If you'd like to discuss the latest round of critics awards, have at it.
Three more groups have announced and so the usual suspects play the game of musical chairs. The most interesting note right off the bat is that the Women Film Critics Circle have bestowed an award on Black Swan that isn't a flattering one. They've given it "Worst Female Images in a Movie".
I understand the impulse behind this sort of "tsk-tsk"ing having been burned over the years with the often problematic depiction of gay characters but I think it's wrong-headed to a degree.
Remember when Dennis Quaid played f***up former high school football star "Mike" in Best Picture nominee Breaking Away (1979)? [What a vintage crop, eh? Breaking Away, Kramer Vs. Kramer (write-up), Apocalypse Now (write-up), All That Jazz (write-up) and Norma Rae? Love that Oscar year.] Or, depending on when you were born, do you remember when you first saw him doing so? Erik Lundegaard does and wrote up a sweet tribute to the film yesterday.
Dennis Quaid in Breaking Away. He turned 25 shortly before the movie opened.
Erik describes Mike aptly as "a Springsteen character without the guts" and uses Mike's own words to further the point
You know what really gets me, though? I mean here I am, I gotta live in this stinkin’ town, and I gotta read in the newspapers about some hot-shot kid, new star of the college team. Every year it’s gonna be a new one. And every year it’s never gonna be me. I’m just gonna be Mike. Twenty-year-old Mike. Thirty-year-old Mike. Ol’ mean ol’ man Mike! These college kids out here are never gonna get old, or out of shape, cause new ones come along every year.
Mike is too gutless to stop the downward slide and knows it. He's tragically aware that his glory days are behind him and he's only 19. Dennis's best days, on the other hand, had just begun. This was only his sixth feature and first memorable breakthrough.
People often uncharitably view older stars as "has beens" -- I'm not saying people say this about DQ mind you. What do they say about him? -- but if you were working when you were in your early twenties and you're still working consistently in your mid fifties, this is a resounding success story for any actor, whether they're above the title or way down on the call sheet. It's a tough life and the odds are against success.
But back to Breaking Away... and Friday Night Lights (?)
Wasn't Quaid's Mike essentially Tim Riggins before there was a Tim Riggins? Or at least from the same character gene pool. Mike has more of a chipped shoulder and less of a golden heart.
Character intros: "Mike", former football star, is introduced singing, leisurely leading his friends to an afternoon swim in Breaking Away. He's all about killing time, responsibility is not a priority. "Tim Riggins", current football star, is introduced in the Friday Night Lights pilot, drunk and sleepy-eyed. Getting to football practice on time is not a priority.
Yes, this post has also been brought to you by last night's season finale of Friday Night Lights which was just marvelous. Speaking of FNL and Tim Riggins, can Taylor Kitsch, who came to fame playing him (coincidentally, like Quaid, just as he was turning 25), manage a movie career after Friday Night Lights? That's the plan. Dennis Quaid wouldn't be a bad role model at all in building an enduring big screen resume. And that's true not just for Kitsch, who is 29 now, but true for any other young actor who excels at aimless bad boys, charming devils and/or All American types approaching personal crises.
Kitsch has made six movies already but he'll get his first real shot at big screen stardom when John Carter of Mars, his seventh, opens in 2012. He's already done filming but the post-production will be long on that one.
<-- Dennis seen prepping for his role in Soul Surfer earlier this year
Dennis will next be seen (presumably) at the Emmy Awards on August 21st. He's nominated for playing Bill Clinton in the TV film That Special Relationship. Next year we'll see him as the dad of a shark attack survivor in Soul Surfer and (possibly?) in the bible-thumping John Lithgow role in the remake of Footloose (2011). *
I get many emails asking me to write more frequently about the small screen so I figured I should cave if a tv series really excites me (like Mad Men) but on one condition: it has to reference the movies (or feature a beloved movie actress) or involve awardage. I've highlighted movie-adjacent TV before like pre-fame TV roles or unexpected actress moments. So henceforth, I'll package it in series form. You know how we do here at TFE. If something I happen to catch on television references the movies, I'll feature it on Saturday mornings to thank it for doing so.
Last week on Friday Night Lights Becky fell asleep watching Thelma & Louise and that is... well, I can only suspend so much disbelief and you just don't fall asleep watching that movie. It's awesome -- top ten of the 90s level awesome. But Becky is my least favorite character so whatever. She's a mess and there's no accounting for taste. There's a reason Louise won't drive thru Texas, y'all! She'd rather drive right off a cliff. I can't even discuss falling asleep watching Thelma & Louise without turning red with fury. Inappropriate! Those women deserved better.
