"it's silly, but I believe"

1000 Greatest Films?

The movie lists that get the most attention these days are sadly fan-pandering lists from major movie publications (EW, Empire, etcetera) that cater to the last 25 years or are overly worried about mainstream relevance and DVD sales (AFI)... forgetting that the most noble purpose of 'all time lists' is not to pat people on the back for what they love but to inspire them to dig deeper. "Great" lists should be filling up our rental queues. Best book lists are not best seller charts after all but encouragements to read. Best music lists are often about new discoveries, too. What haven't you heard? So I'm totally excited to study They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? reworked "Top 1000 Films of All Time" list.


I am powerless against a good list. Here's two samples from their top 1000. First, the top 20 and I've picked two that I really insist that you see right now (since you probably haven't)

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Vertigo (1958)
3. Rules of the Game (1939)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
5. 8 1/2 (1963)
6. The Godfather (1972)
7. The Searchers (1956)
8. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
9. The Seven Samurai (1954)
10. Tokyo Story (1953)
11. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
12. Sunrise (1927)
13. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
14. The Bicycle Thief (1948)
15. Casablanca (1942)
16. L'Atalante (1934) rent it immediately
    
17. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) unforgettable -see now and twice
    
18. Raging Bull (1980)
19. Rashomon (1950)
    
20. The Godfather Part II (1974)

Aside from Singin' in the Rain it's very solemly serious. Of those I have yet to see The Searchers, Tokyo Story and Rules of the Game and am appropriately filled with shame. Because there are 1000 films and not 100 there's less shunning of "women's pictures" than most Greatest Films list attempt and that's a relief. There's multiple countries represented as there should be. Overall it's good stuff. I quibble with certain things (that's the other great purpose of lists): There's way too little William Wyler (no Dodsworth in 1000 movies? F*** you, list and list-makers!), too little Spike Lee and Mike Leigh (1 film each? STINGY!), the wrong Sydney Pollack (no They Shoot Horses Don't They or The Way We Were? I cry foul) there's only 14 movies from the Aughts and yet they found room for Oldboy? Yeesh, I hate that movie's boastful sadism.

The thing I love most about this list at first glance is the ease by which you can dig in. You can sort by year and watch movies chronologically. You can sort by director. Here's their top twelve auteurs with the number of films they were alloted.

1. John Ford: 18 (He's also Oscar's favorite director with 4 Best Director wins. Who knew that cinephiles would agree with the Academy so wholeheartedly?)
   
2. Fritz Lang: 16
3. Luis Bunuel: 15
4. (tie) Jean Luc Godard & Alfred Hitchcock: 14 movies each
5. Ingmar Bergman: 13
6. Federico Fellini: 12
7. (4-way tie) Jean Renoir, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa and Howard Hawks: they all get 11 films in the top 1000. Kubrick only made 16 films so that's quite an accomplishment. They just left out his first 5. I guess he was warming up.
   
8. Charles Chaplin: 10
   

I think it's the first "greatest films" list I've ever seen that honors Steven Spielberg but doesn't go completely overboard (only 7 films... what a relief). Since it's an excel spreadsheet with numerous columns they've even been generous enough to include amazon and imdb links if you want to purchase or study and --my favorite part -- the running times. If you never have enough time to drink up all the movies your eyes thirst for, you can either start with the longest movies and sip away or start short and gulp them down --there's 391 movies that are under 100 minutes. Oh, the delicious nectar of succinct motion pictures!


Once you download you can even add your own columns to mess with it privately. No way can I have a list without Dodsworth, Sleeping Beauty, Heavenly Creatures or any Merchant/Ivory. I think I'll "fix" this list right now...
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Motor City Mama

As In Contention recently reported, the Detroit Film Critics have given another Supporting Actress prize to my girlfriend Marisa Tomei. I couldn't let this pass as, despite my critical fatigue I am a Detroit boy. I grew up dreaming about being the film critic for the Detroit Free Press. Which means of course that I wouldn't have a job anymore.

