No Exit Through The Simpsons Shop

Did you catch this frankly amazing Banksy-adjusted opening to The Simpsons? Here it is in all its subversive glory.



This makes me think two things.

1. I probably should have seen this year's buzzy Banksy street art doc Exit Through the Gift Shop. Of the three documentaries at Sundance that garnered the most "you must see this!" buzz -- the others being Catfish (loved) and Waiting for Superman (did not enjoy) -- it's the one I skipped.
2. Maybe I should still be watching The Simpsons?

Early Emmys: Hathaway, NPH and a Mad Men Rant

I've neglected to mention that Our Miss Anne Hathaway is now an EMMY winner. (The Emmys have so many hundreds of categories, that they have to start weeks before the actual show in passing them out.) Next step: Oscar... or maybe Tony? (she did get bang up reviews for her theater gig in Twelfth Night, too) Yay! She won the prize for her Simpsons voicework in the episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield."


Voicework for The Simpsons is always a good idea for actors.

1. You get paid.
2. It's probably fun.
3. It's a pop culture merit badge. Many celebrities have have had the honor -- everyone from La Pfeiffer through George Takei to Don Cheadle -- but you're still in a cool club.

But... you don't actually win Emmys for it. That can't be a reason to do it. While the principle Simpsons cast (Yeardley Smith, Julie Cavner, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellanata, Hank Azaria) has won several Emmy awards, Hathaway is only the third non-series regular to win or even be nominated. The first was Jackie Mason who guested on three episodes as Rabbi Krustofski. Kelsey Grammar, who has "appeared" in 13 episodes won later. Maybe they changed the rules and this won't be so unlikely in the future I don't know -- it's so hard to keep track of Emmy rules and there hundreds of categories.

<--- Red Carpet Break. To your left is Kristin Chenoweth & Kathy Griffin doing Charlie's Angels on the red carpet. They're such hams. I don't watch Life on the D List that often -- finding KG funny but quite wearying in repetition -- but the recent episode that Cheno appeared in was hilar', especially when they went all Singin' in the Rain moment with Kathy "singing" with Cheno's voice.

Some Early Prizes
Guest Actress Comedy Betty White SNL
We knew that was coming but she did not attend. Strange.
Guest Actress Drama Ann-Margret Law & Order: SVU
Was she a victim, a perp, a witness? Doesn't matter. She's Ann-Margret! (pictured further down the page)
Guest Actor Comedy Neil Patrick Harris, Glee
He finally has his Emmy, two of them actually since he also won as part of the Tony ceremony team. Congrats NPH. Now have those babies with Burtka and take that well deserved break. Just don't stay away too long.


Guest Actor Drama John Lithgow Dexter.
I haven't seen this particular season yet but it's about to arrive for my viewing. Lithgow is practically magnetized when it comes to awards statues so it's a little weird that he couldn't manage the Oscars. I think if he went back to movies full time, it'd be a done deal. He has 4 Emmys, 2 Golden Globes and 2 Tonys. No joke.
Host, Reality Series Jeff Probst, Survivor.
Are people still watching that. Sheesh. Expiration dates, people!
Casting Comedy Series Modern Family
Casting Drama Series Mad Men
Both casting awards are well deserved, don't you think... especially Modern Family in its first season. Mad Men only had to find key new players and guest stars.

A couple more notes...

Wendy?
Yes, Lisa.
Is the water ready?
Yes, Lisa.
Shall We Begin?
Yes, Lisa

Wendy and Lisa, pictured above to the right, won for scoring Nurse Jackie. They have a different type of career since those 80s Prince paisley rock days but it's still celebrated, so good on them. Nurse Jackie is such a strongly conceived show up to and including those opening credits and the music. I still think it's pilot episode is one of the most perfectly constructed pilots television has ever seen. It's fun to see Wendy holding a golden trophy. Now, can Wendy's wife Lisa Cholodenko (a different Lisa mind you) repeat that trick at the Oscars for The Kids Are All Right?

RANT! And finally because the Emmys always find some way to piss me off, it should be known that The Tudors bested Mad Men in the field of costume design. This means that Joan Bergin now has three Emmys for her four seasons of eligible work on The Tudors thus far and the absolute genius of Janie Bryant, Mad Men's costume designer, is still zero for three (though she won previously for Deadwood). Bryant goes home statueless each year of Mad Men despite delivering complex ultra-specific character costuming work with evolving period details that has also affected actual fashion trends in the outside world it's so smartly executed. Blasphemy!

See, Royalty Porn is the simplest statue-winning trick at the Emmys, too. It's not just the Oscars that will always give you a prize for dressing Queens.


...or undressing them in the case of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
*

Anne Hathaway is An Emmy Nominee!