So for this edition of "TV @ The Movies" a brief discussion of Drag U instead.
RuPaul's Drag U episode 1.2 "Dateless Divas" I'm fairly certain this show is not half as good as it could be.
Qualm #1: a makeover show. Like we needed another one.
Qualm #2: I'm assuming Raven won't be in every episode and when the first Raven-less episode appears, I will feel cheated.
Qualm #3: why isn't the entire panel of judges famous queens like Lady Bunny? I mean to have a "Dean of Dance" and it's notCandis Cayne? That's just wrong!) -- but I love that the underlying message is so subversive: everyone would be better off if they became a drag queen.
Raven: These girls are lucky that they have the advanced technology of the dragulator! RuPaul: The Dragulator is a highly sophisticated piece of tech-no-lo-gy
Raven was the hottest miss thang on last year's Drag Race (and anyone who coins the phrase "giving Michelle Pfeiffer Bitch" has won me for life.) so I'm happy that she's practically the star of Drag U already. And, of course, Ru's always had a way with hilarious line readings. The Dragulator is awesome. Ru understands the camp value of a low budget (not to mention the power of a catchphrase and cheap gimmick). Anyway, the [sassy head bob] tek•nol•uh•jee suggests that contestant Lenae becomes "Honey Boom" and she likes it.
"I was like, 'That's Marilyn Monroe. And she really is inside of me!'"
So... eventually Lenae as Honeyboom blows a kiss to the judges with a "Happy Birthday Mr. President" proving once again that Marilyn did it best. More celebrities ought to understand their own image with pinpoint precision and sell it accordingly at public events. If they hope to be remembered 48 years after their death, that is.
Meanwhile Lenae's competitor Debbie is transformed into "Moxie Mayhem" saying
"It's like Memoirs of a Geisha meets Marie Antoinette"
And you know that mash-up sent me reeling... cuz I hate and love in equal measure! [To recap: Memoirs = hate / Marie = love]
'Honeyboom' won the competition but I was the true winner because it got me to thinking about Marie-Antoinette, aka the 'misunderestimated' movie of the Aughts.
Leaping far from the RuPaul's Drag U topic, out of curiousity, I thought I'd check that statement. Nope! Oops. It's almost the most critically hated of my top 50 favorite movies of the Aughts but not quite. These are the least acclaimed of those, according to the TomatoMeter, the only films in my top 50 to not score in the 80% and above of critical approval. These are the places I refused consensus. Not out of contrarianism, mind you, but from pure love of the movies in question.
crazy people Radar Online Mel Gibson's lost his marbles again. His angry angry marbles. NatashaVC explains the ridiculousness that is Lindsay Lohan's absences from her alcohol classes BlogStage speaking of crazy... albeit a more entertaining more benevolent kind. Lea Michele seems to think she could film Glee by day and take on the ghost of Barbra Streisand at night in Broadway's Funny Girl. This is, in a word, insane. People Bruce Willis now has his own cologne. I love celebrities. They are so shameless. Smell like me!
linkage My New Plaid Pants "Do it, Jake"... MNPP always makes me lol. Self Styled Siren This is wonderful. The Siren interviews Mary Astor's daughter. A must for you classic movie fans. I'm glad that Siren opens with Meet Me in St. Louis because Astor is just wonderful in that picture (my review). Cinematical Some enchanted evening, someone decided to remake South Pacific. With and edge. I'd love some original musicals but if we have to have remakes, so be it. Art of the Title Sequence The Emmy nominees in this category. I do love the Nurse Jackie credits. Opening titles are one of my favorite parts of TV shows and this is why I knew I made the right decision to stop watching Weeds when I saw they had dumped the "little boxes" opening. Flick Filosopher 8 extra minutes for Avatar rerelease. Do you care? I loved Avatar but if half of those 480 seconds don't fall under the category of explicit full braided neon sex scene with jakesully and Neytiri (hotness), I'm not forking over another $20! Just Jared uh-oh. Colin Farrell is muscling in on Tom Cruise's Les Grossman-style makeup comedy Writing the Wrong sequels that never were (for better and worse) Being Boring watches lots of movies while sick. Derek Jarman this time. Do you do that too? Towleroad A Betty White calendar? Betty White is our master now. Asian Movie Pulse and Sina are covering a new film City Under Seige starring the beauteous Qi Shu and Aaron Kwok. Sounds like an interesting hybrid of sci-fi/horror... with circus performers. Wha? EW If you've read my Julianne Moore interview, you know that I felt for Michael Ausellio yesterday when he spoke with Connie Britton. Now, he chats with celebrities all the time so it's no biggie for him but he's been pumping for Friday Night Lights Emmy recognition forever, so it's a sweet read after the lead acting nominations finally happened.
