We already know that Anne Hathaway and James Franco are hosting and the only thing we have to say about that going forward is that Hathaway better sing again! From here and out we'll hear names of presenters. Most of them will be globally famous because that's how they do. So far we've got:
Halle Berry
Oprah Winfrey
Jeff Bridges & Sandra Bullock -- last year's lead winners. We wonder if this means they'll return to the classic way of presenting acting statues, with Bullock handing out Actor and Bridges handing out Actress? Mars & Venus don'cha know.
Marisa Tomei -yay!
I'll update this list as more presenters are announced.
God bless V Magazine for their latest issue, "Who Cares About Age". Usually when the media decides to celebrate older women, we're only allowed one. Like the recent Streep Mania... or 2006 when Helen Mirren was all the rage. I've always had a thing for actresses of a certain age so I applaud them for multiplying the enthusiasm. I mean check out these legendary cover girls: Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, and Sigourney Weaver. yesplease³.
And as if that weren't enough, you've got Charlotte Rampling on the inside! A whole huge photogallery of her... "Charlotte in Couture".
The average age of these women is 66. The average fabulousity of these women is ∞. Just saying.
More links... Scott Feinberg interviews Halle Berry The Evening Class Liza Minnelli interviews and TCM schedule Deadline Hollywood Toy Story Best Picture spoofing FYC ads. The first is to your left. There's more to come as they campaign for the big prize. I'm really hoping they do Amadeus, The Hurt Locker and West Side Story. Which Best Pictures would you like to see spoofed by the toys? Man About Town interviews Ryan Kwanten... naked. Ha. Shadowplay proposes a mid December blog-a-thons about the last films from directors. What a fine idea. Any suggestions you'd like me write about? Just Jared Anne Hathaway is awesome. She's already dreamt up her own role on Glee and picking songs before they've even invited her. Moviefone If Lindsay Lohan needs to hit rock bottom to recover maybe this will do it? Malin Akerman of all people is now considered a suitable replacement.
offscreen Gabby's Playhouse brilliant cartoon about the progression of all "sexism" discussions on the internet The Post-Game Show on "beefcake" comic art and how it differs from cheesecake...
And finally...
What's your take on Christian Bale's Oscar chances for The Fighter?
I was discussing this with some peers earlier today. Some people feel he's too disliked to win an Oscar (after all, many below the line players vote on Oscars and we all know that Bale has a temper on set) others that "likeability" doesn't matter so much in the face of a certain level of performance. Esquire just published a thorny profile piece. Some journalists think he's an ingrate. Others, like Kris Tapley appreciate his rough edges. My take is somewhere in the middle. Likeability does matter in awards season (a lot) and though I appreciate honesty and strong opinions, I do find that it's incredibly narcissistic when stars of a certain level bitch about their duties as stars... like doing press. Basically they wouldn't have those duties if they weren't hugely successful. If people want to talk to you that means you're more successful. All jobs come with elements that are less joyous for the worker ... but very few jobs have the rewards that star actors receive. Bitching about a tiny amount of drudgery within a life filled with extravagant reward (the only reason that tiny amount of drudgery even exists is because you're successful enough to have been extravagantly rewarded) seems very very petty. So I'm torn. I find it distasteful but on the other hand I believe art should be judged without interference from the personality of the artist.
Movie|Line offers up pre 1970s horror movie suggestions for Halloween /Film James Franco making another poetry film. From behind the camera this time. MCN Halle Berry's Frankie & Alice to get Oscar qualifying release. Have I ever told you how much I hate the one week qualifier rule? "YES. SHUT UP," the readers shout in unison. I'm just sayin' movies should be eligible only if the year of their real release. It's the only way a calendar year 'future history!' eligibility system actually means anything. Serious Film wonders where the critical bar is set for Best Picture nominees in the wake of the cool response to Hereafter. As some of y'all know I don't put much stock in rotten tomatoes scores as Oscar signifiers (partially because all positive or all negative scoring (the dread thumbs!) is an inherently flawed system for reflecting worth and even true opinion. Unless of course everyone is all "A"s and "F"s these days and I realize that's the sad way it's been heading. The Spy in the Sandwich reviews an interesting-sounding film I hadn't yet heard of called Le Fil (The String), a gay film with Antonin Stahly and Claudia Cardinale (!) Hell on Frisco Bay looks at the explosion of film festivals over the last decade. I suspect this is our future since distribution has become so impossible for so many films. My guess: people attending festivals these days are the people that used to frequent their neighborhood arthouses. Paul C wrote a (spoiler-heavy) review of Never Let Me Go that I think is really interesting and perceptive ...though he likes the movie much more than I.
