All Good Links

Before we get to today's link roundup -- I went a little crazy as I sometimes do -- enjoy the heat sensor-like photography of the All Good Things poster. Perhaps Ryan and Kiki were a bit jealous of the ruckus Jake & Annie's nude poster caused online.

P.S. Jake Gyllenhaal is obsessed with Ryan Gosling. Just saying. I would try to quote his answer from Saturday night when the audience question 'who would you like to work with?' popped up but it was so rambling and long and confusing that I can't. But let's just say it began with Ryan Gosling, was jilted by Ryan Gosling via text "I'm busy" and then ended again with a circular non sequitor shout of "Ryan Gosling!" Jake likey. Ryan Gosling is what you might call an actor's actor... since everyone seems to want to work with him.

On to the linkage...
Candy Magazine A double take of pleasure. Yes, that's James Franco to your left continuing his trans formation from one of the great herd of Hollywood pretty boys to an actually interesting celebrity.
My New Plaid Pants is an über fan of Let the Right One In. Doesn't hate Let Me In. Since the response has been so positively muted like "it's good: also, a recreation" I've decided not to see it.
Broadway.com Carrie the Musical being revived. Wow.
Cinema Blend Me pal Katey basically says all I have to say about the trailer for Julie Taymor's Tempest so I don't need to cover it here. What she said, minus the positive bits since I liked the movie even less than she.
The Big Picture Tony Curtis grand sendoff in Las Vegas
Hero Complex Emma Stone will play Gwen Stacy in the new Spider-Man. I'm glad that early reports were wrong. Why do the whole Mary Jane story again. That said, isn't it weird that someone known as a redhead is going to play Spidey's favorite blonde and someone known as a blonde was cast as his favorite redhead. Weirdness.
The Awl Sasha Frere-Jones and Natasha VC on The Social Network. If you haven't read enough yet, it's fun as always to read these two.
50 Best Theater Blogs I'll have to investigate this list.
Just Jared Joseph Gordon-Levitt lost his older brother. So sad.
Towleroad celebs speaking about gay bullying on Larry King Live
Movie|Line offers tips to Renée Zellweger on how she could regain her A list status. I love the suggestion of a brilliant twitter feed. I hope she calls it @Zeéeee after my new nickname for her. Zeéeeee reads me right? *

Double Duty!
Movielicious Have you seen this great mashup poster for Toy Story and Tron? I wish I knew who did it to give them proper cred.
Scott Feinberg "Are Bening *And* Moore All Right." Some smart words on the The Kids Are All Right Oscar campaign.
John Luciano a Calvin & Hobbes mashup with Let the Right One In. Teehee. I used to love Calvin's girlcrush but can't remember her name right now

*Obviously I am kidding. Someone I am acquainted with who works in the industry once told me that every star googles themselves --whether they admit it or not -- and is familiar with their biggest cheerleaders and nemeses online. But I chose not to believe her because it weirded me out too much to think of Beelzebub, She Who Must Not Be Named, La Pfeiff and The Bening reading or even knowing of my puny existence.

Pocahontas and "Ethnic Make-up"

I saw this on Sociological Images which I visit (and quite enjoy) from time to time. Because I kinda deeply dig Pocahontas (1995) whatever its flaws (why do I never talk about it on this blog? Hmmm) and because I like inspired mash-ups, I wanted to share.



The poem is "Slip of the Tongue" by Adriel Luis. The video is by Samantha Figueroa. The art is (mostly) by Disney... though that guy who did those 'Disney Princes Gone Wild' thing slips in there, too.

she'snotme. shedoesn'tlinkmyname. she'llneverlinkwhatihave. itwon'tbethesame.

Antagony & Ecstasy says these 10 are the best performances by an actress in history. Love the bookend choices so much.
i09 Megan Fox poses with her lesbian mannequin. This is easily my favorite Megan Fox performance
Cinema Blend Katey wants to see Christopher Nolan duke it out with James Cameron in a 3D debate. Me too
Movie|Line has updates on those Wizard of Oz projects


Mediaite Adventures in mispronounciations with Catherine Zeta-Jones. She's just a girl who c*** say no. She's in a terrible fix.
Low Resolution Joe Reid begins to count down his favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. Consider it a corrective to Logo's Spike crazy countdown. Read it because you love Buffy! [I'm guessing because all cool people do.]
My New Plaid Pants JA also makes a Best of Buffy list
PopEater talks to Carrie Fisher about Wishful Drinking. She always gives good interview
Socialite's Life Dakota Fanning has her priorities straight

And yes... I am aware that the first Sofia Coppola trailer "Somewhere" teaser debuted yesterday (while I was at dinner). I am unable to post about it right this second. Let's discuss several hours from now. It'll still be there.

