Flashback: Best of the 90s (Pt. 2)

Start with Pt 1 of this 90s Flashback... if you're confused about what's going on. To make a long story short, I'm excerpting items from an old zine I wrote in Spring 2000, during the first year of the website. Yes, I was originally juggling too many things. Why that's not like me AT ALL.

We previously covered my dated lists for Actors, Supporting Actresses and Supporting Actors -- lists I don't agree with in full anymore (though the supporting actresses list I quite like still). So now we move on to Picture and Actress.

Best Actress
Top ten chronological order. What follows is original text from the magazine, with the winner in bold text. I had purposefully excluded 1999 which is why you don't see Kate Winslet for Holy Smoke or Hilary Swank for Boy's Don't Cry though here's what I wrote about Swank in that same zine...

I'm rooting for Swank on Oscar night. But I must express concern that she could turn into Elisabeth Shue and only have this one great role in her.

Ha. I was right but it's funny in retrospect to have proof that I had no animosity at all (I love Shue). I mean I wasn't giving the Swankster mean nicknames or spoofing my own hatred of her and I was actually rooting for her to win that first time. It was that damn disingenuous "girl from a trailer park" campaigning and the second win that rubbed me in directions wrong and wrongest. [sic]

• Anjelica Huston, The Grifters (1990)
  Her daring unsympathetic work tore through the screen.
• Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  Clarice Starling is one for the history books.
• Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise (1991)
  I'm loathe to separate this duet, so I shan't.
• Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns (1992)
  Meow. Her funniest most magnetic star turn this decade.
• Emma Thompson, Howards End (1992)
  She shone as the passionate but centered Margaret Schlegel
• Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue (1992 [sic] it was actually 1993. I think I was avoiding a certain 1993 problem in my head! read on.)
  A mystifying transcendent performance.
• Holly Hunter, The Piano (1993)
  One of our finest comic actresses in her best dramatic work.
• Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  No one knew she had this in her but I'm glad she did.
• Frances McDormand, Fargo (1996)
  An expert comic performance that owns the great film.
• Helena Bonham-Carter, Wings of the Dove (1997)
  She gets better and better and this is the top.

Hmmm. Looking back I'm confused why Julianne Moore [safe] isn't listed. I was also a bit surprised that Meryl Streep's Postcards From the Edge didn't factor in but then I remembered that it took quite some time before Meryl Streep's "Suzanne Vale" started threatening to be my favorite of her character gallery.

1993 was too good a year in Best Actress. Too many riches.

And I'm a touch surprised to see Juliette Binoche there though I think the performance is a hypnotic icy marvel. The film was released in the States in 1993 which means that I'd have to bump Michelle Pfeiffer from The Age of Innocence off of my best actress 5 that year (*sniffle*) which would leave me with Holly Hunter, The Piano (winner) and nominees: Angela Bassett, What's Love Got to Do With It; Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue; Stockard Channing, Six Degrees of Separation and Emma Thompson, Much Ado About Nothing (previously discussed) none of whom I am able to part with. Sorry 'Chelle! It hurts me more than it hurts you.

Best Picture
[Chronological Top Ten. Winners in bold red. What follows is original text. 1999 I had originally excluded as it had just ended and I was still deciding on "bests" for that year.]

Heavenly Creatures and Porn Stars

• Beauty & The Beast (1991)
  Best cartoon of the decade. The genre has thankfully exploded since this.
• THELMA & LOUISE (1991)
  Eternal thanks fo Ridley, Callie, Susan & Geena. Best road trip of the decade.
• Husbands and Wives (1992)
  Allen's best film of the 90s. Its status will grow in time, trust me.
• Trois Coleurs (1992-1994)
  Have this experience! Kiezlowski's enthralling spiritual trilogy.
• THE PIANO (1993)
  Jane Campion's painterly erotic masterwork.
• Schindler's List (1993)
  I hate to include Spielberg but he actually deserved the kudos on this one. (recently discussed at the blog)
• Heavenly Creatures (1994)
  Peter Jackson's surreal mood juggling giddy nightmare.
  
