Flashback: Olivia & Travolta

Happy 62nd birthday to Olivia Newton-John. Rather than celebrate with the usual Xanadu (1980) fixation or the more universally beloved Grease (1978) how about a duet with John Travolta from their flop reunion Two of a Kind (1983)? The third of her movie soundtracks is largely forgotten. I can't remember anything about the film other than that there was some divine romantic comedy intervention involving heaven and resurrection. Heaven Can Wait was a big hit the year that Grease was the biggest hit of all, so maybe it was still in the atmosphere to influence Two of a Kind's dumb story.

The only scene I remember is one in which Olivia was in acting class and her acting teacher thought she was a terrible actress (uhhh....) but then all of sudden while playing a scene she saw a criminal in the theater -- context? -- and started screaming and the teacher marvelled at how genuine her emotions felt! My point is that it was a terrible movie.

Here's the love theme / duet for the movie. Why isn't it one of the schmaltz classics of the 1980s? Even if you don't know the song, marvel at the sheer volume of PINK everywhere you look. There's only one color in this rainbow. Travolta is so very breathy... was it all those fumes from Olivia's hairspray? They look so contagiously happy together.




Though Two of a Kind justly flopped, the movie did give ONJ her one last big hit after a whole slew of them in the 70s and early 80s. It was "Twist of Fate." Madonna was about to change the whole pop landscape and Olivia would suddenly be of the past.



I have a lot of issues with John Travolta as a celebrity but one thing I think is cool about him: even with the gazillions of dollars and the inexplicably enduring bankability, he doesn't shun his past. Here he is with Olivia just a couple of years ago singing "You're The One That I Want" for a Grease DVD party. So here's to longevity and loyalty to one's friends.



When was the last time you watched Grease? How many times have you seen it?

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The Curious Case of Demi Button, the Blood Countess

Cele|Bitchy shared cel phone bikini pics of Demi Moore. Gawker, where I first saw these photos in a clueless* article on John Travolta, suggests that Demi is starring in her own real life adaptation of Benjamin Button.

But I think what we're looking at is a Countess Elizabeth Bálthory situation.This 47 year old superlebrity is obviously bathing in the blood of virgins.

I still haven't had an opportunity to see Julie Delpy's horror/bio/period film version of this tale, The Countess. None of the confusing and rare reports of the other film version (the one supposedly featuring Tilda Swinton) seem to give me much hope that it's actually not an elaborate internet delusion. But obviously this story should be able to resonate in our youth obsessed age where 50 is the new 40 and 40 is the new 30 and every single pitch meeting on the West Coat involves vampires.

Might I suggest an I'm Not There / Palindromes style interpretation where all of Hollywood's most mysteriously ageless women get a crack at the role? Or maybe they should just make an omnibus film I ♥ Bathory with, say, a dozen filmmakers doing shorts on the evil Hungarian royal that picked up the vampiric baton from Vlad the Impaler back in the day -- the day being the 16th century.

Three recent film interpretations:
Stay Alive (2006), The Countess (2009) and Bathory (2008) starring Anna Friel

But which filmmakers could do that fascinating story justice in short film form? I'm going with Martin Scorsese because he's always a bit more unpredictable when he skews girlie (see Age of Innocence or Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore); Jonathan Glazer because he needs to work more and Birth proves that he knows from eery and disorienting psychology; Lynne Ramsay because some of those shots in Morvern Callar were downright spooky and hallucinatory while still seeming so grounded in mundane realities; Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!) because there are five operas about Báthory and one musical, and I'd love to see how he'd respond to the constraints of a short film.

Obviously I want this supposed 2011 version starring Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Huppert but it sounds way too good to be true. I mean, Tilda and Isabelle?! Simultaneously!??? Get real. You don't even need sets or costumes or other actors. You just need a camera since both of those faces just emanate Unknowable Unfathomable Unboring Psychology.

But play my little game anyway. Which director would you like to see making a short film about the 16th century female alleged serial killer / vampire ? Sound off in the comments. Don't even say Tim Burton. I'm warning you!

*Trust me, if this is truly the "worst kept secret" for decades now, Kelly Preston knows. I love that people pretend otherwise. It's so cute and reverse sexist, Hollywood wives as wide eyed innocents. Hee. ♪ Money... ♪ Money changes everything.

25th Anniversary: Jamie Lee Curtis is Perfect

this was supposed to be a reg'lar monday monologue but i got distracted

Put down that Activia and listen up. I accidentally saw Freaky Friday again (as funny as ever) so Jamie Lee Curtis was bouncing round in me brain. Long before Curtis was regulating the nation with great yogurt (What? It works.) she was already something of an icon of health & fitness.

