Christian Bale, Honorary Powerpuff Girl

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone fame is being roasted again as the all time champ of shameless Blurb Whores but that's not the point of this post.

While interviewing Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter, who seem to be in great moods (why wouldn't they be after the Globe & BFCA announcements?) Travers tries to entice Bale to serenade us with a little Newsies number. And why shouldn't he? Is there anything so wonderful as Bale crooning "Santa Fe" on horseback with that little red kerchief round his neck?

Travers doesn't get what he expects.



Unexpected delight: Wahlberg throwin' a little Boogie Nights encore in there.

Okay, I can't resist posting it... the best moment from Newsies bar none.



He has a lovely voice. Sad that he doesn't want to do another musical.

My Favorite Thing About "The Fighter" Is...

I saw The Fighter last week and didn't even deliver a "this is all the time I have" 7 word review. I have more than 7 words on this one though what follows is not a traditional review. The first thing I tweeted was...

It still applies. Yep, Christian Bale is doing his best work ever in the co-lead role of Dicky Eklund (Let's call it The Fighters) or at least his best since American Psycho (2000). Barring Geoffrey Rush's mutant power (awards magnetism) the "supporting" Oscar is most definitely Bale's to lose. And this is an important distinction: It'd be his to lose even without his baity penchant for putting his health at risk to dwindle down to anorexic nothingness for a role. This is his third time doing so. We hope it's the last.

A Tale of Two (Half) Brothers

But what's my favorite thing about The Fighters other than him?

I guess it'd be the way Melissa Leo (playing the mother to both fighters) and Christian Bale are always believably in sync as mother/son. They're practically twins with their darting hollow eyes, perpetually nervous body language and emotionally vampiric yet super vibrant energy. Would that more actors would co-author such compelling familial bonds while playing at "family". What's more, Bale and Leo have mastered the weird arms-length charisma of charming people who are simultaneously completely off-putting. Alice Ward and Dicky Eklund are the type of people you can't help but want to hang out with... but from a very safe distance, with plentiful escape routes.

Melissa Leo's on fire.

No, no. it's not that. That sympatico style is great but it's not my favorite thing about the movie.

Also worth loving is the everyman mundanity of Amy Adams and Mark Wahlberg, a somewhat perverse use of their combined star power. (Though they both have it, they're more recognizably "human" and thus smaller than giant film stars, here and elsewhere). Charlene (and Adams who plays her) and Micky (and Wahlberg who plays him) are constantly drowned out by the cacophony of Much Bigger Personalities surrounding them. It's hilarious how often they both just shut right down in the center of a scene with an 'I give up' pout. And they're the "Stars" for lack of a better word!

No, no.

The best element has to be the idiosyncratic humanity that director David O. Russell keeps breathing into the proceedings. By all rights, The Fighter ought to feel far more generic than it does; make no mistake, this is a "true story" inspirational sports biopic. Russell keeps finding ways to vary the tone, play with the moodswings (even perpetually "on" people like Alice & Dicky have quiet days) and have fun with the framing, which generously allows the orbiting cast members to contribute to the movie as well (the standout being Jack McGee as Alice's impressively sturdy husband George). Sports movie fans won't like the film quite as much, one suspects, since the boxing scenes are arguably the most generically executed part.

And then there's the subplot involving the making of the unflattering HBO documentary on Dicky "High on Crack Street" (1995). Dicky willfully deceives himself about it but the doc scenes gives the film tremendous tragicomic boost.

There's also a choice scene in which Micky & Charlene go to the movies and... well, I don't want to spoil it.

David O. Russell loves a rangey ensemble.

 Oh wait, I know.

My favorite thing is the clown car chorus of Dicky & Micky's trashy big haired sisters (John Waters will be green with envy). There are so many of them. They're the most abrasively comic gaggle of sisters since the perpetual assault of Adam Sandler's siblings in Punchdrunk Love.