• Dead Man Walking (1995)
  Tim Robbins enthralling and enormously moving death row drama.
• Boogie Nights (1997)
  P.T. Anderson's mega-entertaining superbly acted porn-opus.
• Wings of the Dove (1997)
  Vastly underrated James adaptation by Iain Softley and a trio of fine actors.

The "runners up" listed were Edward Scissorhands, Howards End, Pulp Fiction, Queen Margot, Babe, Fargo and The Truman Show. And my three favorites of 99, listed elsewhere in the zine were Being John Malkovich, Run Lola Run and All About My Mother. (I've always enjoyed Lola but I didn't remember it as that high up!)

Some notes: It appears that I was in love with the word "enthralling" in Spring 2000. I guess I could not choose an adjective for Heavenly Creatures so I just went with all of them. I was also, not yet dead set against "ties". The Piano (see my review) now holds the throne on its own and those porn stars, waitresses on the run and murderous teen girlfriends continue to sit nearby as ladies in waiting to "Best Film of the 90s." (And yes, I do still think Beauty & The Beast is the best animated film of the 90s. Sorry Toy Story and Princess Mononoke) The rest of the list would need a seriously rethink or overhaul.

And if that weren't enough -- you're all "please stop. It's 2010!" yeah, yeah, we'll get back to it -- here were some other fighting words back then. Original Text follows. I can't totally stand by all of this since it's 10 years ago that I wrote this and I haven't seen at least half of the films since. Plus, I seemed to have had a distinct distaste for films with negative messages. But here's what I wrote ten years ago...

The World is Stone Pt 1 (Unjustly aborted movie children i.e. the most underrated films of the 90s.)

• One True Thing
  Dismissed as just a fine Streep film. Sorry, try again. Just a fine film.
• Velvet Goldmine
  Time has lifted [safe] to grand cinema status. Same thing will happen to Todd Haynes' most electric film.
• Strange Days | Nell | The Ref
  Not classics but severely and rudely underrated.
• Queen Margot
  This film floors me. Luscious. Epic. Incredible.
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
  You might want to hate it but you'll learn to love it.
• Truly Madly Deeply
  A rarely insightful look at the mourning process with two terrific lead performances.
• Batman Returns | Mars Attacks
  Burton's least appreciated. Funny and clever films.
• Living Out Loud | Home for the Holidays
  The first was widely shrugged off, the second universally hated. I'll never get why. Holly Hunter is perfection in both.
• Men Don't Leave
  An emotional stunner with Jessica Lange in top form.
• Romeo + Juliet
  The media tried to reduce it to "Shakespearean MTV" when it's a visually inspired experience. DiCaprio and Danes briefly gave Young Hollywood a good name.

The World is Stone Pt 2 (spoiled brats - overrated films of the 90s)

• LA Confidential
  Didn't anyone else find the ending a major cop out?
• Deconstructing Harry
  One of Woody's worst. Childishly vicious.
• Henry Fool
  A revered arthouse film that's so pretentious I felt like tearing at my skin.
  
• Forrest Gump | Saving Private Ryan
  Two ultra adored patriotic Tom Hanks blockbusters with scary political implications or simplified messages.
• In the Company of Men
  It's just inert as a film. Lifeless even in all its bile.
• Braveheart
  Mel Gibson's sick, homophobic, bloodthirsty operatically self-indulgent mess. Won the Oscar of course.
• Casino
  Just when I was sick to death of it, I realized it was only halfway over. Repetitious, ugly, and revered based solely upon the name in the director's chair.

Hmmm.

