Tony Awards Live Blogging 2010

6:49 Hi kids. Tonight is Tony night! The arrivals have been going on NY1 for approximately 45 minutes now but what do you now? Turns out my cable was all messed up so I spent the first 45 on the telephone with Monique trying to fix this damn thing. I was distracted by occasional glimpses of the stars. It's finally back on so I get the GLEE team.


Matthew Morrison, Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff. Basically here's what happened

• Matthew Morrison is going to try to make the PBS taping of South Pacific before it closes (he originated the often shirtless Joe Cable role in the revival) but he doesn't know for sure if he'll be able to do it. Translation: I am way too important now. Everyone must cater to my needs.
• Lea is busy. She's singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" tonight. Didn't she sing that on Glee? She has no return to Broadway planned. Too busy. Translation: Pay me lots for a short run.
  
• Jonathan is about to do the revival of Death Match (fun play -- Christopher Reeve played this role in the 80s movie version) and hopes he can bring it to Broadway, too. "If it's any good," he says. No translation required.... so points for honesty.

6:57 Michelle Williams -- not the great actress but the Destiny's Child -- is on screen right now. "Broadway is a new form of expression for me." Translation: "I'm famous enough for stunt casting. Yay!" She's playing Foxy Roxie Hart in Chicago right now. That role is basically The Slut of All Time (sorry Liz). Everyone has played that role. Chicago is currently the 6th longest running show of all time.

7:00 A few minutes ago the legendary Bernadette Peters was on the screen (left) and proclaimed that she has a Mutual Appreciation Society going with Elaine Stritch. Incredibly they are both going to be taking over for Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury in A Little Night Music. Translation: It's going to be impossible to get tickets. They're both pure magic live. The legends are fully earned. Trust me. I've seen both live and would never trade those experiences.

7:18 Marian Seldes = Greatest Acceptance Speech of All Time. And it's not even being broadcast. I hate CBS and the way they treat the Tonys. She just won the lifetime achievement award. Made this expression...


...and then walked away from the podium.

Awesome, amazing, awezing. Amazsome?

Marian hasn't made that many movies but she's a stage legend. The last time I saw her on stage was in Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby which is basically an abstracted version of his own Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

While Marian awezed in that show, I would also like to say that David Burtka performed completely starkers. And then Neil Patrick Harris went and snatched him up in the real world. Well, maybe it didn't happen in that order but David Burtka is a beauty, clothed or starkers, is my point and who wouldn't snatch him up? is my second point.

7:31 Memphis and Red are winning lots of tech prizes. Maybe they'll take Musical and Play, tonight? Fela just won Costume Design. American Idiot won lighting design. They are just speeding through these awards. Strangely they are playing CAMELOT's ballad "If Ever I Would Leave You" to celebrate a win for Greenday's "American Idiot" musical. Is there a round table in that show? Or a virtuous knight who gets a lot of royal action?

7:40 Somebody just threw glitter on stage at the Tonys. As if the Tonys needed any encouragement!

7:43 I keep missing things. Live Blogging is hard [/whine]

7:45 I'm always surprised when men thank their wives at the Tonys. I apologize for my reflexive homonormativity.

Now the show proper is being broadcast on CBS

8:02 Wow. They opened with a piano medley which broke into "Blue Suede Shoes" And Sean Hayes can really play the piano. Who knew? Kristin Chenoweth joins him to sing "Say a Little Prayer" and then we get a little Sherie Rene Scott. If I were someone famous, people would say... things ... about my love of blonde divas. I'm insatiable for them.

pint size greatness | regular sized greatness

It's like I'm Alfred Hitchcock only I don't want to visualize them as pretty corpses or terrorize them. Unless you count forcing them into a lifetime servitude of singing, dancing and acting for my entertainment as terrorizing. And you shouldn't. I'm a good grateful fan. Love those two girls.... so... much.

8:10 Green Day is performing. When one of their songs isn't playing I always forget that I like them. I also L-O-V-E that song that Billie Joe Armstrong did with the Go-Gos "Unforgiven". If you don't know that Go-Gos song, you must download it now. It's a beaut. Shoulda been a massive hit.