Pic & Dir: Slumdog Actor & Supporting Actress: Mickey Rourke & Marisa in The Wrestler Actress: Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

This is great fun since Tomei's character in The Wrestler , "Cassidy/Pam", could so easily have been imagined as a Motor City transplant (the movie takes place in New Jersey). Apparently this puts Marisa at a tie with Penélope Cruz in most supporting actress precursors (I wasn't aware... pile enough critics awards on me and my brain goes as slushy as Detroit roads this time of year) though of course teensy critical notices are not as powerful as a SAG nomination in drawing Oscar's attention. Still, I think she'll be nominated. I spoke with Marisa again last week and I'll share some of that conversation with you after Christmas. But I'll drop this little tidbit for now: I was pleased to hear that she's a big fan of Milk --"it blew me away" she said. Here's hoping it blows other movie-loving Academy members like her away since Slumdog, Frost/Nixon and Doubt seem to hogging the media attention (at least this week).

Two other critical awards I haven't yet discussed in case you're less insatiable than I: The Women's Critics Circle which have rather unique awards no Best Picture just "Best Film About Women" which went to Changeling (how anyone can think that's a better film about women than Rachel Getting Married or Frozen River I will never in a million years understa--oh, right Clint Eastwood. Got it) and The African American Film Critics Association which went like so...

Picture & Supporting: The Dark Knight & Heath Ledger Dir: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire Actress: Angelina Jolie, Changeling (her only critics award this year (no the Satellites aren't "critics" prizes) Actor: Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt

I am making a vow for next year right here and right now. No critics organization that doesn't keep an updated webpage will be included in my awards coverage. I'll just ignore them entirely. It'll make things more professional and easier on me. The AAFCA and the WFCC are yet two more that haven't updated their websites in several months.

Link Side Stories

Film Ick is disappointed in how The Hobbit (2012?) and The Green Hornet (2010?) are shaping up... or not shaping up as the case may be
Club Silencio can't wait for the banana ranch action in Gael García Bernal's latest
ProBlogger If Marilyn Monroe was a blogger... advice from movie stars on blogging? I love it
ModFab on Obama's first terrible move (before he's even in power. argh)
In Contention 'it's nice to be wrong' Interesting piece but how could anybody not have known that Kristin Scott Thomas as a powerhouse before now?
Nick's Flick Picks a splendid defense of Howards End (and Merchant/Ivory films in general)
Scanners top five cinematic dogs of the year. The good kind of dog
The Daily Have you heard? David Hudson is leaving Daily GreenCine for IFC starting Jan 1st

Finally, the West Side Story obsessive in me is having a mini revival. And just in time: Tapeworthy sees the pre-Broadway run of West Side Story in DC for not much $ and speaks highly of it. Click for details. For those of you who haven't heard they're going for a grittier and more realistic take. The gangs are supposed to be scarier and half the cast (Maria, Anita, Bernardo, The Sharks) will be performing in Spanish. Since WSS is my favorite film ever, I sometimes get nervous about seeing stage productions of it (the last one I saw was ... not so good) but I'm quite excited for this... even if I'll miss half of the prime wit of Sondheim's lyrics since I don't habla español. Another thing I didn't know as I've been out of the theater loop a bit: Cody Green from the reality show Step It Up and Dance is playing Riff.

Document This!

Glenn here again. I don't leave quietly.

I know Nathaniel isn't quite as big of a documentary watcher as some others out there, so I thought I'd give the genre a bit of a spruik (apparently that's an Australian slang word so don't worry about not knowing what it means). I've made an effort this past year to see more documentaries - theatrically and otherwise - and while the number may only be hovering around the ten mark, considering I barely see more than four a year I think I have reason to be chuffed with myself.

It is, however, incredibly disappointing to realise that of the fifteen documentary titles shortlisted by the Academy only three have received a theatrical release here in Australia. How is it that even a Werner Herzog film - that'd be Encounters at the End of the World doesn't warrant a release? I can't imagine titles such as Trouble the Water, At the Death House Door (from the directors of Hoop Dreams - perhaps the greatest film of the 1990s? discuss) and I.O.U.S.A will ever screen down here. As a matter of fact, Spike Lee's sprawling 4hr+ documentary When the Levees Broke only just received it's first ever screening in Australia two weeks ago. I was privy to the special screening and it's baffling that it has never been shown on TV or released on DVD down here. What's up with that?