Perfect in Pink

Her marvelous bod first got a ton of media attention in Trading Places (1983, t'was the boobs). Most famously, the blockbuster True Lies (1994) exploited her goods with that memorable striptease sequence.

And twenty-five years ago this very day, Perfect (1985) opened. This proved to be the most literal interpretation of her 'Let's Get Physical' career thread. She even had Olivia Newton-John hair. In the film she played Jessie, "the aerobics pied piper" at the Sports Erection... excuse me... Sports Connection that Rolling Stone reporter Adam (John Travolta) is about to crucify in a big condescending expose about health clubs as the new singles bars.

Jessie is too savvy to agree to be Adam's profile subject but too enamored of the cleft chin'ed one not to bed him. This leads to one of the most ridiculous pre-sex metaphorical banter ever heard on film (warm up = foreplay and, well, you get the picture from there) and an even more ridiculous post coital scene. After their lovemaking Travolta attends Curtis's slimnastics class and for an ENTIRE FIVE MINUTES (I'm not even exaggerating by one second) we watch them doing a sweaty intense pelvic gyration routine while making ooh and aah and youaresobadyousexything faces at each other. It's hideous!


Adding to the hilarity is the lyrics of the song that's playing. "Shock me til I can't sit up I can't sit down. Oh no... temperatures higher" -- which sounds like... well, the characters might want to hit the free health clinic after their sexworkout. [Sadly it's one of the movie's only moments that's so-bad-it's-good. The film is too inert and serious overall to have become a fondly remembered Bad Movie We Love.]

Late in the movie Jessie's worst fears are confirmed about Adam and what he intends to write. She sees this heinous article on his computer AND I MUST SHOW YOU THE COMPUTER BECAUSE OF THE CRUCIAL QUESTION OF WHAT IS IT???


I don't even understand what I'm looking at. It's like a desktop computer grafted onto the back of a laptop with some sort of stand/lift on the back. And giant yellow letters, only 16 lines of them, on the screen. To erase it -- which Jessie does in anger -- she has to backspace every line. There's not even a highlight/delete function.

This movie should be placed in the Smithsonian it tells you so much you'd forgotten about the 80s. For example, I had completely forgotten that "eat shit and die" was like an every-single-day insult between friends and that people said "sleaze" instead of skank, slut or ho.

For reasons only my late 80s self comprehends, I was very obsessed with Jamie Lee Curtis's line reading of "What's so wrong with wanting to be perfect?" It's the only thing I remembered about the movie in 2010 before looking at it again. Watching it now, it's still an emotional climax but it's more blah than I'd remembered. Like the rest of the movie. It's one of those "duh" and OOH... SPEAK YOUR THEMES TO ME *HOT* moments that I sometimes like to make fun of in modern movies. Anyway, before Jamie Lee has her would be famous speech, she calls John Travolta a bitch. Which is awesome. And very non 80s of her, I think. Then she lays into the bitch.

You talked to me about Emerson and Baby Boomers and Physical Great Awakening and all you do is write a fucking little piece about people getting into each other's pants.

He whines "But every thing I wrote is true."

It's not the truth I'm worried about, it's the tone... and hurting people and using them.


You're so disgusting. How can you be nice to somebody like McKenzie and then shit on Linda? What did she ever do to you or anybody else for that matter? Nothing! What's wrong with wanting to be the best that you can be? What's so wrong with wanting to be perfect? What's wrong with wanting to be loved?

You're going to ruin her life.

The her in question is Linda played by Laraine Newman. I remember this supporting role was kind of a big deal at the time because Newman was an SNL regular and she's pretty good in a dramatic role as the desperate workout fanatic and "sleaze".

Perfect has a terrible reputation but it's actually kind of interesting in a time capsule way even though, no, it's not particularly good. It's angsty take on journalistic ethics is fairly typical of movies but it's an eye opener to watch this and remember that working out regularly was once looked down on as a fad and there's also the constant and now shocking reminder that magazine articles use to have major cultural impact. The life of a writer was certainly different.

Jessie: How many articles do you write a year?
Adam: I dunno. Ten?

Many writers nowadays have to churn out several a day. Quality and depth of research have surely suffered in this content and pageview driven new world.