8:13 Mandatory reaction shots from movie stars: Will Smith, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones. We'll get a lot of those tonight.

8:16 Sean Hayes just tongued Kristin Chenoweth. Hee. Kristin is highlarious as usual although her voice was not in great form earlier. Never heard her voice that weak. Maybe Sean Hayes has cooties.

8:19 Brilliant point from The Boyfriend. Look at Sean Hayes... He could play John Edwards "And you know that's a TV Movie waiting to happen." Look at him. You'll see it.

8:20 Katie Holmes is presenting "Film goes by at 24 frames per second..." Like you know that, Katie! If not for the teleprompter...

<--- OhMyGod. Scarlett Johansson is now a Tony Winner (Best Featured Actress, A View From the Bridge). She just called Ryan Reynolds "My Canadian who I live with" That's quite a weird new way to say "Husband."

8:32 Now that commercials are playing I am forced to consider that Scarlett Johansson may one day be a Triple Crowner. She just needs a deglam movie in about 6 years for the Oscar. The Emmy is easiest.

8:36 ----> Eddie Redmayne just won Best Featured Actor (Red). You've seen him getting randy with screen mommy Julianne Moore (Savage Grace) and trying to kill Cate Blanchett (The Golden Age) and now you just saw him win a Tony. And, as In Contention points out, he'll probably be the lead in Steven Spielberg's War Horse (2012). Could Oscar follow Tony?

8:40 Charming performance from La Cage Aux Folles which I've heard is great. "Zaza" targeted Matthew Morrison and Will Smith in the audience. Really really funny bit with being unable to tear herself away from Matthew Morrison but of course Will Smith had to act horrified that "she" sat on his lap. I hate it when Will Smith reminds me about what an ass he was about the kiss in Six Degrees of Separation (1993).


8:51 I totally can't keep up with this show. It's so speedy. Antonio Banderas was on a few minutes ago and he's SO going to have a major career revival: a Broadway starring role (Zorba the Greek revival) and a new Almodóvar role. Score times two.

8:53 They're talking about Next Fall which I think must be closing any second. I really want to see it. That was cute banter. Maybe it'll sell a few more tickets?

8:56 The Lovely Laura Linney is promoting her play Time Stands Still (I went to an evening where she spoke of this, too) which is returning to Broadway in the fall. But do you think she's thinking about ScarJo right now? Like 'Damnit. She won a Tony before me?'

8:57 That was generous. Jon Bon Jovi just did a live feed intro for Memphis from a stadium concert.

9:00 Commercials. Breathe.

9:04 Angela Lansbury. If she wins tonight, I think that's a record.

---> 9:07 Nope. Katie Finneran wins the category Best Featured Actress in a Musical Promises Promises. No record breaker for Lansbury just yet. I hear from everyone that Finneran is amazing. GREAT speech about focusing on what you love. This bit was so cute. 'Kristin Chenoweth lent me her eyelashes.' And she also informs that Angela Lansbury took her out to dinner. Classy.

9:10 Memphis performance "Never let anyone steal your rock n roll" Fun number but I feel like someone has stolen my showtunes tonight. Not that many yet.

9:20 Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, co-stars in Promises Promises are practically co-hosts tonight. She's SO much better in this setting than she was on the BFCA awards. She's just hilarious collapsing when she hears she wasn't even nominated. I guffawed, dear readers. (That means I literally LOL'ed, youngsters). She may have lent Finneran her eyelashes but she keeps several spares. Obviously. These lashes are extreme.


9: 24 Catherine Zeta-Jones singing "Send in the Clowns". Just sublime. Nobody can write a song like Stephen Sondheim. I love that he gets these huge birthday extravaganzas every few years. People are scared of losing him. Me, too. It's going to be so so sad. But if Luise Rainer can keep on ticking past 100, so can some of these other showbiz troupers. Random! I know that was random... but Send in the Clowns can send you spinning into all sorts of heartrending places.

P.S. I love CZJ as a musical star. I wish she would star in movie musicals all the time.