Many many people have told me I should love Casino (1995) as they do. Perhaps I wasn't in the right place? But I still remember the visceral hatred of it in the movie theater ... so I'm scared to go back. I rarely employ "pretentious" as a kneejerk insult now so I wonder what I'd think of Henry Fool today? I still have plenty of hate for Forrest Gump (see recent proof) and Braveheart (see recent proof) but I am confused at the dismissal of LA Confidential which is obviously a goodie.

Things I have no memory of: Hating In the Company of Men or loving One True Thing.

What were your favorite and least favorites of the 1990s back in 2000?
How is the list different now?
*

Naughty Verhoeven and Naked Bacon

A comment from 3rtfull on that Ken Russell The Devils post got me to thinking about Paul Verhoeven. There's another controversial auteur with a somewhat dedicated critical following who seemed to wear out his welcome with the press in general. They're always willing to be manipulated by the provocateurs for a short while but then, they turn their heads away yawning. Beware Von Trier! This fate could well await you next. We'll be discussing Verhoeven's masterpiece Showgirls this evening for the premiere of the new series "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" -- prepare those posts! -- but let's start a little early with Hollow Man (2000), which hits its 10th anniversary today.


When it came out, I illustrated my dismissive review with this cheeky pic. (I had just started the website. I am always embarrassed about those old reviews.)

At the time I was still totally hurt that Elisabeth Shue couldn't get a solid A list career going in the wake of her Leaving Las Vegas brilliance. I haven't seen Hollow Man since but I remember it being grossly misanthropic and, well, dumb.

Yet in the past ten years I've grown slightly fonder of Verhoeven (largely due to Showgirls -- which I've always loved -- and Black Book, which I was briefly obsessed with.) so I don't entirely trust my pre-Aughts feelings about him. I definitely wasn't ready for him when I first started watching movies. My first Verhoeven was The Fourth Man which I think I saw on VHS in the late 80s and it completely nauseated and upset me.

But maybe Hollow Man isn't worth a second look? Until I realized it was the tenth anniversary today, I hadn't thought of the movie since I saw that travelling Bodies exhibit with friends four or five years ago and thought 'This is just like when Kevin Bacon was naked in that movie. Sounds sexy but is not. Not sexy then. Not sexy now.' But in all fairness to Kevin, the only people who would find that kind of naked Bacon sexy are serial killers, so...

Has anyone of you seen Hollow Man recently? If not, do you have any memories of it at all? Paul Verhoeven just turned 72 a couple of weeks ago and though he has a few pictures in development and Total Recall is being remade, he hasn't made a movie since Black Book hit theaters four years ago.

Elisabeth and Kevin wondering what you'll say about them in the comments. Type!
*

Streep Nom #10: The Bridges of Madison County

We've been looking at each Meryl Streep Oscar nod and its competitive field. Previously: 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88 and 90.

When The Bridges of Madison County premiered in summer (a rare Eastwood berth, indeed) it seemed like Streep might finally win her 3rd Oscar the following Spring. She'd been away from the awards race in what seemed like forever. Hilariously, that "forever" absence had only been four consecutive years (1991-1994) but for Meryl, that's an eternity. In fact, a four year absence had never happened before and has never happened since all these years later. By the end of the 1995 film year, a really actressy one, the story was a lot different and the race was suddenly all but sewn up for Sarandon with only Streep and Stone as dark horse possibilities.

1995 the nominees were

• Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
• Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas *Nathaniel's pick. This performance kills me.*
  
• Sharon Stone, Casino
  
• Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County
• Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility
  

Trivia note: With this 10th honor, Streep tied Bette Davis & Jack Nicholson's overall nomination records (at the time -- Jack wasn't done giving Streep a run for #1) making them the collective #2 Oscar favored actor after Katharine Hepburn.

Back to the actual competition. How many times have we heard this almost-win story now? Meryl is flouncing along giddily in the general direction of the podium for her third triumph when suddenly...

But let us not bemoan that elusive third Oscar and instead marvel at how many valid choices Oscar made for 1995 and how good their roster might have been even if it had looked a lot different.