Off Topic Just Cuz
Have you seen this mashup of Madonna / Gaga set to Madonna's underappreciated "She's Not Me" tune. It may be a slam on Gaga but it's still fun.



The way I kind of look at it is that I miss Madonna ALL THE TIME so if Madonna (my fav celeb ever) isn't going to make epic videos anymore -- and she hasn't been really trying in that realm, her very own kingdom (!), in awhile -- I need the Gaga.

P.S. I think there should be some sort of title moderation on YouTube. So many videos label themselves official this or that when they're something quite different. It can be absolutely maddening to search for a new movie trailer and have to wade through hundreds of bad fan videos or cheap gags first. The world OFFICIAL is more grossly overused on YouTube than "Exclusive" is on movie news sites or the naughty F word is in a Mamet play. That's how overused it is. For the love of search engines, please stop lying to the world.

"An Education: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"

What exactly would An Education: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire look like, Mr George Clooney? One can only imagine. Just last week at my own blog, Stale Popcorn, I imagined Mo'Nique's "Mary Jones" as a twist on James Cameron's Terminator T-1000 character, but I think transplanting Lee Daniels' tale of Claireece "Precious" Jones to 1960s England is a little bit out of my reach, but I'll give it a try.


Perhaps instead of Jenny Miller's (Carey Mulligans) parents being the class-struck doters that they are they are instead evil and monstrous as personified by Mo'Nique. That would certainly push Jenny into the arms of Peter Sarsgaard even further, even once she realised his hidden secrets. Or maybe Jenny, instead of being a smart and talented musician, she is an illiterate and morbidly obese teen who steals fried chicken and gets impregnated by the creepy, but "light-skinned", Sarsgaard. The possibilities are... well, not exactly endless, but it's fun to play around.

Makes me want to play musical chairs with the other films from the season. How about a musical about the existential crises that befall a United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal crew in the Iraq war? Throw in some of The Last Station and Jeremy Renner can sing his big number "War, What Is It Good For?" to Leo Tolstoy and you know Elaine Benes would be a fan! Maybe George Clooney can catch the wrong plane and end up flying to Paradise Falls with a crotchety old man and annoying child in tow. What about a movie in which aliens land in Johannesburg, South Africa, and instead of waging war they challenge the Springboks to a game of rugby. It can be called Distvictus! Or Inglourious Avatars? You'd have to make up your own story for that one.

Do you have any mix-and-match movies you'd like to see brought to life out of the embers of this awards season?

LinkyDee LinkyDum

le cinema
StinkyLulu investigates Cher's work in Silkwood. I just watched this again and I love this performance. In fact, I love every turn in the film including Kurt Russell's. I wish Mike Nichols would make something this humble but stirring and potent again.
New Yorker Evan Rachel Wood takes trapeze lessons. Fun piece... though I'll believe Jodie Foster's decades-delayed Flora Plum circus project -- not mentioned but why else the trapeze lessons -- when I see it.
In Contention A Christmas Carol sneaks.
Score Enthusiast on Alexandre Desplat's work on Chéri
Nick's Flick Picks a beautiful even handed tribute to Meryl Streep's career and its foibles, triumphs and unique pleasures

It's gay pride week in NYC
FourFour has a great post on the documentary Ask Not on gays in the military and Brüno's comedic use of homophobia
Boy Culture takes justifiable aim at Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnick who has been dredging up the ol lame chestnut 'these people don't represent me'. When will people learn that wedge politics are not helpful for minorities?

miscellania
Toys R Evil Marilyn's Mickies - a cheesecake mashup [not really SFW]
Blog Stage Sarah Jessica Parker is making a reality show American Artists. There's a reality competition for just about everything now 'cept blogging. It's hard to dramatize typing, isn't it?

i challenge you...
to beat my score on Cryptic Canvas. It's a really hard but fun movie naming painted puzzle (all films from the past 20 years). Thanks to In Contention for pointing it out. I only got 27/50 answers in 20 minutes. Challenging stuff. I'm still so confused by the three pony-tailed girls in the graveyard.

The Happiest Ending of All Time?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. Edward from Twilight.

[thanks]

Buffy has made me happy in so many ways over the years... but this is really going above and beyond. Brava, Ms. Summers!