Or. Well...

The best thing might be the way The Fighters manages to slide so easily into David O. Russell's undervalued filmography even though it's much less original than his other films. When some auteurs make stabs at mainstream genres or popular appeal they lose themselves. Such is not the case here. Russell is still in love with the juggling act of impossibly noisy mixes of disparate acting styles (Flirting With Disaster, I Heart Huckabees), he's still fond of Oedipal undercurrents (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting...), he can still turn a film on a dime from comedy to 'wait, that's not funny' disturbing (Three Kings, Huckabees)  and he's still just about the only director who Mark Wahlberg should ever work with (though, that said, "Micky Ward" has nothing on Wahlberg's Kings or Huckabees performances... the character's too much of a cypher this time.)

But no, it's not that. It's... NO. 

No. No. No. You have to stop somewhere.

Needless to say, The Fighter is incredibly watchable. It's a solid good time at the movies. More importantly, it's a total K.O. for fans of Bale, Leo and O. Russell. A-/B+

Yes No Maybe So: The Fighter

Our first glimpse of the highly buzzed David O. Russell boxing picture The Fighter. If it becomes a major player at this year's Oscars I want y'all to remember that I believed it would happen first. Toot Toot. (That was my own horn).



And now the patented foolproof system for judging our own reaction to the trailer: Yes, No, Maybe So™. Join us with your own in the comments.

First things first: It seems obvious that this film will live or die on the chemistry between its central brothers, boxer Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) and his trainer (Christian Bale). It seems obvious from the trailer that their relationship could well float like a butterfly and sting like a bee or whatever the hell boxers are supposed to do. Maybe Wahlberg is the type of performer who has to have a strong director to be properly called an actor -- but that question of his ability is already solved by reteaming him with David O'Russell who is already responsible for his best performance (I Heart Huckabees). Plus we'd like Christian Bale to stop doing these crazy things to his body so maybe mass acknowledgement that he's a good actor will dampen down that particular self-destructive urge for awhile?


On the other hand, haven't we seen enough boxing pictures? Isn't it the #1 most populated sport within the movies -- you'd think there'd be boxing gyms on every corner of every street to meet the need. Boxers are like hitmen: way more prevalent in the movies than they are in real life. But there will be blood... in the movies. Since we've seen so many rise and fall and rise again biopics and so many boxing pictures, what could this possibly add to the bloated over populated genre? I fear it looks a smidge generic... at least visually. Not that you can always tell from a trailer.

The cast sounds good on paper but how do they all come together onscreen? It's possibly delicious that there will be a catfight of sorts between Mickey's mom (Melissa Leo) and his girl (Amy Adams) but it also just might be typical Hollywood poverty porn. You know how they love the 'We're going to Disneyland!' white trash families the movies... or maybe I'm just thinking of the last Oscar baiting boxing pic. So, to make a long story short: I knew that both Leo and Adams were in the movie but who expected that the movie would contain girlfights? Haven't we all wanted to see Amy Adams test her range a little ever since her triumph in Enchanted? So why am I a little worried about her in this context.

How about you?

The Fighter opens in December.
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Wahlberg, Posterized.

(Left) Then & Now: Wahlberg in the infamous CK campaign in 1991. Wahlberg yesterday in Missouri.

In my weekly column at Towleroad, I barely mentioned what will likely be the big box office draw this weekend, the Mark Wahlberg/ Will Ferrell comedy The Other Guys. I note this because I was moved to discuss National Underwear Day in the same article and what modern star used underwear so successfully to boost their initial fame? Why did I ignore him so? The Other Guys poster implies that you'll be seeing a kind of self-aware satire of a buddy cop comedy. You know... the kind Edgar Wright already delivered memorably with Hot Fuzz (2007). Could these two American hams really top that Brit wit? I'm doubtful... but perhaps they're not trying. I haven't seen it. Maybe the poster is misleading.

Anyway...