---> Meryl with Tom Cruise at the Oscars in March '96. (Note frosty snubbed Nicole, not yet ascendant, by his side)

Other 1995 women for context: Oscar chose the entire Globe Drama slate which meant that the comedic nominees were snubbed: Nicole Kidman (To Die For), Vanessa Redgrave (A Month by the Lake), Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding), Annette Bening (The American President) and my fav Sandra Bullock perf (While You Were Sleeping). Two critical darlings Julianne Moore [safe] and the eternally snubbed Jennifer Jason Leigh (Georgia) were ignored due to being ahead of their time and upstaged by their co-star, respectively, though Leigh did win the coveted NYFCC prize. Box office queens Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Minds) failed to scare up awards attention outside of MTV.

Other female leads that year included: Angela Bassett (Waiting to Exhale), Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise), Lori Petty (Tank Girl), Winona Ryder (How to Make an American Quilt), Elizabeth Berkely (Showgirls) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Miami Rhapsody) getting her first taste of romantic comedy lead stardom to come.

Bassett had a fiery 95 (Strange Days & Waiting to Exhale)

Finally, the year included a few leads who were previous Oscar winners Jessica Lange (Rob Roy), Geena Davis (Cutthroat Island), Holly Hunter (Home for the Holidays) and Kathy Bates (Dolores Claiborne) none of whom were received as warmly as had often previously been the case.

See what I mean about the year being actressy? And so many fine examples of different flavors of it, too.

Nathaniel's List: It's a tasty Oscar vintage for sure -- they done good -- but I'd have to remove Stone's effortful hot mess and Thompson's sensible sister to make room for two redheads who staked their first unmistakable claims to genius: Moore & Kidman. And though I'll always love "Cher" in Clueless, I can't make room for her in such an abundant year. That said, it's utterly shameful that the Globe Comedy nominations excluded her.

AS IF!

Your thoughts on the year, please. It's so rich, don'cha think?
*

Yes, No, Maybe So: Spider-Man, Karate Kid, A-Team

Usually when I can remember that the general public doesn't go to the movies to see movies but to be a part of pop culture, I'm okay with the constant regurgitation at the cinema. When I don't remember... when I forget that people don't buy tickets to see CINEMA exactly... that's when the despair sets in and I wonder why they always want to see the same film over and over again. (I know, I know, that's the elitist side of cinephilia talking... but trust that I'm totally populist about the all access issue and I am generally angry with film geeks of any persuasion who automatically assume that the new difficult art film is worthier than the new accessible blockbuster or vice versa).

My friend Nick got angry about our heavily regurgitated culture with last month's Sherlock Holmes, giving it a savage beating in review form for all its shortcut identity theft. That Guy Ritchie flick is actually a perfect example. In order to fully enjoy it, you just have to remember that it's not a movie. Sherlock Holmes was a pop culture stocking suffer: Gobble it up, digest it without thinking, move on to other holiday prezzies. It already feels past tense, doesn't it?

But things are getting worse.

The recent cancellation of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man franchise -- they'll reboot it and go back to high school nerd Peter Parker -- is cause for alarm. I can see rebooting things when the originals are generations ago (Star Trek). But Peter Parker graduated from high school not 10 years ago! People don't start getting nostalgic about going back to high school that soon. That happens when they're in their 30s or 40s and then they go and see movies like Peggy Sue Got Married. Freaky Friday or 17 Again. If that yearning for high school starts in your 20s, you're doing your 20s wrong... sorry, Drew! Why do we need to see this again when we can pop in the DVDs any time and watch Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst work their pop culture magic? Rebooting it doesn't even make sense from a nostalgia perspective since it's not "old". There's no new generation to sell it, too. You kind of need a twenty year gap for that excuse.