Beware My Power... Green Lantern's Might

I promise I'm not going to mock up every potential Green Lantern in shiny emerald spandex but I go weak at the knees for opportunities to photoshop ... and for Green Lantern, too, as you must know. I don't secretly dream of a Hollywood career but if I did, The Green Lantern is at the top of the list of superhero properties I'd want to pitch. That said, I'd rank it up there with Wonder Woman under the heading Will Be Nearly Impossible To Pull Off. Good Luck! so I'm not particularly excited about seeing Hollywood try.

So, this is Shawn Roberts (pictured left) who was all the rumor-rage a couple of weeks ago, round about the same time as the Bradley Cooper rumor that IMDB stamped. But, recent casting of Thor aside, Hollywood almost never goes with relative unknowns for expensive franchises (despite stars being expensive and the properties themselves being the selling point) so I never took the Roberts rumor seriously. I suspect if the movie ever happens, and if it's not Cooper, it'll be a very familiar face bathed in green light.

Anyway -- my god get to the point, man! -- some people are far more skilled with visual trickery than I. If you haven't yet watched this fan-made Green Lantern trailer which is basically a very enthusiastic campaign for the casting of the always charming Nathan Fillion, you should.



Pretty impressive, yes?

Fillion himself is quite enthused about it.
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________ Based on the Novel by Sapphire

Sundance sensation 'That Movie Based on the Novel by Sapphire' has a poster just in times for Cannes (pictured left) and a trailer, too. So, I'm guessing it sticks with its new title Precious. As you may recall, this film about an obese illiterate teen mom dumped its former title Push due to that 'Chris Evans has super powers' vehicle called Push (the confusion previously joked about here). I don't think they should have worried about that comparison. Who will even remember that Push existed by the time Precious arrives? Even the Push DVD might be in bargain bins by then.

The Precious movie trailer suggests lots of physical and emotional battering for pregnant teenager "Precious" but the poster brings sexual abuse immediately to mind. It's that menacingly large spidery hand shattering the body from the crotch. Yikes.

The title also conjures up icky feelings. "Precious" comes with its own movie connotations: slimy Gollum and Buffalo Bill, too, even slimier...

It puts the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it's told

I wish that the Precious title didn't make me think about Gollum and his ring or Buffalo Bill and his doggie because doesn't this new movie look fantastic?

What? You didn't click on the Precious trailer yet. Go now, go. We've already heard the plentiful Oscar buzz for MoNique for Best Supporting Actress.

<--- Even Mariah Carey appears to have stumbled accidentally and headfirst into a thick patch of acting skill. Watch your step Mariah or we'll forget about Glitter.

For more on any of these topics, click the labels below... or return to the main page for fresh posts.

P.S. Here's Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe's audition for the movie if you haven't seen it.


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Versus

Nathaniel is back. C'est moi. I need to thank JA from MNPP for filling in for me yesterday. JA is dipped in a vat of awesome. Love him. Much more from me in a few hours but for now enjoy this awesome Iron Man vs. Bruce Lee stop motion short.



Although...

If we're playing to The Film Experience base I think we need something more along the lines of "Catwoman versus Lt. Ellen Ripley". Or maybe "Carol White vs. Cathy Whitaker" --would they just stare absently at each other or have a crying jag face/off ???

Cathy: My hair. I experimented. Do you like it?

Carol: Oh god Cathy... is that hairspray?

Yes, someone make those short films! Or do I have to do everything?
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The Big Movie Dogpile

Today I will be seeing three of the biggest Oscar contenders. I realize this will sound enviable to many of you. I told 'txt critic' about my three-in-one-day schedule and he said

I want to murder you and wear your skin to the screenings!

Ha ha. uhhh...

I assure you that it's not a complaint. It's more like a question mark. It's just that I don't really understand the benefit of the annual studio dog piling, everyone leaping on critics and guild members and Oscar voters all at once, rubbing their legs frantically like desperate horny beasts. Why is everything ambitious,prestigious and golden also simultaneous? It's very strange.

You see, today I'm still thinking about Meryl Streep as a bitter nun "Look at that. You blew out my light!" (Did I underestimate her work? Maybe. Were my expectations too high for 'the greatest actress of all time'? Probably. I already want to see it again) Meanwhile I'm trying not to think about those stupid vampires who stare at each other and us for hours upon hours and never think to do anything else. You're a vampire, idiot, kill something, drink blood, scare me. Meryl Streep is way scarier than you are. Do SOMETHING already! Anything... I'm begging you. Now I must leave both nuns and the undead behind.