Let's look at Wahlberg's career as told to us through movie posters. Is there another star as popular that people still regularly complain can't act?

Renaissance Man (94) | The Basketball Diaries (95) | Fear (96) first lead

Boogie Nights (97) all time classic | The Big Hit (98) | The Corruptor (99)

Three Kings (99) | The Yards (00) | The Perfect Storm (00)

Planet of the Apes (01) | Rock Star (01) | The Truth About Charlie (02)

Italian Job (03) | I ♥ Huckabees (04) | Four Brothers (05)

Invincible (06) | The Departed (06) - Oscar nom | Shooter (07)

We Own the Night (07) | The Happening (08) | Max Payne (08)

The Lovely Bones (09) | Date Night (10) | The Other Guys (10)

I missed one film in that line up, an indie called Traveller (1997) but the posters have to be divisible by 3. How many of his 25 have you seen?

Does your answer make you proud, ashamed or dumbfounded? Regarding the latter, do you even remember the films? Should you glance across the posters a pattern emerges. Wahlberg alternates seemingly interchangeable gun-wielding crime dramas with A list auteur-driven ensemble films. (The latter category seems like a 50/50 mix of "instant classic" and "notorious misfire".) The overlap between his two preferred types seems to be the James Gray movies, which are both crime dramas AND auteurish ensemble films. I'd never seen a James Gray film prior to Two Lovers (09, quite good) and, though some smart critics swear by him, from the outside in both plot synopsis and marketing his movies look EXACTLY like generic crime drama programmers, don't they?

Will the upcoming Fighter jack up the modern classics section of his filmography by one? The star seems to think so. I've had a good feeling about it even prior to his biased 'good vibrations' about it. I've been predicting it for the Oscars since April. That was entirely due to its status as a true story and boxing drama, since Oscar loves both. That was not due to it being a reunion of director David O. Russell and Wahlberg, despite their previous and quite awesome collaborations (see: Three Kings and i ♥ huckabees. No, really, see them if you haven't. They're fantastic).

Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter (December 2010)

But I'm thinking too hard over this. Let's simplify. Can Mr. Wahlberg act or not -- answer that eternal question, would ya?

Now Playing: Misunderestimated W. Grizzly Bruce and Teenage Dakota... but Rachel is Still Not Getting Married

This weekend's newbies from least to most screens (links go to trailers)

Filth & Wisdom -Madonna directs this racy film about up and coming creative types moonlighting as sex workers of sorts. Featuring the band Gogol Bordello
<--- What Just Happened -An insider comedy about Hollywood. Hollywood never tires of making these. Audiences never tire of ignoring them. Starring: Robert De Niro, Robin Wright Penn, Catherine Keener and Bruce Willis as a fat bearded version of himself. Mmmm, Bruce Willis
Morning Light billed as a "true life documentary" --are there other kinds? I'm confused. It's a heartwarming Disney film about a Disney sponsored sailing event. Awwww

The Secret Life of Bees ---> Queen Latifah headlines an all-star cast in the story about a girl on the run (Dakota Fanning is a teenager. My how time flies...) and the black sisterhood that takes her in in 1960s South Carolina
W. Once Oscar beloved Oliver Stone directs his third presidential-focused film. Can it measure up in any way to Nixon and JFK?
Sex Drive virgin teenager trying to lose it. How mindblowingly original! The trailer tries to entice me with a little Jimmy Marsden but I ain't falling for it, not even for the man with the cheshire grin
Max Payne is NOT the sequel to Constantine. Believe it or not! I'm still having trouble believing it due to the trailer. Anyway... Keanu does not appear but freaky slightly angelic/demonic entities due. Mark Wahlberg is the star of this video game adaptation