Spider-Man thru the years: debuted in '62, his own comic by '63,
cartoon by '67, live action by '77, saturday morns in the '80s. The
blockbuster swings in the '00s. This decade might bring
a Broadway musical (long delayed) and a fourth "reboot" film.

There's no movie teaser for my usual "yes, no, maybe so" exercize but Spider-Man 4 breaks down like so in concept...

• yes: Marc Webb, the franchise's new director, is talented. (500) Days of Summer shows that he's got a playful streak (Spider-Man would be abysmal if it was trying to be Batman) and a real cinematic sensibility -- even those who dislike his breakout film would be hard pressed to say that it's a hack job: there are actual visual and thematic ideas at work. It's no point and shoot job.
  
• no: no cobwebs on the original trilogy. What's the point?
  
• maybe so: I guess we'll see who they cast as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy before we decide whether we'll lineup... now that there's a real director on board.
  

It's too bad that the huge failure of Land of the Lost last summer didn't impede Hollywood's lust for all this recycling. In fact the remake/reboot craze makes no sense to me at all because of the dominance of three things: DVD, Cable and Blu-Ray. When movie culture was confined to actual movie theaters, remakes made sense. Now that everyone can watch the things they love over and over again... well, why stare at a xerox when you can look at the original?

What hath Star Trek (XI) wrought? More TV shows turned movies and more movies turned movie reboots. Not that The A-Team and Karate Kid are sacred entertainment vessels. Although don't tell that to my younger self who wanted to "wax on" and "wax off" until Elisabeth Shue materialised as my real life girlfriend.

The Karate Kid (2010)



The original mainstream 80s classic (of sorts) was so huge it even won an Oscar nomination: Best Supporting Actor for Mr. Miyagi himself, Pat Morita (RIP). Oscar always did love the teachers and mentors... it's a pretty common awards thread. This retread is not likely to win Jackie Chan similar prizes... there's no way a money grab can come across as sweetly likeable and innocent as the original film. The new version also stars genetic lottery winner Jaden Smith. Would you have any concept whatsoever of reality if you grew up with über famous shockingly wealthy parents and were headlining your own movie by the time you were 11 years old? That's like Liza Minnelli mental territory... only quicker like and with deeper pockets.

• yes: Taraji P. Henson (!) The P stands for "love" in Swahili. And I kinda do.
  
• no: Ugh. China as the setting. Even though the lead is black, we've still got to make every foreign or "other" story somehow subtextually about white American superiority. In mere weeks, little Jaden will become better at martial arts than any of the Asian boys who've been doing it their whole lives.
  
• maybe so: We already know that 'wax on/wax off' has become "take your jacket off". But what will painting the fence translate to? Remakes have to spin the famous parts and occasionally that's fun (yes... I'm grasping at straws)

The A-Team (2010)



I'm more okay with this one in concept because the original was such disposable entertainment. The Karate Kid (the original) sticks, you know? It's got heart and a fundamental kindness to it which is so not in vogue anymore that I'm scared to think of how comparatively soulless its remake will be. The A-Team is riper for a remake -- even though TV series don't make for great movie concepts -- it was always dumb junk food.

• yes: Liam Neeson as "Hannibal". Something about this totally works for me (at least in teaser form) but then I have a hard time resisting him every 4th movie or so for some reason.
  
• no: I can already tell this is one of those movies wherein the action doesn't make any sense. I hate that. This is why James Cameron deserves his unfathomable riches. Explosions and crazy ass cutting do not, in and of themselves, make for satisfying action.
  
• maybe so: Bradley Cooper as "Faceman". I'm still deciding about that one... Bradley Cooper, not "Faceman". You?
  