offcinema just cuz
Before Glee revives The Rocky Horror Picture Show mania for the next few days, why not a peak at Russell Crowe in fishnets in 1987 playing Eddie & Dr. Scott. Whaaaaa? [hat tip: Cinemablend]
I wish I knew who was playing the other roles. Anyone else famous on that stage?
i09 You have taste receptors in your lungs. Wait... what? Everything I Know a perceptive review of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson which I just saw on Broadway (see "crush of the moment" in the sidebar.) I wish movie biopics had this much irreverent invention. ONTD Madonna to open fitness centers around the world. "Hard Candy"! Ha, I love this idea. Sometimes when celebrities branch out into other fields it's a big "No!" head scratcher. But this one makes perfect narrative sense. Luc Latillipe awesome drawing of Yvonne Craig's Batgirl. There are no other Batgirls if you ask me.
Shock Till You Drop Sigourney Weaver interview involving all four Aliens movies and her other genre successes. She's a bit cagey in her answers -- see how she dodges the tough question. But it's Sigourney so we read. And... Collider ...Robert DeNiro has signed on to play the object of her investigation in the psychological thriller Red Lights. He'll be playing a psychic, she's a paranormal activity expert. The role of Weaver's partner is yet to be cast. We hope it's a good chemistry fit.
In Contention Are Macy Gray and Kimberly Elise the standouts from For Colored Girls? We'll need more than just one anonymous source's opinion to find out. Stay tuned. The Film Doctor 9 notes on I Am Love. I'm not going to read this now (I'm working on an I Am Love piece and want to be free of all influence) but I like these # notes pieces. Birth of a Notion RIP Barbara Billingsley. She spoke jive.
Pussy Goes Grrr on cinema's love of combining the feminine with the monstrous.
Chuck & Beans "How To Break Bad News To A Movie Geek." popbytes on the movie-turned-stage-musical Leap of Faith with music by Oscar winner Alan Menken. The musical stars one of our Broadway favorites Raúl Esparza. We hope they recast the female lead. Enough with the stunt casting, producers. Musicals deserve GREAT voices (like Esparzas).
Movie|Line Info regarding Oz: The Great and Powerful from Sam Raimi starring Robert Downey Jr. Boy did the producers of the Wicked musical biff their chance to be first. By the time that musical hits the screen people will be so sick of Oz with all these multiple movies greenlit; if you arrive AFTER the things you've influenced it's kind of problematic and potentially stale. They should have started on the movie the very moment they realized they had a mammoth hit on their hands. Like way the hell back in 2004 they should have been doing the first draft screenplay and searching for the movie cast. It takes years to get a movie on the screen and we could have been enjoying it for Christmas this very year.
Just Jared Halle Berry presented Chris Nolan with an award at the Scream Awards. (It's a horror awards show.) I can't figure out why Nolan would have been honored but when people love you they will find any excuse. P.S. Berry looks sensational. But you knew that already. Beautiful woman. I Need My Fix Anne Hathaway on the cover of the new Vogue. But excuse me, why does she look like Eva Mendes instead of Anne Hathaway? I hate it when magazine photo shoot tinkering does that. Pullquote this is a month-old post on notes taken during a screening of Angelina Jolie's Salt. But it's new to me and it totally amused me. Trust that I can never understand my own notes after a screening. Comedy Central Gay Robot ♥ Ryan Phillipe. teehee
Shhhhhh. It's a day of rest and Hugh Jackman is sleeping. Let him be.
Wait. Anna!? What are you doing?!? Don't tiptoe up to deadly people while they're having nightmares.
AakHHGGGgghHNnnHhh! ouch
Well, don't say we didn't warn you. Anna Paquin is always hovering carelessly around killers, isn't she? Whether they be clawed or fanged. The girl can't help it.
The X-Men movie franchise was launched 10 years ago in July 2000 and I watched it again last week with the intention of celebrating it with lots of prurient screencaps of Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn and some discussion about the casting for X-Men: First Class (2011) aka Muppet Mutant Babies or "it's time for yet another reboot" but the time got away from me, it did. But better late than never for a couple of observations.