<--- Unfortunately for many of you they're still totally withholding Rachel Getting Married. Not sure why they're not trickling it wider... I hope they don't miss their window like Vicky Cristina Barcelona seemed to by waiting for its fourth weekend to add any screens and then only a couple dozen extras. It seemed to peak a week earlier (which was a holiday weekend --what were they thinking?). It looked for a moment like the fourgy romantic comedy would beat Match Point in Woody's box office hierarchy but now it's going to fall short. They should've been more aggressive, I tell you. This comparison is riddled with problems as Match Point never went as wide as Vicky did and Rachel is still 600+ screens shy of how Vicky opened. Never mind. Ignore the crazy person typing at you! It's just that he worries excessively about middling box office for movies made for adults that don't contain explosions, firearms or supernatural creatures...
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What are you seeing this weekend?
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Mark(y) @ the Beach

Mark Wahlberg at the beach for Vanity Fair in 1993. He was 22 years old.

[img src]

We had yet to see him on the big screen (his first theatrical feature The Renaissance Man, a Danny DeVito vehicle, was due the following year) so he was still in his "Marky Mark" underwear flashing rap star days. Early response to his acting was muted. It wasn't until the one-two critical successes of Boogie Nights (1997) and Three Kings (1999) that people started thinking 'hey, this guy is a decent actor'. Oscar voters ignored his brilliant I Heart Huckabees (2004) performance --his best ever say I-- but he'd get his first nomination for The Departed two years later. But ouch. M Night Shyamalan's The Happening just gave him his first round of truly bad performance reviews. How quickly will he recover?

time capsule: In late 1993 when this photo premiered in Vanity Fair, Oscar buzz was growing for current releases Schindler's List, The Piano, Remains of the Day, In the Name of the Father, Philadelphia and The Age of Innocence. The latter two would stumble on nomination morning, missing key top categories. Summer hit The Fugitive took one of the best pic slots.

Musicians at the movies ~ Wahlberg wasn't the only singer working the screen. Will Smith, his contemporary in rapping and movie star dreams, made the transition to serious actor a touch faster: Six Degrees of Separation was also in theaters Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack from 1992 was still dominating the radio with hit after hit. In 1993, people still thought she was going to have a huge film career, too. (Oops). Madonna was torching whatever goodwill advances she'd made as an actress from A League of Their Own by following it up with Body of Evidence though she was actually pretty good in Dangerous Games (also that year, though no one saw it). Meanwhile, Janet Jackson was Poetic Justice and Tina Turner was getting wondrous biopic love courtesy of the incredible Angela Bassett, who received a well earned Best Actress nomination.

previously on @ the beach: Liev & Naomi, Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Saïd, James Bond and Honey Ryder.

click here for the freshest post (The Dark Knight)

Now Playing: Hulk Smash Puny Wahlberg!

That's gonna hurt! You really should watch your surroundings
if you choose to walk around half-naked in your downtown area.

I couldn't resist. Not to rub salt in the upcoming The Happening wounds. That wouldn't be nice. But misery loves company and I woke up totally sick today. Sore throat -- i can't even swallow -- probably from being outside for too many Shakespearean soliloquies. Sadly, I'm in no shape to hit the movie theaters even though, after that week in Florida, I'm desperate to see some movies. Argh!

W I D E
The Happening ~In which Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel experience mass suicides and strange, well, happenings. From M Night Shyamalan, he of the smart personal branding, strong eye, and terrible ear.
The Incredible Hulk ~In which Marvel Studios pretends that Ang Lee isn't one of the best filmmakers in the world by pretending that his movie didn't really count. Expect lots of smashing... and probably smashing box-office too, given the Iron Man lead-in to Marvel mania.

L I M I T E D
Baghead ~I haven't watched this trailer because the poster terrifies me. If it's a horror movie I don't want to see it. I can't imagine that anyone would make a satire of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice at this point in time but that's my second thought (post-horror) when I glance at the poster.
My Winnipeg ~ I always want to love Guy Maddin's movies. His visuals are fun, personal and above all drunk on silent film, so I feel a kinship. And yet... I don't love his movies. Unless they're very short like The Heart of the World or Sissy Boy Slap Party in which case I am so there.
Encounters at the End of the World ~Werner Herzog is the man. I shall wear my Herzog t-shirt today in honor of this movie which I shan't see on account of staying in bed.