But I don't mean to be a draggy downer like the film. Despite it's glum mood, it's sort of adorkable anyway since it has forgotten 80s lingo, hilariously awful 80s music, memorable 80s people (Rolling Stone founder Jan Wenner in his chubby pre-coming out days plays a Rolling Stone editor, Carly Simon cameos, Marilu Henner!) and actual 80s fashions (rather than costumed designed interpretations) all the way from single girl party wear to stripper costumes to workout clothes. You even see what we now call "mom jeans" on hot young pieces like Jamie Lee. Even Jamie Lee can't make them work. She looks better naked.

It's like these three characters (a throuple) say in the film.

"The better your body looks the more you want to take off your clothes."

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Have you ever tried aerobics? Which movie most screams "authentic 80s!" to you?

Further Reading?
Adam's "Signatures: Jamie Lee Curtis"
Susan's Top Ten Movie Hookers
JA's Top Ten Actress in a Horror Film Performancess

The Link Dimension

it's sci-fi day! Though we won't restrict ourselves to other dimensions for this plus size roundup

PLAIN OL' DRAMA/COMEDY
Against the Hype omg i ♥ this. Lust, Caution's crucial mahjong game's narrative impact decoded for us Westerners.
The Awl converses about A Single Man
Scott Brothers actresses and directors, a neat photogallery
Go Fug Yourself misses Keira Knightley
Sho'Nuff Lives lets it all out before the Oscars
The Big Picture more controversies for The Hurt Locker. Weird that all of these things are happening / being aired after voting has finalized. You'd think those smear campaigns woulda hurried.
my internet... is not having Mildred Pierce remake
fourfour Crazy Heart in 3 sec/∞
BuzzSugar Kidman tries a romcoms again

GENRE 4EVAH
Vulture Avatar satire cut from Oscars? Well, if you remember James Cameron's freakout at a critic who didn't love Titanic you'll know he's very sensitive.
The New Yorker the oft hilarious Anthony Lane on the rise of 3-D
Boing Boing god bless futuristic technology. Have you heard Roger Ebert get an approximation of his voice back?
i09 "Battle Angel Alita" plot details
/Film Space Invaders movie in development. They're just paying for the title I guess. There isn't a story. Not one that I remember at least. But I was more a Robotron person in my quarter slotting days
Loyal KNG like the new Prince of Persia trailer?

And god bless futuristic technology. Have you heard beloved critic Roger Ebert get an approximation of his voice back?



OSCAR PRESENTERS LIST
Yes! Kathy Bates, Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Charlize Theron
Duh, of course Queen Latifah, Barbra Streisand (if she gets to do best picture again... i'm going to scream. I love early Babs but spread the f***in wealth, Oscar), John Travolta (no wait, it'll be Travolta. Blargh), Sam Worthington
Huh... but interesting Tom Ford, Keanu Reeves (I bet he presents Best Actress)
Really? Jason Bateman, Gerard Butler
I get it. But I feel nothing Bradley Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry, Chris Pine, Ryan Reynolds
Again? When so many people never have Ben Stiller
It's the Oscars EMMYs Steve Carell, Tina Fey
Oscar is that old man who bought a red sports car and pierced one ear trying to look young Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart

<-- Though I've read on several sites that last year's winners Sean Penn, Kate Winslet and Penélope Cruz will appear, the list above is on the Oscars site. Does this mean they've chucked the tradition of previous opposite sex acting winners presenting. Sniffle. I loved that. Here I was hoping for a Winslet "I love my life" Jeff Bridges moment... given that she's already expressed immense love for that movie. I thought last year's acting presentation was just a short break from one of Oscar's oldest traditions.

Oscar... Now With More Spirit Fingers

Shankman's got spirit!

Do you follow the Oscar show news in the way you follow the Oscars? I don't so much, despite this life I lead constantly writin' about the awards themselves. I care who hosts to some degree but I tend to ignore the rest. But I found it interesting this week when director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) was named as one of the producers and his choreography skills were noted as a reason to be enthused about this assignment. At least he has a sense of humor about his, um, limited history with the big event

I was one of Paula Abdul's 'Under the Sea' pirates," Shankman said. "The last time I was at the Oscars, I was in Lycra, with a pirate hat on.

Shankman's presence must mean more musical numbers. I'm all for musical numbers provided they rehire Hugh Jackman as host. He was so fine last year.

But Shankman's involvement suddenly had me worried that John Travolta would present Best Picture or something. If any Shankman connected star gets that honor, it sure as hell better be Michelle Pfeiffer (look how cute they are together).