In some ways the original X-Men is a tentative mediocre movie: the budget limitations are obvious, Halle Berry is as lost as you remembered (though Storm is a strangely minor character), and the central evil plot is just dumb. But in other ways it's undervalued.
It makes smart choices about narrowing its focus for a first film (centering on Wolverine & Rogue) and the one character it totally reimagines -- that'd be Mystique -- is a major success.
What's more director Bryan Singer actually makes use of the widescreen in his mise-en-scène sometimes. Too few filmmakers do, just shoving everything into the center of the frame or shooting everything in relentless close-up. Even action sequences are shot with a preference for close-ups these days (see Inception for an up-to-the-minute example) but, much like musical numbers, they're more memorable and coherent when they include whole bodies in the frame. And even if some of Singer's tricks get a bit repetitive, such as the out of focus introduction of characters in the background, they're aesthetically pleasing.
X-Men was lensed by Newton Thomas Sigel, who is Singer's constant collaborator. This is my favorite shot in the whole movie, Wolverine lost in the X-Mansion, bewildered by the new sites.
Isn't that a beauty narratively speaking? And Jackmanically speaking?
P.S. The Film Experience will be back tomorrow with Craig's Take Three column. I'll personally be scarcer than usual in the next week (off-web deadlines) but there will still be daily postings. We'll figure it out. We just keep putting it out there even though we don't have the recuperative powers of Logan/Wolverine. We sure could use them.
Today's Birthdays 11/09 <--- 1869 Marie Dressler is awesome. She gave one of the most aggressive Best Actress winning performances evah. If you haven't seen Min & Bill (1933), you must. You must, you must, you must. 1883 Edna May Oliver feisty character actress 1886 Ed Wynn Uncle Albert from Mary Poppins. He loves to laugh... long and loud and clear. Audiences were always ready to laugh along with him 1922 Dorothy Dandridge first black woman to be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars (Carmen Jones) and what a neat coincidence that she was portrayed by the first black actress to eventually win the Best Actress Oscar (Halle Berry) in the bio Introducing Dorothy Dandridge 1948 Bille August Danish director of The Best Intentions and Pelle the Conqueror fame 1955 Fernando Meirelles director of declining films: City of God, The Constant Gardner, Blindness. I'm not trying to be mean. But... um... do you have faith he'll pull out of it? Discuss. 1974 Giovanna MezzogiornoofVincere(2009) hoopla 1988 Nikki Blonsky I don't know about you but I could hear the bells when she sang in Hairspray
And finally let's hear some love in the comments for Hedy Lamarr, one of the most beautiful actresses of the 40s and one of the first to go nude on film in Ekstase (1933)
Where's her biopic? Or miniseries even. Seriously... you can practically see the scenes spanning the genres: (war drama) Austrian-Jewess Hedy drugs her own maid to escape her husband and Vienna in the 30s, then helps invent frequency hopping. I mean, how many actresses can claim the origins of modern ubiquitous technology? (romance) Hedy marries and divorces six men. (movies about movies) Hedy films one of the cinema's first sex scenes, Hedy's movie banned in Hollywood but they recruit her anyway, Hedy loses the "Ilsa" role to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Hedy stars in Samson and Delilah! This is a biopic I would gladly watch... even if they framed it in that stupid end of her life looking back way.
Poster Wire an animated poster for Terminator: Salvation. oh god please let this marketing technique take off. We loves it Awards Daily "a tale of two Nixons" -damn, I wish I'd thought of that The Big PictureThe Wrestler takes a hit from the LA Times. Right in time for Oscar season. Ouch, that'll sting ONTD Seventeen describes the sexual appeal of Robert Pattison. Dear god he's like a Frankenstein monster of celebs Modern Tonic has a Best of TV 2008 list... Are You There, Blog? Carrie Fisher hawking her new book. She's so damn funny
Deadline Hollywood Luhrmann to take on The Great Gatsby next. Damn but Baz likes a challenge. That thing (brilliant) has to be considered unfilmable, right? The Carpetbagger alerts us to the annual Oscar short films showing Multiple Personality Cruise visits Letterman "they have this thing called the internet and they have these things called blogs" Towleroad Seann William Scott photos from Balls Out. That boy (thankfully) has no shame The Bad and Ugly ...speaking of shameless, Halle Berry going topless again (pics from the set of Frankie and Alice) Boy Culture Matthew celebrates his 40th in swanky style... Yes, I was there (my illustration is the last one on the page. That is such a great party memorabilia idea. I'm totally going to steal it)
And finally... Heroine Content takes issue with Empire's "100 Greatest Movie Characters" list. There's a lot to take issue with. It's 88% male, 93% white. So annoying. Guess who's not on the list? Margo Channing from All About Eve. Severine from Belle Du Jour. Mrs. Iselin from The Manchurian Candidate. Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire. Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Bree from Klute. F***ing Annie Hall. Yeesh... and that's just the seven that popped into my head without looking at any list of movies. Most of the women chosen were from genre or "guy" movies (Aliens, Star Wars, The Professional, Silence of the Lambs, ...Roger Rabbit) The canons are always being rewritten but they always get rewritten in the same old ways.