God bless laptops!
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We Can't Wait #11 The Lovely Bones

Directed by some unknown ...goes by "Peter Jackson" (name?)
Starring Briony from Atonement, Sgt Dignam from The Departed and Mrs. Darren Aronofsky
Synopsis A murder victim watches her killer and family from heaven
Brought to you by Dreamworks, Paramount and Wingnut Films
Expected Release Date Post-production is apparently going to go long on this one. We're hearing March 2009. Damn. Defeats the point of it being on this list. sigh

Nathaniel: For those who lived under a rock back when The Lovely Bones was a bestseller it's about a girl (Saoirse Ronan) who is murdered --no spoiler, just the plot setup --and watches her parents (Mark Wahlberg & Rachel Weisz) and the murderer from her afterlife as the murder investigation unfolds and her family deals with their substantial grief. Though the novel teeters close to gooey sentiment here and there, I really enjoyed it when I read it.

When I heard that Peter Jackson was taking the reigns I thought "ooh, great. something small. something young girl focused --something to remind me of how great Heavenly Creatures was" and then I thought. Er... King Kong was so bloated as if The Lord of the Rings (which I loved) had ruined his notions of scale and dramatic precision... and couldn't The Lovely Bones go really overboard with its visualization of heaven. And then I began to worry...

Glenn: I have not read the book - perhaps I will this year - so I don't really know what to expect. To be honest, the idea of a girl looking down from heaven sounds a bit like a kooky comedy that would have starred Whoopi Goldberg in that period of the '90s where she made a lot of movies like Eddie and The Associate. Perhaps her character had lost a lot of money on wall street and decided she didn't want to live so Heaven sent somebody down to SWAP with her so she could experience what it was like only to learn that if she ended her life she would never be able to meet the love of her life or hold her grandchild!

...wait. I got off track there. I'm looking forward to The Lovely Bones mostly for Jackson's return to (hopefully, natch) intimate filmmaking. And maybe Saiorse Ronan can continue to prove she's actually a 75-year-old woman in a child's body! That gives me another idea for a wacky comedy..

MaryAnn: Haven't read the book, but I'm onboard for *anything* Peter Jackson does. And after Atonement, I can't wait to see if Saoirse Ronan was a one-hit wonder or if she's got real staying power.

Gabriel: Glenn, I've been laughing for five minutes at your Whoopi Goldberg career summation. :-) However, my guess is that this movie will try to mix magic into its murder story, rather than comedy...it's a fragile story with delicate story points, and too much humor would probably kill it. I personally am intrigued to see Mark Wahlberg, who hopped into the film at the last minute when Ryan Gosling dropped out. But if there's anyone who thinks this isn't going to be successful, I offer this formula: Peter Jackson + Bestselling Book + Likeable Stars + Oscar Contender=Box Office Hit.

Nathaniel: Joe sat this discussion out. Perhaps he knew not to expect this until 2009? It's filming now. Have you read the book? Are you ready for a Jackson drama after all these fantasy epics?

<-- Sister Aloysius prays for your wicked soul if you haven't been reading the "we can't wait" countdown #1 Synecdoche, New York / #2 Burn After Reading / #3 Australia / #4 Milk / #5 Blindness / # 6 Doubt / #7 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button / #8 Revolutionary Road / #9 The Dark Knight / #10 Sex & The City: The Movie / #11 The Lovely Bones / #12 Wall-E / #13 Stop-Loss / #14 The Women / #15 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince / Introduction / Orphans
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Tuesday Top Ten: PTA Performances

Paul Thomas Anderson makes me feel so unaccomplished. He’s 37 and I haven’t directed four great films at this age! Argh. Hate him. But I love his movies. From Hard Eight (also known as Sydney) to Boogie Nights to Magnolia to Punch-Drunk Love, they’re all really something. As are the performances inside of them. While we're anxiously awaiting There Will Be Blood, let's look at the performances in his fine filmography.