I am so sick of the lack of imagination the AMPAS producers have when it comes to the Best Picture presenters. They don't give directors the honor all that often but even if you're an actor it's not even a matter of being a legendary A lister. Some people, for what we assume must be insider reasons, have a stranglehold on this particular honor on Hollywood's High Holy Night.

Seriously, this is how it's gone done in the past 20 years:

2008 Steven Spielberg
2007 Denzel Washington
2006 Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson
2005 Jack Nicholson
2004 Dustin Hoffman & Barbra Streisand
2003 Steven Spielberg
2002 Kirk & Michael Douglas
2001 Tom Hanks
2000 Michael Douglas
1999 Clint Eastwood
1998 Harrison Ford
1997 Sean Connery
1996 Al Pacino
1995 Sidney Poitier
1994 Robert DeNiro & Al Pacino
1993 Harrison Ford
1992 Jack Nicholson
1991 Elizabeth Taylor & Paul Newman
1990 Barbra Streisand
1989 Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson

Yes, Jack Nicholson has had the honor 20% of the time in the past twenty years. 20%! I love Jack as much as anyone. It's great to see him sitting in the front row with his shades on each year ... but there are other legends in the house. Let's show some imagination, not to mention respect. Once you get past Jack (7 times altogether) you're still stuck with Spielberg, Streisand, Douglas or Pacino lately, you know? Enough.

In 81 Years of Oscar Nights...

Minorities (all 4 of them) who've had the honor
Akira Kurosawa, Eddie Murphy, Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington

Actresses (all 14 of them) who've had the honor
3 times: Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn
2 times: Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand
Once: Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Janet Gaynor, Ingrid Bergman, Olivia de Havilland, Lillian Gish, Loretta Young, Carol Burnett, Diane Keaton and Cher

Important actors and/or mega stars who have not presented Best Picture and wouldn't any of them be fine choices (hint hint... things I'd most love to see in red)?
Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer, Vanessa Redgrave, Julia Roberts, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Bette Midler, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Maggie Smith, Goldie Hawn, Jodie Foster, Sissy Spacek, Christopher Plummer, Will Smith, Mia Farrow, Liza Minnelli, Drew Barrymore, Joan Fontaine, Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Sally Kirkland*, Joanne Woodward, Peter O'Toole, Glenn Close, Jessica Lange, Julie Christie, Mickey Rooney, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon
_____________________ ... and a little nobody named Jane Fonda.

Breathe deep Oscar. Be brave. Envision a world beyond Jack. Spread your golden wealth.


This post is a few months too early, yes. I hear you. But please stop interrupting my lucid fantasy that Shankman and other movers and shakers read this blog daily, poring over its every awards culture command. 'Yes, Nathaniel, yes. We shall obey!'

Who would you love to see close out the 82nd Oscars with an enthusiastic line reading of "and the Oscar goes to..."

*just wanted to see if you were paying attention
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Michael Jackson 1958-2009 (RIP)

I don't know what to say... two pop culture icons lost in one day. I was leaving for the movies when I first heard the news (then but a rumor) so I'm just catching up now. Like many pop stars Michael Jackson wanted to be in movies and the Peter Pan obsession in particular was one he never shied away from expressing. His Steven Spielberg / Peter Pan project never happened -- well it did but without songs and without Michael Jackson and in a different form altogether -- and neither did the movies. But, like Madonna, he was a mammoth small screen star by way of the music video.

And a mammoth star in general.

I can't say that I was ever a big fan and the sordid tabloid problems turned me off as much as anyone but it was hard to live through the 70s or 80s without having some connection to his work. Here are four of my favorites from his oeuvre. I'm not claiming they're necessarily his best but they're four that mean something to me personally or bring back vivid good memories.

And finally Liberian Girl and Leave Me Alone. I include these not because they have special significance to me but because they perfectly illustrate Michael Jackson's obsession with celebrity in general and the family he found in other celebrities. There are tons of stars in the first video (including Olivia Newton John & John Travolta "acting" together!) and it's dedicated to Elizabeth Taylor, the lone Jackson obsession to which I can fully relate. She's one of the true immortals. La Liz also factors heavily into the second video.

Madonna's statement...


Well said.

Suggested reads
Towleroad have you heard Jay Brannan's sung tribute? It's beautiful
Arjan Writes is shocked
Roger Ebert has a great piece
The Disney Blog remembers Captain Eo
fourfour Rich is as readable as ever

If all the shit that he went through couldn't knock Thriller, Off the Wall, Bad and, to whatever degree, Dangerous and HIStory out of our hearts, minds and asses, a little thing like death isn't going to, either.