If I ever made it to Australia I'd definitely need to go to Bondi Beach. So many beautiful Aussie celebs seem to have strolled alongside it or swum in it. I love that Liev is sporting Wolverine style sideburns and jacked up musculature here just like Wolvie himself Hugh Jackman (also an Aussie beach regular). The probable reason for the twinner look: He'll be costarring as the villainous Sabretooth to Jackman's hero next year when X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) opens. Archenemies have often been distorted fun house mirror reflections of superheroes since at least the Bizarro/Superman days in the late 50s, though it was possibly Batman and his rogues gallery that made that shtick stick if you know what I mean.
On a side note: I am terrified that they're calling the movie X-Men Origins which implies that there may well be more than one of them. I think I can get several enthusiastic hallelujahs straight away when I say that the world does not need another Halle Berry superhero movie. How Hollyweird ever thought she was right for a second franchise after the mess she made of Storm in her first, I shan't ever understand ?!?!? But that's a topic for another day. Another day from four years ago. Argh. MOVING ON...
time capsule: In March 2008 The Painted Veil (2006) had been on DVD for 10 months already. And yet you still hadn't rented it! What's wrong with you? "Kitty Fane" is Watts' strongest most Oscar worthy role this side of Mulholland Dr.Liev is also good in this underrated film though his role is smaller than his biceps above.
TV Ugly Betty I don't usually mention TV DVD releases but this series collects delectable B list movie actresses like Gina Gershon, Lucy Liu and Rebecca Romijn who all ought to get better movie roles than they do, don'cha think? I bet executive producer Salma Hayek (left... and how pregnant is she!?) ups the star ante in the second season.
The Cult of Personality Broken English I am Nathaniel's guilt for abandoning Parker Posey. I haven't seen so many of her recent efforts. What's wrong with me? Must correct that. Serenity(Collectors Edition) Joss Whedon fans have another DVD to snatch up as the movie version of Firefly gets an extras-loaded edition. Now if only we could get the Buffyverse revived for television or movies.
She Owes Us Perfect Stranger "Halle Berry, [shakes head disapprovingly] have you seen your filmography lately?"
Oscar Completists The Lives of Others won the foreign film Oscar this past February. I still haven't seen it but I'll tell you this. After Pan's Labyrinth stole Children of Men's cinematography Oscar I wanted it to lose the big one. Payback is a bitch.
Time to check in with new trailers. Only a few weeks of hot weather and sequels remain and then we're in the clear, ready to face the onslaught of SERIOUS films aiming for gold.
Rendition (on your left. October 12th) and Lions for Lambs (right. November 9th) are but two of four (?) fall films dealing with our current political quagmire and the misguided unending war (the other pair are the action-heavy The Kingdom and the Paul Haggis thriller In the Valley of Elah) One assumes from the trailers that the four films will have their own individual identities but it's anyone's guess until they're widely seen which will garner Oscar's favor. It's unfair to judge a film based on 2 minutes of heavily edited footage but then, on the other hand, these are how the studios are presenting said films so, you know, judge away.
Rendition looks like it might work. Three separate tracks: terrorist prisons (Gyllenhaal & Metwalley), political chambers (Streep & Arkin) the homsetead (Witherspoon) all lead toward one assumed destination. Cue the grand collision. That the collision involves a weepy screaming wife might spell more Oscar news for Reese but, then again, it might not. [more on the Best Actress race] For it looks like a true ensemble piece. If you lazily compare it to, say, Syriana (hey why not? That's what pre-fall Oscar analysis is all about) you'll be looking at the tortured central figure (played by Omar Metwally who made a big splash on Broadway a few years back) for your acting kudos and not the other players frantically moving their pieces in this tense puzzle. [Supporting Actor race --I'll have to move Metwally way up the chart]
The trailer for Lions for Lambs improves upon the first teaser which looked hideously shoestring as if it were a straight to DVD release. But the improvements are small. It still looks like an unwieldy pendantic machine that luckily fell on top of three massive stars. They're crushed under the weight of the catchphrase ready dialogue. If you ask me this movie looks terrible but Oscar might feel differently. We'll see.