PTA is often compared to Robert Altman and though I think the comparison is a little simplistic, he invites it too. He’s often cited Altman as an influence and he even helped out with A Prairie Home Companion (Altman needed a standby auteur should his health prevent completion –thankfully it didn’t)

Top 10 Performances in Paul Thomas Anderson Films

10 Fiona Apple in numerous music videos.
I’m cheating here because there were too many performances to choose from (these are huge consistenly excellent ensembles) plus I’m Apple obsessed and still miffed about that breakup. I love all the videos he made with her including "Limp", "Fast As You Can", "Paper Bag" and "Across the Universe"

09 April Grace as “Gwenovier” in Magnolia
Her enemy combatant interview with Cruise is a marvel –my second or third favorite scene in the movie. No matter what one thinks of Tom Cruise as an actor, it’s hard to match his intensity in any given scene. Gwenovier is so formidable a scene partner (without doing much) that doesn’t it feel like even Frank TJ Mackey has to overreach to fight her off? And can someone get Grace more movie roles?

08 Mary Lynn Rajskub as “Elizabeth” in Punch-Drunk Love

I still thrill to the way she comically rampages into every scene. There’s just no brake fluid in her system. That anger problem runs in the family.

07 Philip Baker Hall as “Sydney” in Hard Eight.
I’ll admit that I don’t remember this movie, PTA’s first that well. I sought it out after being stunned by Boogie Nights and Magnolia and I recall immediately understanding what PTA always saw in this character actor mainstay. Gwyneth Paltrow is also quite good in this film.

06 Heather Graham as “Rollergirl” in Boogie Nights

What a gift this role was. It’s perfectly suited to Graham’s considerable yet slightly vacant charisma. It’s a great role as written but it’s also the best performance of her career: engaging, well judged, and more than a little raw once it needs to be.

05 Tom Cruise as “Frank TJ Mackey” in Magnolia

This sexist self-help monster role needed either a charismatic movie star or an intense but "off" actor to serve it. It was lucky enough to be channeled through both.

04 Julianne Moore as “Linda Partridge” in Magnolia

Possibly the most divisive performance on the list but I love that it doesn’t feel like other Moore performances. It’s large, stylized and forceful... Moore at her bravest as an aging trophy wife carrying tons of weight in guilt. I still remember the New Yorker review which deemed her work both nonsensical and mesmerizing.

03 Burt Reynolds as “Jack Horner” in Boogie Nights

It always alarms me when I hear about the actors who turned this role down. Reynolds almost didn’t take it himself. Insanity


02 Mark Wahlberg as “Dirk Diggler” in Boogie Nights

When this film premiered this star turn felt like a leap forward for a young actor and the promise of great things to come. Now it feels like the realization of promise. It's so right for both the demands of the film and the truth of the character that I'm doubtful Wahlberg can top it. A hilarious, sweet and sad take on a guy who is in over his head especially once his pants are down.

01 Julianne Moore as “Amber Waves” in Boogie Nights
Not just the best performance in PTA's fine filmography but one of the best of the past couple of decades. It deserves at least a 1000 words, not just a few sentences. too many things (to say)... too many things.

Agree? disagree?
Light a firecracker, collect some pudding, or throw some frogs around in the comments...

