By Odin's Link!

Awards Daily yes, everyone is already obsessed with Summer 2012 now that we know Chris Nolan's Batman will return. It's a franchise world we're living in.

So... let's get this over with.


The mighty Thor is coming before the next Batman. In approximately 369 days. And we're thinking about this primarily because the internet is insatiably interested in superheroes and they are thus impossible to ignore. The Almighty Internet has actually declared this photo of Chris Hensworth as Thor be posted from the rainbow bridge of Asgard to the wide streets of Harlem, New York and beyond. Offending blogs and sites shall be struck down.

Dutifully I post though I'm still struggling to care. Whenever I think of Thor I only think of that little girl in Adventures in Babysitting and how weird it was that someone's favorite superhero was Thor!?! And once I'm done thinking about that I can think only of Alexander Skarsgård's magical hammer. Or the Mjöllnir one imagines him to have.

I know I should let it go -- that he didn't get the part -- but even his name reminds one of the home of the Norse gods.

what were we on abou---oh, yes, yes...

LINKS
Coming Soon Esteemed director Bill Condon shares his reasons for taking on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and never once mentions money! Liar liar pants on fire ;)
Just Jared Scarjo in DC with her twin brother for the White House correspondents dinner
Guardian Burnt by the Sun 2, the sequel to the foreign film Oscar winner, flops in Russia. Interesting article on the Why of it. Maybe this isn't a sure thing as Russia's Oscar submission?
/Film Hank Azaria as Gargamel for The Smurfs. I have an inexplicable desire for this movie to be good but the odds are most decidedly against it I think
In Contention wonders if Jim Carrey is ok
The Daily Beast on why David O. Russell's political comedy Nailed is still in limbo. I normally find it difficult to enjoy stories about the business side of moviemaking: contracts, insurance, unions escape me. But this is interesting. I like his films so I'm hoping they find a way to finish it.

Randomness! Just because it amuses
Instructables Gummi Bear surgery
situated laundry Johnny Weir vs. Evan Lysacek summarized
MTV Movies "my name is Talky Tina and you better be nice to me" I can't tell you how horrified I was of Talky Tina as a little boy... though I remember her as "Talking" Tina

Stage Craft?
Tony Predictions from Michael Reidel, Just Shows To Go You, while Time Out New York offers up only who *should* be nominated. The big question mark might be how Addams Family fares given the critical drubbing. I'm currently rooting for Everyday Rapture because even though I haven't seen it yet I am in love with Sherie Rene Scott. I have every note of The Last Five Years deeply embedded in my brain and vocal chords. I'm also rooting for Valerie Harper in Looped because I have seen that one and she was great. As is often the case these days there are a ton of big and small movie/tv names who might be in the running including: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Alfred Molina, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Kristin Chenoweth, etcetera... The Tony nominations are announced on Tuesday.

Damn Linkees!

OhLaLa ~Jake Gyllenhaal drinks to Jamie Foxx's new music video Blame It (on the alcohol)... always a good thing to blame it on. Foxx seems to have instructed his celebri-guests (there are a few others, too) to play "attitude" because they don't seem to be having a good time.
Just Jared ~more Wolverine promo pics.
/Film Eddie Murphy as Richard Pryor? Bill Condon sure does love making biopics. Fully half of his feature filmography is biopics.


Yahoo by way of Awards Daily ~Clint Eastwood receives a prize from Cannes, 3 months before the festival begins. I promised to ease up on the Eastwood thing this year (my frustration with the collective need to bury him in trophies has not won me fans) but please allow me to express genuine non-snarky confusion here. I had no idea that film festivals gave prizes when they were not in session. Who juries that? Is this the same prize he received last May when he was there to promote Changeling (only delayed for its own ceremony?) or is this actually an additional career prize nine months later? I'm not trying to piss people off. I'm just confused that off season honors exist and that they honor the same people honored the previous summer.
Kenneth in the (212) and Crazy Days have wise things to say about this Rihanna / Chris Brown situation. Why is she back with him and why are other celebrities, blogs and infotainment shows so willing to promote misogyny and domestic abuse with these "misunderstanding" semantics? Domestic abuse is not excusable. Period.
The Big Picture ~ Will Watchmen flop outside of the community prepared to love it?
Glark ~"my hair is a bird" Ha!

And about that new Damn Yankees movie you may have been reading about elsewhere. The film will supposedly star Jake Gyllenhaal as 'Shoeless Joe Hardy' (an old man who, after making a pact with the devil, becomes a young superstar baseball player) and Jim Carrey as Mr. Applegate (i.e. The Devil). Don't get too excited about it. According to Everything I Know... there's not even a screenplay, a director or a "Lola" yet. Lola, Mr. Applegate's temptress assistant who develops genuine feelings for Joe, is the best role in the show and was immortalized by Bob Fosse's girl Gwen Verdon in the 1958 movie. She's got one of the musicals two real showstoppers which is called "Whatever Lola Wants" (see previous post). Mr. Applegate gets the other one (his only musical number) "Those Were the Good Old Days". Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson recently did the 'Shoeless Joe' thing here in NYC and, come to think of it, Jake Gyllenhaal is almost his perfect movie star counterpart. Both are a) tall dark and preternaturally handsome b) underappreciated due to their total gorgeousity c) almost too perfect for the Joe Hardy role in that Joe is kind of a dull character, a blank slate object of adoration for the media and the other characters. So if you're already a slightly generic fantasy object when you're coasting, you have to add a lot of notes to that role or it can fall flat. Shoeless Joe is very Benjamin Button actually. It's an old man gets young lead role but it's a very passive one and the least interesting character in the piece. Good luck Jakey!