9:43 Commercials. But first we had a little Tony sponsored tribute to the NYPD from Kerry Washington. I love Kerry quite a lot as you know. But loving actresses is way more fun if Hollywood plays along. They need to give me more Kerry to love.

9:53 Best Actor and Best Actress went to Fences. That'd be Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (yay! Though I'm sad for Laura Linney who always loses both Oscars and Tonys despite being one of the most amazing actors on the planet).

I find it so odd that none of August Wilson's cycle plays have been made into movies. Don't you find that odd? Is there a playwright of similar stature that has never been translated?

Viola wins her second, Denzel wins his first

Viola gives a beautiful speech but part of me couldn't quite fall in love with it because when people talk about God in their acceptance speeches I always think "Does that mean God loves you more than the other nominees?" And in this case. Well... I'm pretty certain that God loves Laura Linney because, I mean, look at all the gifts he gave that woman! Anyway. I love Viola Davis, too. Denzel's speech was annoying. He didn't know the names. Denzel now has two Oscars and a Tony. But he's never going to be a triple crowner because he just doesn't do television. Not since St. Elsewhere.

10:11 SERIOUSLY? Promises Promises, a full on musical, just did a dance number with Sean Hayes sitting at a desk. Lame. This night is bereft of show tunes.

10:15 Sad Face. In Memoriam... the people the theater lost this year. The theater may lose me tonight if I don't get some show tunes. SAVE ME GLEE PEOPLES.

10:18 It happened ages ago but it's already burned into my mind so it's only fair that it's burned into yours, too. Sean Hayes with padding and Sean Hayes as Lil Orphan Annie.


The sun will not come out tomorrow.

10:20 Cate Blanchett and her Need To Be Ubiquitous share the stage to present Best Revival and Best Play. I kid, I kid. Fences wins Best Revival.

<--- EXCLUSIVE: CATE BLANCHETT TO PLAY TILDA SWINTON IN BIOPIC

10:22-10:35 It just occurred to me that I asked a television show to save me from the lack of showtunes at the Tony Awards. Something is amiss. That said, thank God (who loves Viola Davis more than Laura Linney) for Glee! Lea and Matthew perform actual showtunes. YAY.

P.S. I TOTALLY caught Will Smith enjoying Lea Michelle's Barbra Streisand number. Won't he worry that people will think he is... well... you know?

10:43 La Cage Aux Folles won Best Revival and now American Idiot is performing. This show looks fun.

10:47 I am not a fan of Sean Hayes but I think he's doing a really good job tonight. Here's why I know: I keep giggling about things he did minutes before minutes later. It's a hosting job that keeps on giving. That Spider-Man singing "don't rain on my parade" bit was priceless -- especially when he was scared of the spider on his chest after taking the mask off. Ha!

Well, you probably had to be there. But funny it was.

10:57 Someone much less composed than CATHERINE ZETA-JONES has possessed the body of Catherine Zeta-Jones. That was as spastic a reaction as I've ever seen at an awards show and that includes Meryl Streep marathon hug run at the SAGs and Ally Sheedy's freakout at the Indie Spirits twelve years back. CZJ was crazed. She almost did a spinning heehaw jig after hiking up her dress. She'll be calling her agent tonight demanding an HBO telefilm so she can grab that triple crown.

I'm sad for people who aren't movie stars tonight. Especially my Sherie Rene Scott. So much star-f***ing tonight.

11:02 Memphis closes the night with a Best Musical win. God loved Memphis most. Now I depart for the comments section to try to catch up with y'all.

Posterized: Big Willie Style

Is there a true movie superstar we've discussed less than Will Smith? I was thinking about him last night since he's foisting his son upon the world again this weekend in The Karate Kid (2010 version).

<-- Smith with both Karate Kids. But, heyyy, where's Hilary Swank?

Some celebrities hide their kids away but Smith has seemingly always been okay with dragging his kids to public things like awards show and even awards show podiums. What would that do to you to regularly experience thunderous applause and flashing paparazzi bulbs as a toddler?