DVD Releases

pick of the litter
Black Snake Moan Ricci writhes, Jackson lectures and Timberlake cries. One of the most interesting films of 2007. I'm not sure it has enough ideas for its provocative collisions but it least it has ideas --more than most movies can say. And Christina Ricci shows signs that she's finally getting her groove back (surely worth tentative rejoicing) whilst diving into character for this sweaty druggy vulgar hellion
La Jetee / Sans Soleil Criterion Collection release of Chris Marker's influential films. I have been meaning to see La Jetee forever ...

the rest
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon Smart horror fans seem to love this - like our buddy MNPP
Peaceful Warrior A gymnast has an accident and meets a stranger (Nick Nolte) who helps him heal. Would you want Nolte as your spiritual guide --hasn't this kid seen those mug shots?
Pride Terrence Howard & the swim team. This comment is nothing particularly directed at this movie (I haven't seen it) but I'm getting the sense that someone needs to warn Howard about saying yes to every offer. It's very Michael Caine / Gene Hackman / Samuel L Jackson in their 'can't say no' workaholic mode. Struggling actors have to do this. Established types... why? Overspending? Delusional "I'll never work again" actorly panic?
Shooter Mark Wahlberg in action hero mode. I was just watching I Heart Huckabees the other day and damn he is awesome in that movie. Wahlberg's gift is clearly comedy or at least comedic beats fused into dramatic characterization. See also: Boogie Nights and The Departed
Standing Still For all of you who've wondered whatever happened to the film careers of yesterdays up & comers: James Van Der Beek, Mena Suvari, Xander Berkeley, Ethan Embry, Adam Garcia, Jon Abrahams, Lauren German and Melissa Sagemiller. Meerkat-loving Amy Adams is also in this post-college wedding drama. (She, too, has the Terrence Howard problem but hopefully that'll level itself off once the pre Junebug contracts are over)

runts
Wedding Wars The only reason I even list this is because I tried to watch it and feared my eyes would fall out --the worst thing about being gay, he says jokingly, is all the bad movies you have to endure to see glbt topics. John Stamos plays a gay wedding planner who goes on strike for gay marriage during the buildup to his brothers wedding. Stamos is still a Dorian Gray cutie but he hasn't risen above his sitcom acting origins. You're glad there are movies like this being made but you don't need to watch all of them! (I'm lecturing myself... the rest of you can just move along)
Dead Silence Another horror about dolls/dummies. Vasts swaths of people must have had really traumatic childhoods for this subgenre to stay popular. A 21% RT rating. Ouch

Song & Dance: Oscar's Men

A couple of weeks ago on Friday's song & dance, I shared the best actress nominated ladies singing their hearts out. Now it's time for the men from the Supporting and Lead Actor categories. It's a special edition of Song & Dance w/ six clips.

We begin with Ryan Gosling on the Mickey Mouse Club. He's the fourth guy to sing in this pre-N'Sync quartet (Justin Timberlake and JC Chavez warble away before him). It's Ryan freaking Gosling !!! all baby like. I just. I have no words. I can't imagine him in N'Sync. Thank god he found out he was a brilliant actor and didn't go that route. But there you go... To his right is Peter O'Toole singing the classic "Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha. Below them are Eddie Murphy doing his best Elvis & James Brown in his hit concert film Delirious. Mark Wahlberg then gets down with the Funky Bunch and shamelessly sells those pecs in MTV staple "Good Vibrations".





The last two bonus clips are kinda stretchin the point but whatevs, enjoy. First up is Djimon Hounsou doing that big smiley body waving dance he did in Janet Jackon's "Love Will Never Do Without You" (which was already featured here) only this time he's grinning wide for a Gap ad. And, finally, there's Alan Arkin playing musical chairs with the Little Miss Sunshine cast on Ellen Degeneres. Steve Carell cracks me up.

The Supporting Actor Oscar Race. It's Smokin' Hot

If you're an awards junkie you'll know this feeling: after a number of years of following the Oscar race, it gets less surprising -- boredom sets in as groupthink reigns from critics associations to industry awards and you think "why do I care again?" So you must celebrate those rare moments when one category remains blurry right up until the morning of Oscar nominations. The Actress race of '03 was like this. Beyond Charlize Theron (the eventual winner) and Diane Keaton (the presumed runner up) it seemed like it might go any which way in terms of the nominations ... and it did.