Scanners investigates the mask and the problems with adult stardom
IFC Daily collects the web obits
Gawker collects the headlines. God, the NY Post is an embarrasment
A Socialite's Life collects the celebrity reactions

The 13th Link

Arts and Crafts
Underwire Tim Burton gets a MoMA show
<--- IZ Reloaded A "six" puppet. Ohhhh, now I miss Battlestar Galactica. No fair.

More on Up
Filmbo has issues with it (great post title, Filmbo)
By Ken Levine a review of Up. I link to this primarily because I'm always heartened by actual movie/tv industry professionals who believe in the award worthiness of non-traditional awards material. Even if I don't personally think Up is Pixar's best (I already know I'm going to be sad about WALL•E's Best Picture snub for many years), it'd be so swell if people stopped ghettoizing animation.

Randomness
Topless Robot Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2. Oooh, this is the busiest costume I've seen since the last Britney or Janet concert. Me no likey. Me no likey at all. The movie is already crowded with characters. Don't crowd us further with busy costumes!
Vulture presents the 'Top Ten Greatest Multiple Role Performances'. I hesitated to link. Their entire list is pointless because no way can any such list ignore Miranda Richardson in Spider and have credibility. So decreeth the film bitch.

Miranda Richardson in Spider -- her best work (and that's saying a lot)

Buzz Sugar Viola Davis to join the cast of The United States of Tara
Some Came Running Adam Lambert and... uh... Rex Reed? oh my
Risky Business Lance Armstrong biopic to pedal forward
Go Fug Yourselves says "mais non!" to French Elle with Scarlett Johansson
Kenneth in the (212) and MSNBC reminisce about John Travolta as Pellham opens

A Stake To Everyone's Hearts Involved!
NY Post Megan Fox in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot? OK. It's now official: I hate her.

Breakfast With... Vincent and Jules

A quiet morning at the Hawthorne Grill. Typical diner food served.

Pulp Fiction

Vincent chows down on pancakes and bacon. Jules tears pieces from his muffin. He refuses a bite of Vincent's bacon.

Vincent: Are you Jewish?
Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish. I just don't dig on swine that's all.
Vincent: Why not?
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Yeah, but bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.
Jules: Hey, sewer rats may taste like pumpkin pie but I'd never know cuz I wouldn't eat the filthy motherf***ers

Jules and Vincent, motor mouths both, chat philosophically for our amusement until a shout of "Garçon. Coffee!" pulls our focus -- Oh, riiiiight. This is also...

Breakfast With... Pumpkin and Honey Bunny


They're not really there to eat.
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for more "breakfast with"s... click the label below

...and they all lived linkily ever after

Cannes knows how to pick them. Isabelle Huppert will head the 2009 Cannes Jury. Last year's estimable panel, headed by Sean Penn, contained two actresses, two actor/directors and three directors. If the collection is similar this year, who will have the honor of sitting beside her? Will they be frightened for their very souls?


Now, one never knows which actors are expert at judging the craft of acting and filmmaking (criticism being an entirely different skill than creation ... one only has to look at SAG's often horrible taste in "best" to see this dichotomy) but Huppert has an undeniably rare gift and such a thrilling distinct persona that it's amazing just to fantasize about her all godless, gorgeous and cerebral ... peering stone-faced down her freckled nose at the shivering anxious movies. Isabelle the destroyer. But what will she love? [src]

oh yes, the links...
Self Styled Siren a fine piece on Douglas Sirk and... Revolutionary Road?
Film Ick Hugh Jackman, no stranger to stage musicals, is still not transferring it to screen. He won't be starring in Soderbergh's 3D rock musical Cleo after all. Brendon thinks this is a mistake.
Dave Kehr with the list on the 25 movies added to the National Film Registry for 2008. The list doesn't magistically preserve the titles for all postery (shame) but it's an honor suggesting that they merit preservation. Titles include In Cold Blood (see Nick's guest review), Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar and five silent goodies including Foolish Wives...
Lazy Eye Theater "Robert Rodriguez, you son of a bitch"
Cinephiliac pulls its own plug (just moved to GreenCine) with the top 30 of 2008
MTV John Travolta's teenage son has died. How very sad. Our hearts go out to the family.
Valley Dreamin' says finis to the "Endings Blog-a-Thon" with 22 articles wrapping things up. THE END.
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I simply remember my favorite links, and then i don't feel so bad