Just two years after landing her first Oscar nod for Rachel Getting Married, Princess Anne Hathaway can now add Emmy nominee to her honors.


She won the notice for voicing Penelope Mountbatten-Hohenzollern-Mulan-Pocahontas or "Princess Penelope" for short on The Simpsons. Considering she also wins raves on stage (see Twelfth Night in Central Park from previous season) and she can sing, she's got multiple awards in her future. How many years until she's a triple crowner or even an EGOT winner.

Her competition in the Outstanding Voice-Over Emmy category: H Jon Benjamin for Archer, Dave Foley for Disney Prep & Landing, Seth Green for Robot Chicken, and Dan Castellanata and Hank Azaria from The Simpsons.

Further Reading
Cinema Blend Read Katey Rich's best & worst from the nominee pool.
Gold Derby Rob Licuria gives his good bad and ugly take on the noms.
Low Resolution Joe Reid's take on the nominations. Fun notes.

HumpThursday Hottie

Howdy y’all, JA here, hoping Nat’s settling in for some much-deserved sun’n’fun as I type… I’m gonna be keeping it simple today - it's really humid in NYC right now; brain no work - and by “simple,” I mean “cheating,” because today is not Wednesday, otherwise known round these parts as Hump Day, wherein something called Hotties are presented for one’s perusing pleasure. See, I find myself caught in the gravitational pull of a marketing behemoth born from a tiny television series, once an interlude on a sketch comedy show, spun outwards and upwards into a bit of a cultural phenom, and which, quite fortuitously, is exploding on a few thousand movie screens this weekend with its first full-length motion picture... but what does all this have to do with Hotties you ask?

It has to do with the roundest, yellowest, most unexpected of Hotties – Mr. Homer Simpson.

Yes, Homer. There are other citizens of Springfield who maybe fit the Hottie bill a little more ab-tastically – Groundskeeper Willie and Ned “Feels Like I’m Wearing Nothing At All… Nothing At All…” Flanders always surprise when their shirts come off – but is there a more loveable oaf out there that makes obesity, ignorance and a routine proclivity for child abuse so damned charming? Kevin James and every other live-action fat-man-with-hot-wife sit-combo that’s come since has tried and failed to win our hearts quite like Homer.

So what is it about this bacon-grease-slurping alcoholic that never fails to shine? Is it that we know that deep down beats the heart of one of the most truly decent, loving fathers and husbands ever put onscreen? One that will do anything for his loved ones, if he has to throw himself off a cliff, a waterfall, an airplane, a ski-lift, into a pit of horny pandas… um, I could keep going… point being, he might get distracted by something shiny here and there – and therein taps into a forgotten well of glee in us all, mind you – and to be honest he's usually the one who messes things up to start with, but when it really matters Homer does right. His heart of gold may be coated with a thick layer of lard, but we end up loving the lug anyway. Surely, come this weekend, he'll be winning our hearts anew, and at forty-feet tall too.

And anyway, nobody rocks a pair of cartoon tighty-whities quite the same, either.

Character Posters: A Satisfying Trend

I don't recall exactly when the multiple character poster trend began. I want to say with The Lord of the Rings trilogy but it was probably much earlier. Now it's de rigeur for would be blockbusters: a variety of teaser posters must introduce the principal cast. Here's one from Hairspray for "Velma Von Tussle" (you can see the others here) . You know I chose this one because it reintroduces my personal goddess. Appropriately enough this posters tagline is "tease it up. " Pfeiffer is a tease too, you know, what with all the semi retirement and cancelled projects. This role was originated by Debbie Harry in the 1988 John Waters comedy (those who haven't seen it, do so might quick. You won't be disappointed) Hairspray has since been adapted into a Broadway musical and now makes the trek back to film. Wish it better luck than The Producers had with the same doubled adaptation process. Anyway... if anyone can own a role already superbly realized by another icon, it's La Pfeiffer. For all her skittishness about actually working, she's a fearless actor once the camera is on.

The Simpsons Movie is also coming out this summer and we keep hearing outrageous things. As if to say 'I told you so' here's Bart ---> (you can see the rest here). I did a double take when I saw it, it's so out there. That never happens looking at movie posters. Hilarious.

Most advertising trends get annoying through repetition but I love this particular fad. I only wish we could travel back in time and get posters for other movies that totally deserved the "introducing..." approach. The ones that came instantly to mind for me were Boogie Nights , The Breakfast Club and Clue --maybe one of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries. They would have totally lent themselves to this marketing routine.

Amber Waves "the foxiest bitch in the world"
Rollergirl "she never takes her skates off!"
etcetera

Think of the posters to frame or otherwise cherish. Your favorite movie character all by his or herself on your wall.