I fear that all Oscar hopefuls will blur together. I won't be able to tell one film from the next -- it'll be just like a bleary eyed film festival only more middlebrow. By Thanksgiving I'll be imagining Harvey Milk sweeping prissy Nicole Kidman off her feet even as she ages backwards -- younger and younger she gets, all the way back to her shadowy past in Nazi era Germany when she fought Daniel Craig in the Belarus forest before her unhappy marriage to Leonardo DiCaprio (of Connecticut), a union which ended with his historic downfall by way of a 1970s television interview.
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The Dread Pirate Roberts

The Dread Pirate Roberts had grown so rich, (s)he wanted to retire.
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"The Spider House Rules"

This is pretty funny as mash-up trailers go.



Thanks to Matt for bringing it to my attention. He asks a pertinent question "I like Spidey, but is anyone NOT rooting for Michael Caine in that fight?" Hee. My question: Why must every trailer use the classic Requiem for the Dream score? It's as bad as Hollywood's reliance on Danny Elfman scores for trailers.

Thoroughly Modern Hillie

<--- These pictures making the web rounds from next year's Amelia biopic are freaking me out. It's not because I don't know what to make of its Oscar chances which break down like so:

biopic = take it seriously
cast = who knows. Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor are always ignored. Madsen... wronged wife. so maybe. Swank... only when she's manly. Which...
director =Mira Nair (good director but does Oscar care? probably not)

The pictures are haunting me because... 1: she's kissing Ewan McGregor and that just reads all kinds of wrong. Plus: His lips are busy! They belong to Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton and Jonathan Rhys Meyers... not Hilary Swank ! I'm still recovering from the Renée Zellweger romancin' he attempted twice over. And 2: Swank in 20s garb? I don't see her as a period actress. Put her in cloche hats and bandeaus and I am absolutely... freaking... out. And not in the good way.



The 20s and 30s seem to be making a fashion/subject matter comeback with Hollywood after years of being ignored in favor of the 40s & 50s. In the next 12 months or so we've got Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Nicole Kidman (Australia), Michelle Pfeiffer (Chéri) and Hilary Swank (Amelia) all headlining 1920s or 1930s pictures.

"Razor Sharp"

"When I close my eyes, I see this thing. It's like this big sign...

and the name is in, like, bright blue neon lights with purple outline...

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...And this name is just so bright and so sharp that

the sign -- it just blows up because the name is just so powerful!"

Tonight Nathaniel does DisneyWorld. Enjoy wonderful guest bloggers all week!
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"Thou Shall Not Pass"

The Balrog proves no match for Tink' and Gandalf


...but Nathaniel is allowed to pass into her magic kingdom in just 3 Days
DisneyWorld awaits!

Hard Candy 2

more at twiigs.com...

It's Tinkerbell's World...

and soon I'll be living in it.
_______ 5 Days until Nathaniel is in DisneyWorld

May Flowers Mash-Up

Presenting...

Perfume: The Story of An American Beauty
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Now Playing on 36,000 Screens

Patrick Dempsey is McDreamin' about that hot rod red. In theaters everywhere!

I kid. I kid. Iron Man is opening (in case you just woke up from a year long coma) but it's only playing at 4,000+ screens. God, it'll take forever until it makes its way to your tiny neighborhood multiplex. If you don't feel like rockin and rollin with Marvel Comic's latest cash cow you can always check out buzzy leftovers from last year's festival circuit: Son of Rambow and XXY, finally making their way to the US. There's also that Patrick Dempsey / Michelle Monaghan romantic comedy Made of Honor but I'm guessing that if you've seen its trailer + episode of Grey's Anatomy + My Best Friend's Wedding, you've already seen it and enjoyed it more than you will this time... guessing!

Actrices Que Nous Aimons

I know I'm not alone in feeling tres heureux when I think of "Carol" (Margo Martindale) and her broken French in Alexander Payne's section of the omnibus film Paris Je T'Aime.


And she's now a film bitch nominee for Best Actress in a Limited or Cameo Role along with one large and in charge manager, a lost actress, a widow and a guilt ridden woman. Did these women catch your eye with their brief roles ... or were you looking elsewhere when it came to the edges of the movies?

But back to "Carol" and Margo Martindale for a second. She was so sweet and sad and simple and self aware (only not ?) as Carol in 14ème Arrondissement, that perfect length gem within the Parisian film, that when it was over I immediately started wishing her into other movies.

Like...
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Consider the possibilities, indeed