I haven't seen The Karate Kid yet because the original is like a sacred part of any 80s childhood/adolescence and the switch in venues will surely bring one of my least favorite things to the surface: That arrogant childish American notion that we are always better at everything than people anywhere else are, even if it's something we've never done before or are statistically comparatively inept at (like eduction and healthcare but we still scream "#1!" to our own detriment. It sure makes improving difficult when you always know you're the best). WHOA. Off Topic. Sorry, you know how pet peeves can get to you. My point is this: I'm assuming little Jaden gets better at martial arts -- within about a month -- than the Asian bullies you see in the trailer who've presumably been studying it their whole lives. I'm guessing.

The Will Smiths: How many have you seen?

Where the Day... (92) | Made in America (92) | 6 Degrees of Separation (93)

Bad Boys (95) | Independence Day (96) | Men in Black (97)

Enemy of State (98)| Wild Wild West (99) | Legend of Bagger Vance (00)

Ali (01) | MIIB (02) | Bad Boys II (03)

I, Robot (04) | Hitch (05) | The Pursuit of Happyness (06)

I am Legend (07) | Hancock (08) | Seven Pounds (08)

He's only starred in 18 movies. (I thought it'd be more... but I've only seen 11.) Strangely he was absent from cinemas last year and will be again this year. What's going on? Don't tell me he's veering towards Tom Cruise's unmistakable crazy. I suppose that could happen. In regards to these posters. I was surprised the marketing departments don't use the dread "floating movie star head" that often with his movies. His body shows up frequently, too.

You have to admire his (contractual?) consistency. Almost exactly one picture a year. It splits the difference between "out of sight, out of mind" and "absence makes the heart grow fonder".

I actually think he's sometimes quite a good actor or at least far better than is required of someone in his position (see: I Am Legend) and I don't really understand the anger some people had about his Ali nomination (though that was certainly a competitive year with lots of good choices snubbed). But overall he tends to make the kind of corporate blockbusters that never excite me -- too processed.

Anyway, a truth: my parents love him. Do you?
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Kisses (and Opportunity) Blown

And Nathaniel (c'est moi) has reentered the building. A quick thank you, round of applause, kiss blown, genuflection, what have you to Erich, Thom, Adam, James, Jason and Campaspe who filled in for me while I was away. Read their blogs. I love doing so.

Acidemic "deadpan satire and intellectual savvy..."
Planet Fabulon "a galaxy of glamour, camp and kitsch"
Club Silencio, "cinematic obsessions and (one-sided) conversation"
Out1 Film Journal "film from the inside out"
My New Plaid Pants "nonsense incarnate"
...and the classic film call of the Self Styled Siren

I had all six of these generous souls on my mind last night in my hotel room. I imagined them breathing a collective sigh of relief and packing their mental bags to exit my blog --or maybe that's just because I was packing my bags in the hotel room and I tend to project.

I should have been thinking about Hancock since it was playing on the telly. But it wasn't giving me enough to think about. If we must have a new superhero film each month why not more risky ones? At first I said to myself 'this is more interesting than the critical drubbing had led me to believe' but then I would lose interest again quickly, so... maybe not. I couldn't even decide if it was cocky about itself or worried that it wasn't quite pulling its high concept halves (thirds?) together. The danger of making movies with behemoth stars like Will Smith now (or Tom Hanks ten years back) is that they will cover up a myriad of sins. It's easy to get sloppy, derivative or lazy when you know it'll work without much of a push in other areas. Whosoever the audience loves the audience will (mostly) forgive. Tom Hanks could talk to a volleyball for a couple of hours on a deserted island with no film score and nobody minded. Will Smith can be an unsmiling a**hole for an entire film because the audience will fill in the blanks. They know him so well they'll force the goddamn charm upon him. Perhaps that's an unfair comparison because Cast Away was a good film (well 2/3rds of it at least) and Hancock is... not. But you get my point?

For those of you who saw it in the theater (it's on DVD next month) I'd love to hear your thoughts as it's fresh in the mind though it's a jumble [The Incredibles ÷ Spider-Man + (Superman˚÷ Bad Santa) x Mr & Mrs Smith³ =Hancock ?] and so is, frankly, the mind: Hopped up on thousands of room service calories I was whilst watching it. Hotels are pure evil. They will cover up a myriad of sins. It's easy to get sloppy. You can talk to inanimate objects for hours and nobody minds.