Nick's Flick Picks Nick has a revised "favorites" list and (joy!) 6 new write-ups. That's right, 6. Now, if I could only get my "personal canon" going again
Low Resolution Joe's winter preview
Stale Popcorn Glenn's hopes 4 Oscar season
Basket of Kisses Deborah and Roberta meet Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) now on the boards in that old Madonna role in Speed the Plow
Boy Culture Matthew does not like this 'John Travolta' guy
My New Plaid Pants JA's 5 favorite Woody's (Allen)
In Contention Guy likes the "Sight & Sound" top ten list, with Hunger up top
Websters is my Bitch Stacey has irrational hatred for Robert Pattison
Tractor Facts Fox has some words for Four Christmases. More than four he has.
Gold Derby on gay characters and Oscar. It helps Penn's Oscar chances that Milk dies violently... sadly
StinkyLulu Lulu is collecting web writings on Gus Van Sant's Milk

If They Only Had (Some) Brains

Please set your blood curdling screams to vibrate so as not to disturb your neighbors.


Avoid all zombies tonight whether they're hungry for your gray matter or just your Body Thetans. Have fun and be safe! Happy Halloween

Good Morning (Brooklyn)

Walk down the street like you own it today...

8th Shot of Ennis Del Mar (and more on Heath Ledger)

Brokeback Mountain just keeps getting better. The more I look at it the more classically and perfectly structured, shot, acted, and edited it is. Since I'm still reeling from the tragic loss of Heath Ledger, I was looking at the movie this morning. Ang Lee's deliberately quiet and langorously paced drama introduces Ennis Del Mar in longshot as he walks to his destination and waits. And waits some more. He rarely lifts his head up, but stays all stiff and internal. We get our first closeup at the sixth cut to him as Jack Twist's (Jake Gyllenhaal) sputtering vehicle disturbs his peace and quiet. But when Jack gets out of the truck and looks at him, Ennis immediately shrinks back into himself, head bowed, staring at the boots (the bottom right highlighted image, which is the eighth).

It isn't until Jack's back is turned that Ennis Del Mar finally allows himself a peek...

Jack, in contrast, isn't so shy about the looking.


And 8th extra: Ennis Del Mar's eighth line in the movie (only one of which -- "I don't eat soup" -- isn't delivered to Jack):

I'm saving for a place myself. Uh, Alma and me, we --we'll be getting married when I come down off this mountain.

It's only the second personal thing that Ennis has told Jack. Jack, sympathetic to the first story about Ennis's parents, ignores this one completely and jumps immediately back to his previous griping about their work.

Aside about this new 8th series: Why do I love minutae and lists and numbers so much? 20:07? 08th? top 10s? Who am I, Peter Greenaway?

Um. So... OK I'll just let this out. All navel gazing averse readers please be off to other blogs but I guess I have to get this off my chest...

Having dealt with terrible real grief in my lifetime I am not prone to judge how other people do the same. So I've waffled on whether or not to even mention Heath Ledger's tragic passing again, or rather the media and public reaction to it... because I've felt (surprise!) judgemental. Grief is a personal thing and the aftermath of sudden death, especially, is so beyond the realm of normal human emotional pain that when I hear people talking about Heath Ledger, I try and detach. We all deal with these things differently. Live and let live Love and let love. So why am I having such a hard time listening to Hollywood talk about him?

Daniel Day-Lewis's remarks on Oprah (the day after Heath's death) felt extremely genuine and sad to me --the less said about Oprah trying to deal with the sudden disruption of Oscar conversation the better --but his dedication of his own SAG trophy to Ledger @ last weekend's ceremony made me uncomfortable. Even though I feel the same way in regards to Monster's Ball (FB win) and Brokeback (FB win). I understand that this same exact speech really affected others deeply. Which I'm glad for. But the only thing I could think was: again? And 'oh god, no'.

Maybe I'm just jaded from so many years of awards show watching but I've seen the way a speech from one ceremony will mirror a speech from the last one and so on and so on, until it's as clichéd as Jamie Foxx's call and response or Hilary Swank's 'girl from a trailer park dream' or as baffling as Jennifer Connelly's inability to memorize the words "thank you" after winning every prize or any number of repetitive awards season thank yous. Is Daniel going to keep tying his awards run for There Will Be Blood to memories of Heath Ledger. And if so, why?