Housekeeping note I've recently done a bit of sprucing up of the sidebar for your infotainment. For example, I can't believe I didn't have a "search" box before. My apologies. I know people are always asking "where's ______?" It's right below the advertisement in the sidebar.
Father Figure Finally, hat tip to Anne Thompson, but the third Chris Nolan Batman film may start shooting next Spring. The "info" i.e. rumor is culled from this Michael Caine red carpet interview.
The interwebs will surely say claim this as breaking news but considering Michael Caine also states that he doesn't even know if his character is coming back, I'd take his 'I think they're starting next April' with a huge grainlake of salt. But I like what he says about his career
I'm a father figure now. I'm Goldmember's father. I'm Nicole Kidman's father. I'm everyone's father.
It took me a second to connect him with our Darling Nicki... that'd be from Bewitched (2005). Of all the movies to remember Michael? I mean, really. That's where you want to go? *
Starting now. The beautiful Sofia Vergara from Modern Family will be announcing. How great is she on that show as the "coal digger" Gloria? How many film stars will be nominated for small screen work, today? We shall see.
Drama
Series Breaking Bad | Dexter | The Good Wife | Lost | Mad Men | True Blood
Trivia note: True Blood is the only nominated series (in either drama or comedy) without acting nominations. Who do you think is most deserving from that show?
Lead Actress January Jones, Mad Men | Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights | Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer | Glenn Close, Damages | Juliana Marguiles, The Good Wife | Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Lead Actor Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad | Michael C Hall, Dexter | Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights | Hugh Laurie, House | Matthew Fox, Lost | Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Dream come true: Friday Night Lights finally got lead acting nominations. Never mind that they've deserved them for years and that neither Britton nor Chandler ever coast like some Emmy regulars seem to. This is great news.
Supporting Actress Sharon Gless, Burn Notice | Rose Byrne, Damages | Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife | Christine Baranski, The Good Wife | Christina Hendricks, Mad Men | Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Supporting Actor Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad | Martin Short, Damages | Terry O'Quinn, Lost | Michael Emerson, Lost | John Slattery, Mad Men | Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
I am beyond happy that the Mad Men Holy (Female) Trinity all made it in because they are all so different and so deserving. I'm happy to see Archie Panjabi's name (I don't like the show but I think she's a fine actress) and I'm still chuckling that Rose Byrne is a "supporting" actress in Damages' PATTY VS. ELLEN duet each year. It is, as they say, to laugh. Shouldn't this then be in the comedy category?
Comedy
SeriesCurbYour Enthusiasm | Glee | Modern Family | Nurse Jackie | The Office | 30 Rock
Trivia Note: Glee is the Emmy series leader with 19 nominations (including one for my beloved Kristin Chenoweth as "April"). Mad Men trails with 17.
Lead Actress Lea Michelle, Glee | Julia Dreyfuss, The New Adventures of Old Christine | Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie | Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreations | Tina Fey, 30 Rock | Toni Collette, The United States of Tara
Lead Actor Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory | Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm | Matthew Morrison, Glee | Tony Shalhoub, Monk | Steve Carrell, The Office | Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
The usual suspects with only Glee power duo really breaking up the standard fields. (Note the absence of Courtney Cox for Cougar Town and the new snubs for Ugly Betty and Weeds) A lot of Big Bang Theory fans (I know a few but I haven't seen the series) are probably excited this morning as this wasn't a sure thing, correct?
Supporting Actress Julia Bowen, Modern Family | Sofia Vergara, Modern Family | Jane Lynch, Glee | Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live | Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock | Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
Burrel & Bowen = the best acted married couple on television? (Now that the Mr & Mrs Don Draper have split)
Supporting Actor Chris Colfer, Glee | Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother | Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family | Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family | Ty Burrell, Modern Family | Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Great day for Modern Family, easily the best sitcom on network television (that I've seen). The supporting actor comedy category is also a big win for Team Gay with three gay characters nominated and even totally out actors in the mix and not all of them in gay roles. I guess this means they all split the votes and Jon Cryer wins againzzzzz. As for the women I suspect Jane Lynch has it in the bag but allow me to shed a tear, or a drop of blood rather for Krakowski who had that incredible "rage stroke" on 30Rock this year. She's so genius funny.