Now Playing: 4th Leftovers, Del Toro's Menagerie and Roman Polanski?

L I M I T E D
<--- August assembles an interesting cast, Josh Hartnett, David Bowie, Robin Tunney, Naomie Harris and Rip Torn to tell the story of a dot com entrepeneur (Hartnett) in crisis
Death Defying Acts -This Harry Houdini bio actually got made after all? I'd lost track. Guy Pearce & Catherine Zeta-Jones
Garden Party Elusive Vinessa Shaw and the O.C.'s Willa Holland headline this sexual LA ensemble piece
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired I'm totally confused about this documentary. I liked it a lot. It showed on cable and now it's in theaters? Oh for wacky distribution.
The Stone Angel Ellen Burstyn remembers her past as a feisty young woman (played by Christine Horne). Based on the bestseller.

Roman Polanski Wanted and Desired & Death Defying Acts

W I D E
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo Del Toro brings his menagerie of comic book adapted beasties back. Will his recent Pan's Labyrinth breakthrough bring in a larger audience for the second round?
Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D! My BFF turned to me after this trailer played the other day and said "All the movie stars in our age range are starting to play Dads with teenage kids. We're old" Um, yeah, thanks for the reminder. Why don't you drop my popcorn and knock my drink into my lap now while you're at it.
Meet Dave Eddie Murphy has tiny aliens steering him. He's a spaceship. Har-dee-har-har.

L E F T - O V E R S
Hancock Will Smith, superpowered. That's all audiences needed to know over the holidays.
Holding Trevor -a gay romance starring multi-talented Jay Brannan (of Shortbus fame) and other cuties.
Kabluey -an indie comedy from Scott Prendergast. Co-starring Lisa Kudrow and Christine "Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!" Taylor
Diminished Capacity an actor friendly comedy featuring Alan Alda, Virginia Madsen, Lois Smith, Dylan Baker and Bobby Cannavale
The Wackness -the buzzy weed-loving indie comedy with an eclectic cast including Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby, Method Man and Mary-Kate Olsen
Tell No One - A French thriller with fine cast: Francois Cluzet, Marie-Josee Croze, Francois Berléand and Kristin Scott Thomas (yay!)

Seeing anything this weekend? Seen any of these already? Tell everyone your plans. It's all about oversharing.

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Heroes, Villains, Divas and More...

I'm seriously going to have to get rid of some of these awards categories. It takes so long to completely my annual medal giving jamboree... here's me still trying to wrap up. I never said as much but...


I think Will Smith was really good in I Am Legend. He was definitely not phoning it in like I felt you could maybe say about I, Robot. I love that in the best (and scariest) scene, when his faithful dog runs into a dark building, he doesn't play it all macho. He looks pee-himself terrified and I'm all for that. I don't care if your character is mankind's only hope, if your life is threatened chances are you're going to be scared. The Oscar like traditional categories will have winners very soon. Until then, enjoy more "specials" with Best Hero, Villain and Diva!

Now Playing: The Very Separate Worlds of Oscar Hopefuls and CGI Chipmunks

L I M I T E D * R E L E A S E * and
* ** O S C A R * S C H E D U L I N G *T H E O R I E S
Keira Knightley and her emerald dress slink into a few new cities today as Atonement expands (a little) and should attract some Golden Globe buzz ticket-buying. In theory at least. The other notable mini expansions are the Globe snubbed Margot at the Wedding and Frank Langella's acclaimed turn in the adaptation Starting Out in the Evening.

Borrowing from an earlier discussion I had in a comment thread now ~ If you ask me both should have opened much earlier. If you're in a tiny, strange, or intimate film and/or you're not an A list Entertainment Tonight ready red carpet star, the best way to attract Oscar talk is to open before all the deafening Oscar buzz. Less competition equals more talk and more time to settle in as an assumed contender. Perception is everything. This strategy paid off superbly for Terrance Howard and Ryan Gosling in the past couple of years. It might be paying off for Viggo Mortenson right now (cross those fingers for a best actor shortlisting), not to mention Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard. This isn't that complicated. Why do so many Oscar strategists miss this? Frank Langella (Starting Out...) is not a big enough star to get Oscar traction while people care about nothing so much as whether or not Johnny Depp can sing like a pro whilst slitting throats.