Things We Lost in the Fire (left) is the latest drama from Danish auteur Susanne Bier who won critical acclaim with her first two films and an Oscar nomination in the foreign film category for her last (After the Wedding). From the looks of the trailer Things... is pitched exactly to her strengths: nuanced emotional drama with complicated human relationships. But, that said, I'm not sure I would have as much faith in this project if I wasn't familiar with her work. Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, former winners both, could find themselves back on the red carpet if the reviews are kind. Anyway you slice it it's one of those films that screams "actors film" i.e. even if it's well regarded its limited to just a few categories in awards season.
The last trailer TheDarjeeling Limited (right) I've included just for fun. Wes Anderson movies usually come out in December but this one is a September release. Still, no Oscar love-in looks likely. Anderson is just too stylized for mainstream love and the Oscars are a mainstream endeavor no matter how much people pretend otherwise whilst bitching about the voters ignoring the latest blockbusters and comedies. Anyway... Anderson isn't making films to win Oscars so good for him. Darjeeling appears to be bringing us a colorful and tasty buffet of his usual treats: witty familial drama, sad-eyed comedy, and amusing widescreen compositions. Some people might find his visual stylizations too affected and thus predictable at this point but I'm so glad someone is using the full rectangle still when they compose their movies. I also love the dialogue exchange halfway through the trailer
"what's wrong with you?" "let me think about that"
That strikes me as the perfect question and answer response for people who conjecture about the Oscars all year round (like me) and more importantly the perfect banter for a movie artist who just can't be anything other than what he is, god bless. Can't wait to see this one... though I do hope it transcends its style like The Royal Tenenbaums rather than gets smothered by it like The Life Aquatic.
Your thoughts on any of these four? [More on each Oscar race]
For those of you wondering why I'm counting down the days (4) to a movie which I don't really expect to like all that much (X-Men: The Last Stand), it's like this: These mutants are a permanent part of my psyche. It all started at Christmas time in 1979 when there, next to my stocking filled with candy, fruit and other long forgotten knick-knacks, was issue #129 of "The Uncanny X-Men" (pictured to your left). I had read one previous issue purchased at a neighborhood Seven-Eleven (issue #125 I believe) and presumably somebody in my family noticed how thunderstruck I was reading it. And reading it. And reading it some more.
There's a thrill that runs through my body while watching these movies that has nothing to do with the quality, whether they its tentative and serviceable (the first) or confident and exciting (the second) or --well the third movie can wait for its adjective. Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops... they are as much a part of my biography as Madonna or Michelle Pfeiffer or any 80s cultural figure that I grew up with and became emotionally attached to. Seeing them come to life? Sweet.
But because of this I'll never be completely satisifed. The movie in my head will always be sharper, grander, more definitive and it will be undeterred by budgetary limitations or Hollywood's superhero formulas. And the casting?
Though they obviously done the world proud with Hugh Jackman (Ahhhh, Jackman) the ideal X-Men movie would cast each character as carefully. There would be no examples of "oops they played this character in a cameo so..." or "they have the physicality for it so who cares about the talent" and of course, no "bankability" concerns. For example: Storm. Halle Berry always was and always will be completely wrong for the part. I'm not saying this to offend anyone but I can only think it was a case of comicbook ignorance combined with racial myopia that got her the role.
"Storm is black. Who is a famous and bankable black actress? Halle Berry! The part is yours, Ms. Berry, come on down."
It's as if box office and skin color were enough. Berry's movie star persona (consciously sexy, emotionally fragile, etc...) as compelling as it can be in the right role, is just about the polar opposite of Storm's persona in the comic book pages (regal, a born leader/teacher, completely unconcerned with her own hotness). If they thought that Angela Bassett or Lynn Whitfield or any other known actresses at the time were too old or not secure enough investments, they should have gone straight to an unknown. There are probably hundreds of virtually unknown talented and beautiful black actresses out there that would have done more with the role and become stars in the process. Look how well the larger casting net worked for Wolvie. While it's true that Dougray Scott originally had that role and was better known (at the time) than Hugh Jackman, the shift to unknown as centerpiece hardly hurt ticket sales.