Do you feel like Hollywood ate too much and vomited its leftovers all over you?
*

Saturday Night Link

Moon in the Gutter uploads an Elisabeth Shue clip from 14 years ago (!) and reminisces about Leaving Las Vegas.
Fin de Cinema has a ton of Cannes 09 posters. Love it
/Film a glossary of terms to explain the new Alice in Wonderland screenplay
Screengrab kicks Winona Ryder when she's down (fearing that she might get back up)
Carpetbagger looks at spring's limited release sleeper success. Can you guess which movie? I haven't seen it yet but I did take note here.
Big Monster Cinema has awesomely weird posters and taglines. I wish movie marketing would go completely B-Movie again.


Bleeding Tree apologizes for his original support of the PG-13
Birth of a Notion gives update and personal notes on Farrah Fawcett and her battle with cancer.
Cinema Styles has a thought provoking post on acting and 'career-long characters'

ULTRA SPECIFIC POINTLESS RANT
Have you heard of the film The Tree and the Forest? It just won the Jean Vigo Prize in France. That award honors films of independent spirit and style... they don't have to be considered perfect, just passionate and original. I find it maddening that in 2009 in the magical world of the internets I can't find any info about this film other than the names involved in making it. Boo. There are so many creatives out there making movies, music or art or whatever who still haven't realized that you have to have an internet presence. I've bitched about this before with struggling actors... it's self-sabotage not to have a website in the new century. Even semi-successful people make this mistake. For instance: I was looking up Sutton Foster the other day online. The first website that comes up (underneath Wikipedia) claims to be official but it hasn't been updated since 2005. Meanwhile Sutton has a new album out but you wouldn't know it was available for purchase unless you were friends with her on Facebook or you happened to know the title of the album and you searched for that. Get it together people (Sutton's hardly the only minor celebrity failing in this regard). You can sell more records, movie tickets, merchandise, even (theoretically) get more jobs if you are easy to find / accessible.
*

Freshwater Link

/Film more on Ridley Scott's Robin Hood's basic angle and the casting. A fourth Oscar winner has been added... is he actually going for Oscars, 2010 rather than a mere adventure romp?
Getty Images La Lohan is back to her natural red. Okay an approximation of it but still... good sign? NO. I shan't get my hopes up. Don't do that to yourself, Nathaniel!
Twitch Elisabeth Shue to star in Piranhas 3D. Sigh. I love my Shue but does NO studio or casting director or director or producer or anyone anywhere besides her fans (and it's weird how many she still seems to have) remember what she was able to do in Leaving Las Vegas? We can't get any real roles for her
Crazy Days Robyn Gibson finally dumping Mad Mel -- entitled to half a billion?
MNPP congratulates SMG on the bun in her oven and offers her sound advice, too?
Empire a Venom movie in development? Marvel has gone mad. Maybe they should slow down a wee bit or focus on, I don't know, 2 or 3 of them?
Topless Robot takes (humorous) issue with the new Star Trek "not your father's Star Trek" commercial

The Curious Case of Maria Bello

"HEEEYYYYYY!"

Maria Bello @ the Hollywood Film Festival on Monday

Maria just wanted to say hi.

Maria Bello needs a job. No seriously. How you do what she did in A History of Violence (my review --she won my gold medal, too) and not be deluged with major offers. How do you do what she did and end up playing second fiddle to Alison Lohman in a horse movie? Sigh. Her most recent ignoble defeat at the hands of Hollywood? Replacing Rachel Weisz in the Mummy pictures past their prime this past summer. That vaguely reminded me of that horrific moment when they threw a brunette wig on Elisabeth Shue for what was amounted to a throwaway part in Back to the Futures II & III ...perhaps hoping that nobody would notice the replacement of the original actress whatshername. That was so weird. Anyone old enough to remember that? As a young boy I was desperately in love with Elisabeth Shue via The Karate Kid -- 'tis true. This McFly move emotionally signified the end of Shue's stardom for me (yes, even as a kid I went all white-knuckled, fearing unemployment for my actresses ...no wonder I'm getting worry lines). But then 5 years later Leaving Las Vegas premiered and the blessed Oscar nomination happened for Ms. Shue.