I keep reading about how great he was in I'm Not There but before his death he was barely mentioned in the Blanchett-obsessed reviews and media coverage. I'm distrustful of the sudden great love. I was also reading some annoying bits about John Travolta slobbering over Heath at Out in Hollywood and it felt so distasteful. Why is Heath Ledger suddenly everyone's favorite actor? Was he their favorite actor before his untimely death? I'm skeptical. Where were Hollywood's votes when he lost the Best Actor Oscar two years ago? He lost despite giving a performance that was so obviously going to become legendary. No offense to Phillip Seymour Hoffman (honestly, no offense. He's quite good in Capote) but Ennis Del Mar was a legend-making performance that was pitted against a traditional type of very good performance. Excuse the generic analogy but it's like comparing a Mona Lisa to a fine painting and choosing the latter. Maybe the Mona Lisa is just too hard to really stare at. Too much to see?

So I'm sorry to brain vomit but I've been uncomfortable. If we're talking about the 5 stages of grief I guess I'm in my anger phase. But better to let it out than to hold it in like Ennis.

The truth of my discomfort might be simply this: I just don't like to connect Heath Ledger to other actors. I mean, other actors not named Jake Gyllenhaal for obvious reasons. The greatness of movie stars is often intrinsically tied to the way they are only, in the end, themselves --no matter how much people want them to be "the next" ...whomever. I don't want to connect Heath Ledger to James Dean or Marilyn Monroe or any other celebrity lost too soon. I don't want to look at Daniel Day-Lewis and think of Heath Ledger. When I look at Daniel Day-Lewis I am looking at him to see Daniel Day-Lewis. Whom I also love. When I look at John Travolta I don't... well, I don't want to look at John Travolta.

To be fair I can tell you that I relate to the urge to make everything about oneself. I cringe at Mickey Rooney's SAG antics and Travolta's "everyone in Hollywood is my best friend" neediness because I probably see too much of myself in it. But then I also know it's not just me. I think we all have moments of self-absorption but we civilians don't think of it as a character strength and our weaknesses don't get broadcast for the masses. Famous people are playing in a different universe. They are essentially asked to succumb to this urge fully. Everyone wants a piece of them. Everyone wants their picture. Everyone wants to hear their thoughts about everything they feel about themselves and everyone and everything else --even shit they know absolutely nothing about. Who can blame them for disappearing up their own asses?

But still... If you didn't know Heath Ledger and you're famous why not say something simple like "our thoughts go out to his family" and leave it at that? The only people I really want to hear from at this point are Heath's family, Michelle Williams, Naomi Watts and Jake Gyllenhaal. And even then, I don't want to hear from them unless they need to speak to work through their emotions. Grief is intimate and important to work through in an honest way. The media always makes it into something generic and public and cheap.

[/therapy session]
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Awards Paranoia

I'm going to be a lot late with the Naked Gold Man column this week (previous episodes here) and with the updates to the site. I'm still trying to work out bugs in my computer switcheroo. But while you all contemplate and discuss the first batch of critics awards --scroll down for LA & Boston posts (DC and NY's online critics also announced), please share in my nomination nightmare and my nomination dream. I'm sure you know which is which.


If you don't I'll give you a clue: I'm pointing at the dream nomination, in sacred (attempted) commune with the man in question. Despite my love he seems to be threatening me? Maybe he's worried I'll jinx him. My favorites do have a tough time with Oscar.

Naked Gold Man: Song and Dance

He's 13 1/2 inches tall. He wears only a sword. He's shiny. Everybody wants him. This is a weekly Sunday series --keeping the Oscar discussion corraled in the weekends until the precursors begin.

Previously: Early Birds and Phoenixes

As daily readers of the blog know, I’ve been in a sour mood lately. In trying to shake it and perusing possible topics for this week’s naked gold column I had a flash of inspiration: musicals! Is there any surer over-the-counter remedy for a bad mood? Just pop one in and thrill to a little song and dance. Suddenly instead of waking up on the wrong side of bed and glowering into your coffee, you’re singing in the shower. Musicals = better moods. It’s a fact. Even depressing ones lift spirits … on account of all the serotonin locked inside of showtunes.

This year three musicals are in the mix: Once, Hairspray and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Before we consider each, let’s take a quick trip back through Oscar history. Do the Academy voters love musicals? Certainly a lot of musicals have been nominated but this was a fairly common movie genre for many decades. Just how much does the gold man prize singers and dancers?