So, yes, I'm counting down. How can I not? But the movie playing in my own head will always be the one and only X-Men: The (Masterpiece) Movie.
Another trip down memory lane? Here were my gushy thoughts preceding the original film's release way back in 2000. Now that I'm sufficiently embarrassed, talk amongst yourselves.
This woman to your left is one of the best actors directors working. It's Susanne Bier of Open Hearts and Brothers fame. Both of those films are Danish productions but Hollywood has been circling Bier for at least a couple of years now. In fact Open Hearts is now slated to be remade in English as Zach Braff's Garden State followup.
Bier's first English language production was supposed to be Chasing Montana and bring with it the return of Michelle Pfeiffer. Unfortunately that film seems forever mired in some kind of development hell (be it noncommital of actors, lack of studio passion, who knows). In the latest Entertainment Weekly they have a tidbit about a new Bier project:
Danish import Susanne Bier will direct Halle Berry in Things We Lost in the Fire, about a woman who loses her husband and asks his unstable best friend (Benicio Del Toro) to move in.
If that sounds suspiciously like Brothers in its character triangle, widow with husband surrogate and potential for all kinds of dramatic tear wringing, well, so be it... the Danish director knows this emotional territory. This makes me think that I was wrong about Halle Berry being one of those actresses who wins an Oscar never to even be nominated again. You know what i'm talking about: the AMPAS novelty act. Berry just got lucky or was smart about signing on with Bier.
Susanne Bier is exactly the type of actor-focused emotionally potent director that would get her actors nominations should she ever actually make this move across the pond. However, if she made an English language film as good as Brothers [on last year's film experience top ten list -ed.] she'd probably end up like Todd Field from In the Bedroom in 2001: nominations for the cast but not for the egoless director guiding them.
In the world of super-heroes, women often get the short end of the stick. For every Wonder Woman there are at least a dozen heroic muscle men. So, when a female character achieves major longevity, one has to bow down. While your *ahem* prone please lick the boots of Batman's vampy 'double' Selina Kyle. She demands it. Where Batman is a hero with a heart encased in darkness, his female counterpart and sparring partner in both love and war is a villain with a heart of gold. There aren't that many of them. I don't know enough about comic history to say for sure... but perhaps she was revolutionary at the time (?) A villain that just wasn't evil.
My earliest memory of Catwoman comes, not from comics, but from watching the ultra campy Batman on television in the 70s. To be honest I was as a little boy far more hooked on Batgirl. I suspect, though, that this preference was due to sheer childhood laziness or attention deficit disorder. You see, if I was not in a TV mood I would turn Batman off if the cutout Batgirl figure had not swung across the screen during the opening animated credits; that was our clue that she would be appearing in the flesh in that episode. No Batgirl in the opening credits meant no Batgirl in the next half hour. It also meant that Natty often ran outside to play. Consequently I'm sure that I missed some choice Catwoman moments.
Yet, despite my erratic viewing of Batman's three seasons I cherished any episode which did feature Catwoman, the slinkiest & kinkiest of Bruce Wayne's rogues gallery. I know that Eartha Kitt's growl justly had legions of fans but for wee little me?--I was all about Julie Newmar's purr.
Catwoman slipped from my consciousness until 1989 when Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton duked it out in Tim Burton's blockbuster revival of Batman. I loved the movie which was visually everywhere that summer... but for its entire running time I wondered when I'd get to see a modern take on my favorite female super-villain. To say that I was excited three years later when my favorite female movie star squeezed into black vinyl and learned how to crack. that. whip is an understatement. I was closer to orgasmic.
To twist a classic Pfeiffer-line from Batman Returns for my own wrap-up purposes here: 'I don't know about you kitten but (when I think of Catwoman) I feel so much yummier' .
purrrfectly pleasurable Catwoman-related links: Catwoman Changes Her Spots ~a history of divine-feline wear. Julie Newmar ~for your viewing pleasure. It is pleasurable. Batman Goes Hollywood~from Comics 101's great 'histories of' series Hell Here ~ a fansite. Bio from the "Women of Gotham" site Morticia's Morgue ~Batgirl & Catwoman, two of my earliest loves.
More links...