Big stars and huge prestige epics are fine in December. They're probably smart to wait. Everyone will want to see them, including the Oscar voters. Challenging, subtle, intimate or non star-driven stuff? Those movies are better off finding a good seat before the crowds start rushing in. No Country For Old Men played it exactly right I think. Michael Clayton was also in a smart position (though it probably could've benefited from a couple of weeks of platforming). December frustrated though I always am, I should admit to this painful fact: yes, you can come out too early just as the common wisdom suggests. I need quality films all year round so it pains me to admit this defeat. But what the hell happened to Zodiac ? The critics are turning as forgetful as the Academy is assumed to be.

--->Will Smith searches in vain for Oscar hopefuls. Sorry, Big Willie, they don't go wide until January... if ever.

W I D E
In the larger world out there, the world beyond awards-junkies and prestige fare (I know ... it seems like such an alien desolate place) they're probably not even talking about the Golden Globes. Maybe they've just purchased tickets to see computer generated chipmunks or Will Smith as the last man standing on gods green earth.

But that is not my world. I'd rather watch literary meta epics or Romanian abortion dramas than sit through singing chipmunks. Any day of any week. But I might be persuaded to watch Will Smith kick some ass.

____might.
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Vanity Fair's Hollywood ~Episode 2 (1996)

Playing the Hollywood Historian...
After the massive success of their first "Hollywood Issue" and its lingerie'd ladies (see: episode 1), Vanity Fair followed up with "Boy's Town" in 1996 which got a teensy bit of crap for its contextual sexism: women as sex objects the first year; men following fully clothed the next.

This double standard has been going on for as long as Hollywood has been a concept. I used to think that even if they had wanted to they could never have convinced the semi-established male stars to undress for the cover . It would have been deemed as too feminizing or, well, gay. But lately... now that most actors, and numerous civilians too, are carefully sculpting porn star bodies for themselves; with exhibitionism still growing and private boundaries still shrinking, I'm not so sure that it couldn't happen if Vanity Fair were a little edgier. (They're not. More on that when we get to 2006.)

But anyway, the boys...

Vanity Fair changed their tune here to some degree. All of the women in the previous cover were already established as actors/celebrities (most hadn't peaked) --Annie Leibovitz was photographing a mix of established and barely knowns this, the following year.

Tim Roth nearing 35 was a totally understandable choice for the cover. Everyone connected to Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction (1994) was still hot and Roth followed up his indelible opening sequence success as Fiction's "Pumpkin" with an Oscar nod for his scene-stealing villain in Rob Roy (1995). It was rather strange, given that he's still a respected actor, that his stardom peaked just as it began but good news: a movie comeback may be just around the corner. He's in Francis Coppola's Youth Without Youth (about to open) and he has five films lined up for the next couple of years including a fourth collaboration with Tarantino. If those movies all happen, that's a lotta Roth. Or at least a lot more Roth than we've grown accustomed to.

Leonardo DiCaprio, a veritable spring chicken at 21 years of age, was already skyrocketing. Hollywood's elvish boy wonder --just a slip of a thing at the time, the beefiness was well in the future --had an Oscar nomination for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) behind him, already had major Hollywood supporters (Sharon Stone, an early adopter) and had held his own onscreen with Stone, Russell Crowe and famously with Robert DeNiro in This Boy's Life (also 1993). The year before this cover arrived he cemented his "one to watch" status with the triple play of The Basketball Diaries, Total Eclipse and The Quick and the Dead. Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet was next and would be his first hit.

...and then he got on some rickety boat with Kate Winslet.

Matthew McConaughey at 26 had been anointed "the next big thing" on the strength of his casting as the lead in A Time To Kill. But when this cover arrived he was still only a hot property in theory. He had had small roles in Dazed and Confused (1993) and Boys on the Side (1995) among others. Luckily for McConaughey A Time to Kill turned into a hit but Vanity Fair, just to help that along, gave him another cover before the public cared. They'd later pull a similar trick with Gretchen Mol prompting media watchers like moi to wonder if they owned stake in particular careers. The rest is mainstream "sexiest man alive" mall culture history.