What does all this mean? Maria Bello in 2013, people... Maria Bello in 2013!

Review: Hamlet 2

The first joke in Hamlet 2 was on me.


When I sat down to watch this highly buzzed comedy I actually worried that I wouldn’t get all of the jokes. It’s not that I’m not familiar with the Bard — in fact, I’d just seen another production at Shakespeare in the Park — it’s just that with Hamlet, there’s so much to get. But I was in good company. Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan), the drama teacher hero of this demented farce, understands even less about Shakespeare than I do. He’s as adorably clueless about the Bard as I was about this movie.

No, Hamlet 2 is not the inappropriate sequel riff I thought it might be on Hamlet. Nor is it a classic in modern day comic drag a la Clueless’s take on Emma or, to keep it Shakespearean, 10 Things I Hate About You’s reworking of Taming of the Shrew.

I bring up these movies because I think Dana Marschz might like them, even if he didn’t respect them. He prefers “inspirational” movies like Dead Poet’s Society or Mr. Holland’s Opus, which he hopes to restage at West Mesa High in Tucson Arizona with his drama class...

Read the Rest... Elisabeth Shue, Get Thee to a Nunnery!

*

"Don't f*** with the babysitter!"

Now Playing (06/01)

L I M I T E D

Day Watch It's a sponsors (sidebar) so click away to learn more. I'm not going to pretend that I totally got Night Watch, the first in this popular Russian franchise but it had enough gonzo visual chutzpah to keep the eye busy while the mind was going 'huh?' -- Anyway, I like vampires
Rise: Blood Hunter Lucy Liu is a a vampire and a vampire assasin. Hmmm, we've seen this before ? I love that the trailer says "from the producer of The Grudge and the writer of Gothika" --these are pluses? But then again... vampires (its a programming theme this week, no?)
I'm Reed Fish If you're still wearing black because Gilmore Girls went bye bye, you can see Alexis Bledel @ the movies. Reed Fish (also the screenwriter's name) is played by Jay Baruchel and the film also features Victor VargasRasuk and Schuyler Fisk
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman Timothy Spall stars as an executioner in the 40s and 50s as public opinion begins to turn against capital punishment. Also starring Juliet Stevenson (who doesn't work enough --or at least doesn't get enough worthy roles considering how freaking brilliant she was in Truly, Madly Deeply many moons ago)

W I D E

Gracie When I cry in my pillow each night begging for Elisabeth "Sera" Shue to be in more movies... well, this isn't really what I had in mind --Anyone can play the mom. It's another inspirational sports drama. Aren't those supposed to come out in the first quarter of the year? Isn't that their niche slot? Bitching aside, this is apparently a personal Shue family effort. It's inspired by true events from their lives, Elisabeth's husband Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth --and yes it is he who won the Oscar, not Al Gore) is directing. Her brother Andrew (Melrose Place) is co-producing and co-starring. So I wish them well. Although I still really must rebitch: if the whole family is going to rally to make a movie can't Elisabeth Shue get a great lead role instead of playing mom to Carly Schroeder?
Knocked Up I normally don't care that much about box office (too depressing to get invested) but I'm mighty curious as to how well this original comedy will fare in a franchise-overflowing summer. Katherine Heigl stars as the preggers one night stand of Seth Rogen. You knew that already
Mr. Brooks Remember that vampiric theme: For this thriller, they've raised Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, and William Hurt from the dead. As headliners! It's 1987!!!

PSA: Attention Casting Directors

Elisabeth Shue is still very much alive. She proved it by showing up on the red carpet at last night's Oscars. Can someone please give her a job!? I mean a real job. I don't mean like a victim of spooky child job or a mom of Hot Young-Man walk on. I mean a real meaty role. Remember how completely incredible she was in Leaving Las Vegas? How can you give a performance like that and be mostly ignored.

Plus: still pretty.

First casting director to give her a great role again gets a gold star and my thanks.