The X-Men movie franchise was launched 10 years ago in July 2000 and I watched it again last week with the intention of celebrating it with lots of prurient screencaps of Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn and some discussion about the casting for X-Men: First Class (2011) aka 
Today's Birthdays 11/09
And finally... Heroine Content takes issue with Empire's "100 Greatest Movie Characters" list. There's a lot to take issue with. It's 88% male, 93% white. So annoying. Guess who's not on the list? Margo Channing from All About Eve. Severine from Belle Du Jour. Mrs. Iselin from The Manchurian Candidate. Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire. Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Bree from Klute. F***ing Annie Hall. Yeesh... and that's just the seven that popped into my head without looking at any list of movies. Most of the women chosen were from genre or "guy" movies (Aliens, Star Wars, The Professional, Silence of the Lambs, ...Roger Rabbit) The canons are always being rewritten but they always get rewritten in the same old ways.
<--- Naomi Watts, 39 and her beau Liev Schreiber, 40, at Bondi Beach with their son Sasha in March, 2008 [img src]
time capsule: In March 2008 The Painted Veil (2006) had been on DVD for 10 months already. And yet you still hadn't rented it! What's wrong with you? "Kitty Fane" is Watts' strongest most Oscar worthy role this side of Mulholland Dr. Liev is also good in this underrated film though his role is smaller than his biceps above.
TV
Rendition looks like it might work. Three separate tracks: terrorist prisons (Gyllenhaal & Metwalley), political chambers (Streep & Arkin) the homsetead (Witherspoon) all lead toward one assumed destination. Cue the grand collision. That the collision involves a weepy screaming wife might spell more Oscar news for Reese but, then again, it might not. [more on the Best Actress race] For it looks like a true ensemble piece. If you lazily compare it to, say, Syriana (hey why not? That's what pre-fall Oscar analysis is all about) you'll be looking at the tortured central figure (played by Omar Metwally who made a big splash on Broadway a few years back) for your acting kudos and not the other players frantically moving their pieces in this tense puzzle. [Supporting Actor race --I'll have to move Metwally way up the chart]
For those of you wondering why I'm counting down the days (4) to a movie which I don't really expect to like all that much (X-Men: The Last Stand), it's like this: These mutants are a permanent part of my psyche. It all started at Christmas time in 1979 when there, next to my stocking filled with candy, fruit and other long forgotten knick-knacks, was issue #129 of "The Uncanny X-Men" (pictured to your left). I had read one previous issue purchased at a neighborhood Seven-Eleven (issue #125 I believe) and presumably somebody in my family noticed how thunderstruck I was reading it. And reading it. And reading it some more. 
Though they obviously done the world proud with Hugh Jackman (Ahhhh, Jackman) the ideal X-Men movie would cast each character as carefully. There would be no examples of "oops they played this character in a cameo so..." or "they have the physicality for it so who cares about the talent" and of course, no "bankability" concerns. For example: Storm. Halle Berry always was and always will be completely wrong for the part. I'm not saying this to offend anyone but I can only think it was a case of comicbook ignorance combined with racial myopia that got her the role. 
This woman to your left is one of the best actors directors working. It's Susanne Bier of Open Hearts and Brothers fame. Both of those films are Danish productions but Hollywood has been circling Bier for at least a couple of years now. In fact Open Hearts is now slated to be remade in English as Zach Braff's Garden State followup. 
If that sounds suspiciously like Brothers in its character triangle, widow with husband surrogate and potential for all kinds of dramatic tear wringing, well, so be it... the Danish director knows this emotional territory. This makes me think that I was wrong about Halle Berry being one of those actresses who wins an Oscar never to even be nominated again. You know what i'm talking about: the AMPAS novelty act. Berry just got lucky or was smart about signing on with Bier.
My earliest memory of Catwoman comes, not from comics, but from watching the ultra campy Batman on television in the 70s. To be honest I was as a little boy far more hooked on Batgirl. I suspect, though, that this preference was due to sheer childhood laziness or attention deficit disorder. You see, if I was not in a TV mood I would turn Batman off if the cutout Batgirl figure had not swung across the screen during the opening animated credits; that was our clue that she would be appearing in the flesh in that episode. No Batgirl in the opening credits meant no Batgirl in the next half hour. It also meant that Natty often ran outside to play. Consequently I'm sure that I missed some choice Catwoman moments. 
purrrfectly pleasurable Catwoman-related links:
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