone went to see Avatar because of him.This isn't Leo-in-Titanic.
And the ignoring of Bright Star, especially cinematography and Cornish, but also Whishaw, Schneider and the movie itself, is the season's biggest shame.Hell, I wouldn't be upset if the little girl got some mentions, such a natural, unaffected, heartfelt child performance-a rarity.Oh well.
YAY for gay Ken.
NAY to Julianne Moore making transition to TV.
Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, Angela Lansbury, Loretta Young, Rock Hudson, Barbara Stanwyck and even Betty Davis...the list can go on, nothing knew actually, but if Julianne Moore will accept it she's nuts.
I Perfectly understand why Glenn Close (over 60, with her movie career being practically over not to mention that is a part of a lifetime that will make even Meryl Streep jealous), Sally Field (over 60, she may have 2 Oscars, but her career was dead long time ago, plus her ABC paycheck must be huge), Holly Hunter (her resent Oscar nomination failed to revive her career and I guess she wanted some stability), and Kyra Sedgwick (she was never a household name) or even Toni Collette (despite her enormous talent she wasn't getting parts that she deserved and United States of Tara is a prestigious project with a great role for her) and maybe even Laura Linney (I still hope that she'll win an Oscar someday) all made transition to the small screen.
However, Julianne Moore should not give up so early. She is not a former movie star. She's still young and every movie director would be delighted to have her in his movie. Who knows, maybe The Kids Are All Right will bring her an Oscar next year? Plus nether of those shows worth her talent. Remake of Helen Mirren's Prime Suspect and redo of New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune, seriously that's all they have to offer to a four-time Oscar nominee?
Prime Suspect remake is the stupidest idea ever, no surprise that it came from NBC. I have no doubt it will be a huge flop.
Love A Place in the Sun and Montgomery Clift in it (but I love Clift beyond words). Is it wrong to suffer for him more than for Shelley Winters?
I think it should be obligatory (i.e.included in the Constitution) to have a movie theater per city devoted to show classics on a big screen.
By the way, the way Cruz's helpless eyes in her final scenes in Nine looked for Day-Lewis reminded me very much of Winters' in A Place in the Sun. But I'm probably seeing too many movies lately.
Thanks for the link, Nathaniel. I agree thatBright Star merits far more critical attention than it has received so far. I would like to reassess Jane Campion's entire directorial career.
Also, I don't know that to think of Alicia Silverstone as a vegan vampire.
Iggy... I SO agree.
For a brief time period in Detroit there was a multiplex that reserved one screen for classics (rotated on a weekly basis... so it was like there was always an "old" movie opening along with the new ones) and i will always love that that's where i first saw WHOS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF rather than on VHS!
FilmDr -- I don't really get what people were doing when Bright Star came out... critically speaking. Everyone seems to have respected it but only as a pretty period piece. But Campion works deeper than that. It's like it was too delicate for people to really take seriously... movies without any violence and shouting i think kind of get the shaft critically ;) they aren't seen as GREAT DRAMA.
sometimes quiet and delicate is perfect, you know?
Nathaniel,
I agree. Bright Star makes a persuasive argument for toning down the sound and the violence. The people of 1818 might have led duller lives, but the characters in the movie seem more aware, more present in part because they don't have the distractions that keep us preoccupied. Campion does a masterful job capturing that difference in receptiveness. Also, it just looks like fun lounging around in the unspoiled English countryside waiting for inspiration to hit.
actually, Worthinton has a romantic drama opposite Keira Knightley coming up. It's caled Last Night and it'll be released in March, so we won't have to wait long to tell wether or not he can act.
I agree that Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has one of the most horrific storylines ever, and I can freely hate Howard Keel in it because he isn't one of the dancers.
But oh, the dancers! When I saw the doc "Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo" I discovered yet another Brother was a great and famous dancer. I LOVE them. Why did they have to be in a piece of crap movie? The dancing is on a par with West Side Story.
I thought Bright Star was stunningly beautiful but as I watched I couldn't connect with any of the characters. They all seemed odd and unlikable to me...the way I felt about Keats' friend at the beginning is the way I ended up feeling about Fanny and Keats himself by the end.
Sam Worthington can act. It's not his fault barely anybody outside of Australia has seen Somersault or Gettin' Square or Love My Way. I'm looking forward to Last Night more than any of his big budget movies, actually.
Thanks for the link, Nathaniel.
Iggy,
Clift IS much more sympathetic than Winters in Place (and who can believe Winters can't take care of business? I'm surprised Alice doesn't drown George in the movie), so it's easy to understand your empathizing more with his character. Love your Cruz/Winters comparison (never heard them mentioned together before, and probably never will again), whether it's true or not.
Vertigo's Psycho
Thanks for helping me to not feel (completely) insane. Sometimes, I find it hard to distinguish my own fandom from what truly, objectively can be seen by not fans, too. And thanks for the great read, by the way.
On the Winters/Cruz comparison, it's true it's almost impossible someone else will share my comparison. One would need to see Nine with A Place in the Sun fresh in the mind (I re-watched it a few months ago) and probably to be in my mind too :).
But to make it clear, so that no one misunderstands it, it only came to my mind at that very specific scene when Cruz is in bed and she looks up at Day-Lewis looking for his love but at the same time realizing it won't be there. To me, it's maybe the scene that probably sealed the deal for her nomination (along with Cotillard's category confusion, a performance I loved too). Because as for the rest of the part, everyone seems to agree Cruz was only reprising her role in VCB. Which I don't think it's the case. Yes, her Maria Elena and her Carla share the "crazed sexy mistress" thing, but the layers behind that quick label are quite different. She should be one of the finalists at least for the Film Bitch Awards, in the category for Best Individual Line Reading for her "I'll be here waiting for you. With my legs open.":
But other than that moment, Winters' and Cruz's are two very different characters and so, performances.
i'm loving this conversation about A Place in the Sun. Gah, i love that TFE readers have such good taste :)
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