Other Items of Interest
Blurring the lines: Oscar winners Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, Judi Dench, Al Pacino, Sissy Spacek and Shirley Jones (just discussed from Elmer Gantry) were all Emmy nominated in miniseries, guest or telefilm categories. Other big screen regulars like Joan Allen, Claire Danes, Michael Sheen and Dennis Quaid were all nominated in miniseries, guest or telefilm categories. Are any of them working their way to a "triple crown"? Pacino already has one, doesn't he? Anyone else?
Overkill!: Big category nominees like NPH, Jon Hamm, Jane Lynch, Tina Fey and Christine Baranski were also nominated in "guest actor" categories which means when they like you... they really really... oh never mind. The Emmys are always such a snoozzze.
Martyrdom Award: Taking one for a great series! Zach Gilford's incredible performance in the Friday Night Lights episode "The Son", (previously discussed) the one that arguably got the series sudden new Emmy attention was not nominated. The episode however did score in the Writing category.
Full List of Nominees? Most sites don't cover all 1,231 categories even when they say they do, so you'll have to download it from the Emmy site. It's only there where I discovered the undiscussed Anne Hathaway thing and that Mad Men, The Tudors and Glee are competing for Best Costume Design... with The Good Wife and 30 Rock. Hmmm. Glee's nomination is from the Madonna episode. I want Mad Men to win. The nomination comes from that amazing episode "Souvenir" where January Jones gets all dolled up in Italy. YUM.
I just remembered that the Emmy Nominations are nearly upon us. I try not to think about them too much because I am always sorely disappointed.
Lost Causes I'm Rooting For: Anything Friday Night Lights -- yegods that show is brillz but particularly Connie Britton and Zach Gilford. Plus Enver Gjokaj for season 2 of Dollhouse. It seems like that was cancelled a hundred years ago but it only ended this past January. He was quite awesome/rangey as Victor even doing impersonations that were on par with several Oscar winning mimicry efforts. Because he was doing excellent work in the genre of sci-fi though, nobody noticed. He has only done 1 (just 1!!!) guest spot job since Dollhouse's cancellation. I am normally not this cocky about things I've never done but I swear to god they need to fire that entire town's casting departments and just replace them with me because they are CONSTANTLY ignoring people who've already proven their worth. That's like burning money!
Nail Biter: All three principle Mad Men women (and a few of the guest stars too) and 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski. The shows are popular with Emmy, the actors less so. But so much deserve.
Shows That Will Do Well That I Like: The United States of Tara, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, Mad Men and Glee will obviously be there but in what numbers? I cracked myself up reading my review of the Glee pilot this morning. I was worried that they wouldn't let Matthew Morrison sing?!? Hee. I also said the show had a light touch. Wow, that turned out wrong. I love the show but boy did they abandon that light touch for full throttle AND YOU AND YOU AND YOU YOU'RE GONNA LOVE ME!!! belting in record time.
I didn't cover the new DVD releases last week but Alice in Wonderland andThe Wolfman (previously reviewed) debuted and I figured 'Why hold a poll to see which movie you want me to cover when I know that Tim Burton's blockbuster will win?' I'll write about that one (finally) soon. In the meantime, now that you've had a chance to look at Benicio all hairy, what say you? This morning I was suddenly wishing Johnny Depp had played the werewolf and Benicio the Mad Hatter. Mixes up expectations a little, no? In both cases the casting felt a little too "spot on", which is why it's so weird that Benicio was so terrible (and terribly bored) while playing wolf. And maybe the Depp / Blunt pairing might've been a truer bodice ripper?
From here on out the DVD reader request poll will be bi-weekly (starting next week) so that I can keep up with the reviews. Previously: An Education. Next: The Road and Alice in Wonderland.
Streep at 60 the series returns this afternoon. I hope you'll have plenty to say about one of her craziest star turns.
Confession: I've been on a TV binge lately. Maybe it's those upcoming Emmy nominations (July) haunting me and convincing me to get caught up on Dexter, United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie, Glee (I continue to be madly in love with Lea Michelle's voice. I could listen to her all day long.) and Friday Night Lights. Regarding the latter: I know that it's not an Emmy favorite but that's just one more knock against their validity as an institution. Last week's episode "The Son" had me crying harder while watching television than I have since Buffy's "The Body" some years ago. Some fans and media types are trying to energize a Zach Gilford for Best Supporting Actor campaign but Emmy, as my wisest TV guru friend Joe Reid reminds me, has a really tough time noticing a show ever if they don't notice it right from the start. And if Emmy can't see that FNL's lead actress Connie Britton is consistently worthy of the actual statue (I'm talking even better than great movie actresses gone TV like Holly Hunter and Glenn Close on their respective shows and skyscrapers above some other regulars), well... how would they notice a supporting actor? Emmy's loss. With the exception of Mad Men, there's not a better drama on television.