Now can someone in Hollywood please cast Cheyenne Jackson in a major motion picture? He's, in a word, awesome. Plus he already proved with United 93 that his acting skills and charisma transfer just fine to celluloid.
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Who Should Present Oscars in Their Undies?

They keep saying they want the Oscar ceremony to be more surprising. That'd be one way to do it. Am I right?


Perhaps Peter Facinelli (Twilight) had the right idea at the Costume Design Guild Awards on Tuesday. Yes, this is what he presented in.

Only a brave soul would stand next to "Mr Big" whilst in boxers. [more photos @ JAMD]

I think Hugh Jackman ought to consider this tactic. Think about it. The host always changes costumes during the night. Why spend the extra time shuffling Wolverine backstage for undressing? Just have Jackman change outfits on stage. People love behind-the-scenes magic like that. Bill Condon can send me a check when he uses this idea and sees the huge spike in Nielsen ratings. I promise to give Facinelli a cut.

If Hugh isn't to your taste who'd you like to see walk the stage in their undies?

Looking for Oscar posts? Just chase the label below
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Oscar's Set and "Telling a Story"

On the off chance you haven't seen this year's Oscar's set. Here it is...


It reminds me a bit of 1930s Busy (excuse me) Busby Berkeley musical number with a huge overlay of art deco by way of Erte. Not that that's a bad thing. I prefer blues and purples to the garish oranges anyway so at the very least it won't burn out my corneas like the BAFTA set threatened to.

In the accompanying article in this weekend's New York Times, the reporter neatly describes the challenges of this hybrid show which is, in essence, a theater show for television and about the movies. Points for understanding that multi headed beast but I'm totally nervous as to what Bill Condon might do when seeking to tame it. David Rockwell, the famed set designer, likens the Oscar ceremony to "community theater on steroids". Which, you know... it's a point. But isn't that what they went for in those odd hopelessly tacky late 80s ceremonies that saw scary dance numbers with 'future Oscar stars' (Christian Slater, Corey Feldman, Patrick Dempsey, Blair Underwood and many more -- none of whom ever want on to Oscar nominations or even Emmy wins) or the dread Snow White/Rob Lowe grinding?

'community theater on steroids' brings only one equation to my mind

"Corrrrrrrrkkkkkyyy!"

Imagine what Corky St Clair could do with a budget!

All this talk (not in this article but elsewhere) of the awards "telling a story" has me nervous, too. Does Condon realize that the outcome of the actual prizes might be a pretty monotonous tale. Act 1: We love Slumdog Millionaire. Act 2: We really love Slumdog Millionaire. Act 3: We'd like to have Dev Patel or Freida Pinto's babies. They're legal, right?

I hope their 'storytelling gimmick' whatever it is, is mostly structural in nature and not all that movie focused. And is it just me or is the problem not that the telecast is broken at all -- It's always been super long. Even when it was popular so deal with it -- but that there's just simply more ways to watch celebrities gather than they're used to be and thus less public need to watch them do so. Not to mention the great divide of movie opinions in this day and age.

The Oscars are just 6 days away. What story do you hope they tell?
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The Kinsey Scale

Well, just saw KINSEY. A worthy Condon follow-up to Gods and Monsters. I would like to advise you on Oscar expectations except seeing the film doesn't clarify that as much as public reaction will. The biggest surprise I suppose is that it's hugely entertaining for a biopic. Very funny, dramatic, interesting. And somewhat inventive in its telling even though it does follow the classic biopic structure. i.e. bits of youth followed by bits of establishing romance w/ spouse followed by adult life with the major triump/setback/triumph arc that is common to these things. A lot will depend on the other films I suppose. As a film its a success. As an Oscar thing... not a slam dunk but it could happen.

It gets a lot of oomph from its unusual and rather epic (if you stop to think of it) subject. The acting is terrific all around but I'm not sure anyone within has a nomination locked up. Neeson is superb but there's heavy competition in his category. Linney seems to lack that one big scene that you know will be played as its awards show clip. That mythical scene usually lets you know if that person is surefire for a nod. This is not to negate her contribution to the film --she's wonderful as usual so it could happen. Lynn Redgrave is super also as you may have heard but despite Oscar 'Judi Dench cameo' buzz I'd be completely shocked if that talk continues. She's onscreen all of 3 minutes. Peter Sarsgaard is also good (no surprise there given his filmography) but I'd be surprised to see him anywhere near the supporting actor shortlist unless the film goes over really well with the public. We shall see.

Good show.
B