Michelle Williams is really on fire these days, isn't she? Whether she's causing NC-17 ratings by being such a brutally honest actor (the MPAA can blow me when they're done gagging about Ryan going down on her in Blue Valentine) or putting artistry before fame, you have to appreciate. I love that she's doing things as resoundingly uncommercial as Meek's Cutoff in which she plays a quiet but strong-willed wife, lost in Indian country with her husband and a few other sorry travellers in covered wagons, simply because she obviously believes in director Kelly Reichardt.
.........i wanna be linked by you...boopboopadoo
Antagony & Ecstacy hates the Oscar hopeful documentary Waiting for Superman even more than I do. That's a lot by the way.
That Obscure Object -- yay, I'm not the only one who shares their celebrity dreams online. This one stars Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber as flirtatious employers.
Studio Daily - 10 high points in digital cinematography. (The Oscars are a-changing)
Towleroad - I'm happy that Anderson Cooper is getting ballsier about calling people on their homophobia. The trailer to the new Vince Vaughn movie edited out a gay joke as result. Not that they took the joke out of the movie. But... baby steps.
Moviefone Pepé le Pew via Mike Myers vocal chords? I love Pepe but uh... I dunno.
Observations on Film Art likes that Costa-Rican Oscar submission Of Love and Other Demons.
MTV Naomi Watts will not appear in Eastern Promises 2. It's all Viggo, all the time.
Oh and here's my weekly at Towleroad with yet more linkable stories: Johnny Depp, Daniel Radcliffe and more.
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20 comments:
What's your problems with "Waiting for Superman"?
If you click on that link... well, he said it all. I never really wrote a review but Timothy expressed so much of what I was feeling so I recommend reading that piece. very smart.
Nathaniel
The composer from the tourist is Gabriel Jared. We can get a glimpse of the score at:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thetourist/site/
You asked for information in the predictions charts, so you get it
Talking about dreams, just last night I had a dream that Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz died in a car accident.
It was a sad dream indeed.
paco -- your dreams lie! or at least they better not be prophetic.
anon -- thanks
I got into a heated debate about the “That’s so gay” situation with the Hangover. At the same time I was listening to the line “Electric Cars are gay, but not in a homosexual way” from the Dilemma trailer. It reminded me a little bit of Katy Perry’s lyrics for her song UR So gay in which she says “You’re so gay because you don’t eat meat and drive electric cars.” This confused me because in essence both are saying similar words but ultimately one is set to offend more than the other, since we all know Ms. Perry is a little bit of a gay icon at this point. I know that in the wake of so many suicides of teen gays it’s a little bit alarming to see how the media plays into this. Then it reminded me of “Columbine”, when people went uproariously against Marilyn Manson because those kids listened to his music..... Then we have Queen Latifah and Brian Grazer, involved in a movie about whatever and obviously iare aware of the plot of the movie.. Wouldn’t they be more cautious of participating of a movie that misrepresents them?
Sorry, I meant to say "the Dilemma", not The Hangover...
For a second I thought that was Nicole Kidman transformed, Kevyn Aucoin-style, into Marilyn Monroe. Can you imagine? (Well, look at the number they did on Mira Sorvino—and the suspension of belief Naomi Watts will require.)
Has Anderson Cooper officially come out of the closest yet?
This is the first time I've even heard any mention of Blue Valentine being "explicit", all I've ever heard about it was that it featured two knock-out performances and that's what makes me want to see it. The MPAA has really outdone themselves! An NC-17 for this film and an R for The Human Centipede? Tell me how this makes sense?
Well, (Yes, I've seen the Human centipede) the Human Centipede doesn't show much at all other than a little blood. I guess they want people to use their imagination for the rest.
Film Junkie -- because it's not explicit. I would have remembered it being explicit because i think more films should be ;)
its' totally not. it's just that the sex scenes are extremely emotionally revealing... and that is a big no no.
Has Anderson Cooper officially come out of the closest yet?
No.
I can't believe the crazy couple of years Williams will have: Blue Valentine, Meek's Cutoff, My Week With Marilyn, and Take This Waltz. If she doesn't get a nod this year, next year seems very likely.
Saying that, though, I don't particularly see her as Monroe - while I think she'll probably give a good, maybe even great, performance on its own, I'm not so sure she'll capture the right aurora of Monroe.
Island and John -- well that depends on what year you're talking about? Before the CNN days he WAS out of the closet. But then mysteriously was back in when the huge multi-gazillion dollar contract work began.
Danielle -- she is definitely building quite a rep. I'm a little surprised at the buzz for MEEK'S CUTOFF though. It's absolutely NOT an Oscar performance even though it's a very good one.
No Naomi in Eastern Promises 2? i guess she didn't really fit into the story. I can't wait to watch it though.
and no one will ever fit the massive expectations of the Marilyn role. I think Michelle Williams will do a good job though.
Julia Ormond has been cast as Vivien Leigh in my week with marilyn after Catherine Zeta Jones withdrew.
I think Michelle Williams is a great actress and that she will do a good job playing Marilyn Monroe, but she lacks something that Monroe had... Williams is beautiful, but I think she lacks the sex appeal that's necessary.
Let me say, this, I saw 'Waiting For Superman' and while I get the argument that it is a bit heavy-handed unless you yourself has gone to or one of your kids has gone to a school like the ones in the film, you really don't get it.
I grew up in Washington DC public schools, which are cited many times as the worst schools in the country - with good reason. Is the Teachers Union the only problem with DC schools? No, but to act like bad teachers is not a huge problem, particularly in DC and since I saw it firsthand is ridiculous. When Michelle Rhee became the chancellor of schools, everyone was appalled and hated her and thought that she was too harsh, but guess what? She's gotten results? Students in DC are testing better and their skills are on a better level than they were two years ago, so apparently she is doing something right. All of the "well it could be for this reason, or this reason or this reason" stuff is moot, the kids are doing better than they were before.
The fact of the matter is, there is low accountability, particularly in schools that are in low-income neighborhoods. The assumption is and has always been that those kids just can't learn or have too many problems and the bottom line in the film is that THE KIDS SHOULD COME FIRST. It's not about the teachers or pleasing them or worrying about their egos, if your job as a teacher is to help these children excel and progress and their test scores time and time again show that they are not doing that, you need to be fired.
If Michelle Rhee retains her position as the chancellor in DC and continues to make progress in DC schools at the rate that she has, I think it will completely change the entire foundation of the public school education in the US.
So basically while I understand some of the complaints about the film, the fact is that the idea that the film is promoted has produced more results than any other ideas on how to fix education in the public school system has since the 1970's.
NancyG -- i hear you and I don't really question that the film is right that the situation is bad. BUT I don't see what argument the film is making... other than it's bad. how is that an argument?
i did think the proposals the one woman was making (was that michelle rhee -- i saw the movie 9 months ago or something so i'm totally rusty) were interesting -- especially pay based on results (though i worry that teaching to get test results is not necessarily a mark of good teaching. good teaching would imply retention and development of critical thinking skills and all of these things that are hard to measure in tests you can cram for.
i guess i just hated the format. complain complain complain -- entirely blame the unions and then suddenly it's a movie about the varaies of fate (with the charter lotteries)
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