Benicio Del Toro is the only coverboy here to win an Oscar (Traffic, 2000). It's hard to believe this weathered terrific actor was ever 29 but he was. Before this cover was shot he'd had a series of supporting roles and was fresh off the surprise success The Usual Suspects (1995). He's had a steady career ever since --never a huge star but never unemployed-- and most recently played lead in the grief drama Things We Lost in the Fire with Halle Berry. Only 12 people saw it but that doesn't change the fact that he was incredible in it.

Michael Rapaport oops -- I had to look up his name (oops) though I recognized the face. He was 26 and had just worked with Woody Allen on Mighty Aphrodite (they'd reteam again for Small Time Crooks in 2000). Lead roles didn't really materialize but he's kept busy on television as a series regular in various shows like Boston Public and The War at Home.

Stephen Dorff, in leather pants (hello 90s!) was about to turn 23. Like DiCaprio he'd been a sitcom child actor who had graduated to major film roles by the early 90s. His chief claim to fame at the time was a well received leading role in another triumph of the human spirit drama from Rocky director John Avildsen called The Power of One (1992). Afterwards he was part of the Beatles drama Backbeat (1994) and he probably wore these same leather pants in the indie S.F.W. aka 'so f***ing what" (1994) with Reese Witherspoon. Many expected his career to keep growing and it probably should have. He was quite good as the transsexual Candy Darling in I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) and also had fun with his crazy movie-maker title character in John Waters Cecil B DeMented (2000). But the lead roles stopped. Ever since his arch villain role in Blade (1998) he's often been found menacing from the sidelines. Sometimes without his pants on. I think of his early career trajectory and I keep seeing Ben Foster showing off right now -- is the same future in store?

Jonathon Schaech, 26, was not well known. His sole minor claims to fame were three: catching Winona Ryder's eye (briefly) with his dripping muscled physique at a public pool in How to Make an American Quilt, licking cum from his hand as "Xavier Red" in Gregg Araki's Doom Generation and being cast in That Thing You Do! directed by Tom Hanks (which hadn't yet surfaced -thx for the reminder commenters) These three accomplishments are not the sort of thing that normally lands one on Vanity Fair covers but it happened anyway. What didn't happen was the big stardom though he certainly tried, keeping busy as an actor and marrying Christina Applegate (they divorced this summer). I'm absolutely convinced he was cursed by being ahead of the curve... look where a hot bod and decent acting chops will get you these days [see: Chris Evans' career]

David Arquette. The youngest member of the enduring Arquette clan had had a pretty unremarkable career by this point at 24 years of age and a pretty unremarkable one afterward... a movie here, a television show there. His biggest success, the Scream franchise, was just around the corner but he's stayed very famous. I guess it helps to plague the populace with endless collect calling commercials and marry a television star at the peak of her fame. You didn't ask but Roseanna and Alexis are totally my favorite Arquettes, no contest.

Will Smith gets the same back cover placement as Angela Bassett the preceding year. You probably noticed. You might be screaming 'racism!' but this is what time travelling is about: Will Smith was not always WILL SMITH. He's been such a massive star for so long that we forget he was once just a 26 year-old television star with a rap hit "Parents Just Don't Understand" under his belt... but even then Jada Pinkett and kid were at his side (photo proof, left). That's longevity right there. The mega-billions future was not a given though he had suggested it would be with Bad Boys, his only movie hit to open before this cover. Independence Day would open in the summer of 1996 and after its $300 million gross, Will Smith was WILL SMITH.