Sound off on all of this randomness in the comments. Surely you have feelings to share, be they of the couch potato, lycanthropic or friend-of-dorothy variety. * *
If you're new here and click on the EMMY label below, you'll probably find a thesaurus worth of unpleasant adjectives about TV's own "Oscars". But to save you the trouble of clicking, it goes like this: I don't like them. There, that was short and sweet bitter.
Does another dark Emmy-less fate await Friday Night Lights? What a great show. Why can't they see that?
The Academy Awards are often chastised for their obvious preferencing: Holocaust dramas, biopics, women who allow themselves to look frumpy ... but at least you can understand where they're coming from and why they go for those things even if you don't agree. Who can explain EMMY's deep love for Two and a Half Men?
When Oscar gets chastised for repeatedly ignoring a brilliant performer or filmmaker, they usually give in and do a kind of makeup 'yeah, we're sorry we ignored your brilliance!' nomination. When Emmy gets chastised for ignoring something awesomely good at what it does they just continue to ignore it (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, Scrubs, The Wire, Friday Night Lights). So I'm not really hopeful that they'll suddenly grow a brain when the nominations are announced tomorrow but you never know. Occasionally they don't run screaming from true brilliance but fully embrace it (see: Mad Men, 30Rock) which makes their usual dimness all the more puzzling.
I couldn't find any info on "top ten finalists" this year (did they do away with that system? I can't keep track of EMMY's frequent rule changes) but there will be 6 nominees in each of the lead categories.
BEST DRAMA Which six will be named: (previously nominated series in red. winners with asterisks) 24*, Battlestar Galactica (final season), Big Love, Boston Legal (final season), Breaking Bad, The Closer, Damages, Dexter, ER*(final season), Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, House, In Treatment, Lost*, Mad Men*, The Shield, The Tudors and/or True Blood?
<-- Will host Neil Patrick Harris finally win supporting actor for How I Met Your Mother or will they feel the need to give Entourage's Jeremy Piven a fourth consecutive trophy? They do get stuck in ruts.
BEST COMEDY Which six: (previously nominated series in red. winners with asterisks) 30 Rock*, The Big Bang Theory, Californication, Desperate Housewives, Entourage, Family Guy, Flight of the Conchords, The Office*, How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Parks and Recreation, Samantha Who? (final season), Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, Ugly Betty, The United States of Tara and/or Weeds?
Do you care?
Or are you just waiting for the news of which silver screen actresses will get nominated for their acclaimed detours into pay cable work? I think we can all expect Tara's Toni Collette and Grey Gardens' Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange to be there on the big night in their red carpet finery, can't we?
Three more groups have announced and so the usual suspects play the game of musical chairs. The most interesting note right off the bat is that the Women Film Critics Circle have bestowed an award on Black Swan that isn't a flattering one. They've given it "Worst Female Images in a Movie".
Dennis Quaid in Breaking Away. He turned 25 shortly before the movie opened.
Kitsch has made six movies already but he'll get his first real shot at big screen stardom when John Carter of Mars, his seventh, opens in 2012. He's already done filming but the post-production will be long on that one.
linkage
Series Breaking Bad | Dexter | The Good Wife | Lost | Mad Men | True Blood
Supporting Actress Sharon Gless, Burn Notice | Rose Byrne, Damages | Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife | Christine Baranski, The Good Wife | Christina Hendricks, Mad Men | Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Series Curb Your Enthusiasm | Glee | Modern Family | Nurse Jackie | The Office | 30 Rock
Burrel & Bowen = the best acted married couple on television?
Blurring the lines: Oscar winners Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, Judi Dench, Al Pacino, Sissy Spacek and Shirley Jones (just discussed from Elmer Gantry) were all Emmy nominated in miniseries, guest or telefilm categories. Other big screen regulars like Joan Allen, Claire Danes, Michael Sheen and Dennis Quaid were all nominated in miniseries, guest or telefilm categories. Are any of them working their way to a "triple crown"? Pacino already has one, doesn't he? Anyone else?
Full List of Nominees?
I just remembered that the Emmy Nominations are nearly upon us. I try not to think about them too much because I am always sorely disappointed.
Nail Biter: All three principle Mad Men women (and a few of the guest stars too) and 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski. The shows are popular with Emmy, the actors less so. But so much deserve.
Does another dark Emmy-less fate await Friday Night Lights?
<-- Will host Neil Patrick Harris finally win supporting actor for How I Met Your Mother or will they feel the need to give Entourage's Jeremy Piven a fourth consecutive trophy? They do get stuck in ruts.
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