The only acting category to remain in a perpetual state of flux this year is Best Supporting Actor. Believe it or not there's but one sure thing. Eddie Murphy is the only contender to score in all the precursory ways (BFCA, GG, SAG and a critics awards). Beyond him, any combo of men seem possible. How did this happen?

The NBR and the BFCA
The two early groups started the drum rolling for 'best overachievement in screaming' by Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (perhaps edging out Brad Pitt's yell-a-thon in Babel?)

Djimon Hounsou -Blood Diamond

The BFCA, which itself practices Oscar Prediction overachievement, also noted that they thought the following performers had a shot @ the Kodak theater in February:

Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Alan Arkin -Little Miss Sunshine
Adam Beach - Flags Of Our Fathers
Eddie Murphy -Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson -The Departed

The Big Three Critics Groups (NYFCC, LAFCA, NSFC)
The plot thickened when the three most important critical bodies didn't agree. Los Angeles said Michael Sheen for The Queen. New York gave their kudos to comeback kid Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children. The National Society of Film Critics, the final major critics groups, enjoyed the s***-talking stylings of Mark Wahlberg. More names for Oscar to think about.

Jackie Earle Haley -Little Children

Michael Sheen -The Queen
Mark Wahlberg -The Departed

Other Critics
The many smaller critical organizations tend to color within the already set Oscar lines. This year six men divvied up the wealth. The overall tally of prizes from the critics so far --yes there's more to come-- is as follows (if I'm counting correctly): Haley: 8. Sheen: 4. Nicholson: 3. Hounsou: 3. Wahlberg: 2.Murphy: 2.

Golden Globes
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who love themselves some movie star wattage, so they went with the biggest names: Affleck, Murphy, Nicholson, Wahlberg and then they added another celebrity to the supporting actor mix

Brad Pitt -Babel

Screen Actors Guild
The massive actors union went with the previously honored Arkin, Haley, Hounsou, and Murphy. But for their final trick, in a truly confusing move, they threw a lead actor into the supporting ool of names...

Leonardo DiCaprio -The Departed

In case you haven't figured out where this is going: that's a lot of names for AMPAS voters to think about. That's especially weird when you consider that it wasn't a banner year for supporting actors. Raise your hand if you think this list of performances is truly special. Meanwhile in the Best Actress race, with at least a dozen fine portrayals to choose from, there's virtually no variety. Oh the mysteries of Oscar season.

Beyond the lack of agreement from precursors lives more doubt. Many of the performers have strikes against them: Alan Arkin is a veteran but he's also from a big cast who can siphon votes. Hounsou could ride that damn Blood Diamond wave but he's one of the very few who can't get a boost from being in a buzzy Best Picture. Jack Nicholson is an Oscar fav but some feel he's just playing "Jack" again. Pitt is a massive star but reaction to the film and his performance is mixed. Haley, the critical leader, is playing the kind of role that Oscar almost never recognizes. In fact, I can't think of a single time when such a role has been nominated. If deviant roles are nominated they are almost always in easily digestable "love to hate" form which his is not. He does have that great "comeback" hook but so to, to a lesser degree, have Affleck and Murphy.

This, awards junkies, is the only truly volatile acting race. Balloting will be tight. Who will prevail? Dozens of heads are better than one --try and figure this out in the comments.

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Oscar Pages * Globes * SAG * My Top Ten * Critics Awards * Djimon Hounsou * Brad Pitt * Brad in Blue. Jack in the Green * Brangelina in Wax * Brad Pitt's Girls in Melissa Etheridge Videos *

Tags: movies, cinema, Brad Pitt, supporting actor, blood diamond, film, Eddie Murphy, Jack Nicholson,Oscars, Academy Awards, Babel, Leonardo DiCaprio