Skeet Ulrich, would eventually come to be dubbed "the poor man's Johnny Depp" for his resemblance to 21 Jump Street era Depp. But he still wasn't famous enough to be dismissed by the comparison. He was 26 and a complete unknown. His appearance here was undoubtedly a mark of two things: the massive swinging cajones of his agent and publicists. He was being cast right and left despite having only appeared as "thug" in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and a CBS telemovie. In 96 and 97, he would be featured in roles big and small in seven movies: most famously The Craft, Scream and As Good as it Gets. By 2000 he was making DVD sequels to films like Hackers. It looked like a really short career until television's Jericho rescued him from impending obscurity... for now.

median age: 26, younger by 4 years from the girls the year before, which is a little weird when you stop to think about the fact that female actors generally become famous earlier in their lives than male actors --who usually don't peak until well into their late 30s and 40s. But perhaps it's not so odd when you consider that Vanity Fair had moved from rising star women to celebrating relatively unknown men.

collective Oscar nominations before this cover: 2, the men responsible are on the actual cover
collective Oscar nominations after this cover: 5 with 1 win ( Del Toro in Traffic)
fame levels in 2007, according to famousr, from most to least: Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, David Arquette, Benicio Del Toro, Tim Roth, Stephen Dorff, Michael Rapaport, Skeet Ulrich and Johnathon Schaech

more episodes: 1995 ,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001
*

The Pursuit of Will's Happiness

It may please you to know that the new Will Smith vehicle Pursuit of Happyness is mostly free of the overt sentimentality promised in its trailer. Even the offputting spelling error in the title didn’t grate in context. Smith’s own star turn is also well played, a huge relief since one imagines it’s the movie’s principal reason for being. Smith plays Chris Gardner who rises from single homeless dad to successful stockbroker in this tale both simple and simply told.

Given today’s movie trending towards overplotting, simplicity can often be a sweet salve. But a little of it goes a long way: Pursuit overstays its welcome with a repetitive structure and such an intense focus on the movie star at its core that it barely notices any other character, all of them existing only to provide obstacles or helping hands (usually obstacles). Like many triumph of the human spirit stories it also suffers from complete obviousness. The final emotional payoff is never in doubt –not that that would be a problem if the movie didn’t take an awful long time to get there. There’s even a lessons learned voiceover by Smith which makes the movie, for all its attempts at adult honesty regarding poverty and ruined marriages, feel like a children’s film. We’re even given cute chapter titles like “running” for sections of the movie in which, yes, Chris Gardner runs a lot.

It’s easy to follow and easy to root for the movie star but Pursuit of Happyness’s inspirational message didn’t engage my mind enough to distract me from what it leaves unsaid. Take Pursuit’s central plot point: Chris Gardner changes his life by accepting an unpaid internship with Dean Witter. At the end of this grueling internship the company chooses one of its twenty unpaid interns to hire. (You only get one guess as to who is chosen.) This information is presented as a daunting but golden opportunity : a chance for an ‘up by your bootstraps’ tale of triumphant life change. But all I could think of while listening to the conditions of the game was “what a racket.” This is an underdog story but it completely glosses over a cynical and genius move on the part of big business. They feed off of working stiffs without having to reimburse them, and Hollywood is there with an “amen”.

Chris Gardner works his way out of homeless shelter but what of the other interns? If we’re to follow the film’s logic they each have done the same thing as Chris Gardner. They’ve all taken on gigantic workloads, earning large revenues for a huge corporation and all but one of them receives nothing in return. It’s a sweet deal for big business but this happy ending is only for one man. The other unlucky souls, the ones filling the backgrounds of the frame with nary a handful of lines among them to give them movie life, Pursuit has no use for them. They’re but grist for the storytelling and corporate mill. It’s a triumphant tale alright. But guess who wins? C

Premiere's Top 50 Movie Stars

Another day. Another list. Whenever you get big media lists, they're always, naturally less idiosyncratic than individual list-making exercizes. But what they lack in fascinating quirk they make up for in their ability to represent generalized public opinion / time-capsule "who is hot" statements. That's the same reason why the Oscars can lean towards stupefyingly dull but still say interesting things about contemporary standards of quality.

Best thing? That Warren Beatty made it to the top 30. Even though the list is obviously slanted to right.this.very.second. because...
worst thing? Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise are higher than either Hepburn, Davis, Nicholson, Brando, and Streep? ??? Will Smith also appears. That's right: Will Smith. And he's also higher than Meryl Streep.