Read the Rest for more on...
If John Travolta is nominated could he be a threat to win?
Can Once's musical affect bring it gold?
Why the quality of Johnny Depp's singing won't affect his Oscar's chances
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It's ONJ Day

Today is the birthday of my childhood icon Olivia Newton-John. One of my dearest friends argues in utmost seriousness that Olivia's voice is what we'll hear the angels sing with in heaven. Who am I to argue? Maybe it's because she was the first celebrity I ever truly loved but she still sends me.

I really don't know why she isn't more celebrated these days --even if it would be in a shallow nostalgia way. At the very least she deserves her own theme night on American Idol given that far less famous singers have had them and her discography is loaded with #1 hits.

Since this is a film site here are five movie related goodies for you. Clockwise from top left for these first four: "Suspended in Time" from Xanadu (1980) one of my all time fav flicks and Olivia songs; "Take a Chance" with John Travolta (check out the hairspray'ed 80s 'dos) from their unfortunate attempt to rekindle the Grease magic with Two of a Kind (1983); "Those Summer Nights" with Travolta again from Grease (1978); and a comedic number with Gene Kelly from a TV special where they adapt "Makin' Whoopee" (yes, the song that makes us all think of my beloved) into "Makin' Movies"





And this schmaltz fest you just gotta take in... It's ONJ with Bette Midler, Meryl Streep, Cher and Goldie Hawn singing "What a Wonderful World". Put that many film divas (+ Olivia) in the same room and it sure is. The angels are already singing



AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THIS POST WAS OVER...
I'm also noticing on IMDB that Olivia is in talks to reprise her last film role for a television series. That'd be Bitsy Mae Harling an ex-con lesbian biker (I'm not making this up) from the strange, countrified, and intermittently funny Sordid Lives. The movie has developed a mini cult of sorts, due in large part to its fun cast which also includes Beth Grant, Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges and Leslie Jordan

Big Dollhouse

What are John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky doing here exactly?

a) rehearsing their Hairspray lines
b) making fun of Marissa Jaret Winokur & Harvey Fierstein
c) undergoing couples counselling...with props
d) auditioning for Todd Haynes next feature
e) none of the above (explain in the comments)
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Heath Ledger is a Baby

Heath Ledger is 26 years old. Younger than me and some of you reading. Older than other awards watchers. But in terms of Oscar? That, my friends, is a newborn. He's barely out of the womb.

I was already aware that were Heath to pull off the miraculous feat of winning this March (provided he receives his expected nomination on January 31st) he would become the youngest competitive Oscar winner in the lead category for men. The current record holder is Adrien Brody for The Pianist. Mr. Brody won the Oscar just a few weeks before turning 30. Richard Dreyfuss of The Goodbye Girl was the previous record holder who had turned 30 a few months prior to his nomination. What I wasn't aware of was how far back you would have to go to even find a nominee as young or younger than Heath Ledger. Oh, sure I knew about the anomaly: Jackie Cooper had a Best Actor nomination for Skippy in 1931 when he was all of nine. But apart from that fluke, how young is too young for Oscar?

Turns out that 26 year-olds just don't compete for Best Actor prizes. 27 years old? They'll let that slide. Tom Cruise (Born on the 4th of July) and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) were both 27 when they received their first Oscar nominations. To find someone of comparable age or younger you have to travel back in time to 1977. John Travolta was 23 when nominated for Saturday Night Fever and 24 by the time of the ceremony in '78. Prior to that we travel back to 1963 when Tom Jones himself Albert Finney was in the running at, you guessed it, 27 years of age. Guess who else? Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951) the same screen legend that Heath's performance in Brokeback Mountain has drawn comparisons to, also 27.

So, did I ever find someone younger than Heath [besides John Travolta's disco dancer in 1977 -thanks to an anonymous reader who pointed that one out]? Yes. But you have to go back 50 years to do so. All the way back to that legendary rebel without a cause in 1955.

James Dean was 24 years old when East of Eden was released in 1955. He died tragically that same year before the release of his other iconic screen performances in Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. He was nominated twice posthumously for the Best Actor trophy first for East of Eden and then, again, the following year for Giant. Prior to Dean there are but three other exceptionally youthful nominated leads. Aside from the already mentioned Jackie Cooper, there's Mickey Rooney (Babes in Arms & The Human Comedy) twice nominated. Once at 19 and a second time at 23. Finally there is the famous case of Orson Welles who was Heath Ledger's age right now when he received four nominations, including Best Actor, for the legendaryCitizen Kane.

Brando, Finney, Welles, Cruise, Rooney --A mighty good company of men for Heath Ledger, our "Ennis Del Mar", to be in no matter how it all turns out on Oscar night in March of 2006. Don't you think?