My favourite doco from 2008 was Yung Chang's hypnotizing and beautifully eerie Up the Yangtze. It's a shame the film has failed to be recognised in any way outside of one measly Indie Spirit nomination. After that stunning film we have James Marsh's ubiquitous Man on Wire, which is becoming the biggest award sweeper in history. Yes, even Helen Mirren lost one critics award. Mark Hartley's thrilling Not Quite Hollywood is a deliciously entertaining journey through Aussie genre films of the '70s and '80s with energy to spare. It receives an American theatrical release in the new year. Cult explorations in Beyond Our Ken and Celebrity: Dominick Dunne, about Vanity Fair crime writer Dunne, made for two more exemplary Australian docs. Lastly, I've got to shout out to Guy Maddin's bizarre and wonderful My Winnipeg. Whether you classify it as a documentary is entirely up to you though.

So tell me Film Experience readers, have you experienced any documentaries worth cheering? And let's try and convince Nathaniel to add them to his Netflix, okay?

Now Playing: Nearly Everything...

If I had more stamina I would attempt to break down all the new releases with you but given that it's now December 19th (where did the year go...?) that means the movie releasing is generally out of control. Openings aren't just on Fridays anymore. If you live in a major market you'll soon be able to see everything. This year has been very disappointing to me in that they withheld the prestige releases even more than usual. You may be asking yourself: Why does he care? He lives in NYC and he gets to see things before they open? I care because I think movies are most fun when they're communal. And my community as a OCD film blogger is y'all and the rest of the movie bloggers. I'm tired of the Oscar race being an abstraction for 95% of moviegoers... Seeing trailers is a poor way to judge performances and movies.

It's basically like Hollywood is Santa and he can only be bothered to deliver prezzies once a year. And he doesn't go down every chimney either. Only chimneys in the major markets were nice. The rest of you are naughty!


So... the holiday week is beginning. Any movie plans with your friends and family? Will you be taking in something mainstream like a Will Smith morality fable (my parents always want me to see Will Smith movies --what is that about?) or maybe a broad Jim Carrey comedy or are your family & friend's Christmas wishes more Oscar-buzz focused? Tell all.

And HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!! if you're about to travel. Posting will be a bit lighter over the next week since I'll be travelling myself and Christmas'ing but if you're around there'll still be stuff to read. Have Yourself a Merry One.

Deep in the Heart of Texas Critics

Perhaps you've noticed that I haven't posted the results of several film critics awards the second they've come in. It's because there are too many. But I finalized info on my Oscar pages this morning. Texas was the latest thorn in my side. I ask the following in all sincerity: Are there really enough film critics working in the State of Texas to justify three separate critics organizations: Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and Houston each with their own? Should all these laid off film critics you keep hearing about be relocating to the Lone Star State?

What's worse is that these three Texan entities don't have different aesthetics. Oh sure there are disagreements in Best Picture: Dallas (Slumdog), Houston (Benjamin Button), Austin (The Dark Knight). Yet all three of them agree on Heath Ledger as Supporting Actor (The Dark Knight) and Anne Hathaway as Best Actress (Rachel Getting Married). In other categories they have 2/3 agreement. Why not just form one Supersize Texas Association of Critics (STAC) or somesuch? Wouldn't their opinions have slightly more weight that way?

Here in NYC, the publishing capital, we only have 2 film critics organizations that claim a "place" in their title (NYFCC and NYFCO). If in New York, where you can't throw a bagel without hitting a critic, we can only justify 2...

I'm glad New York keeps it simple. Could you imagine? The Bronx Film Critics Association (BFCA -wait that acronym is in use), the Greater Association of Long Island Critics (GALIC), The Upper West Side Film Critics Association (UWSFCA). The Upper West Side Film Critics Association Online (UWSFCAO) Staten Island Critics Circle Organization (SICCO), Washington Heights Hispanic Association of Critics (WHHAC), East Village Association of Critics (EVAC). I mean where does it end? Central Harlem Online Independent Critics Everlasting (CHOICE), Freelancers Union Critics Kircle (FUCK). Exactly!

Madness.

Do you think Houston thinks they can kick Dallas/Ft. Worth's ass? You know Austin thinks itself a total hipster and above the fray. Which it kinda is... but still. It's not like Austin's choices truly rocked the fringes. For that you have to go to Toronto -- Wendy & Lucy as Best Pic. Rachel Getting Married in three categories... Woot!

And while we're filling in the blanks, there's also Phoenix which honored Benjamin Button and Las Vegas which went with Frost/Nixon and not just in Best Picture. All over the place it won. That's its first (and probably last) win for Best Picture. But at least it ain't Frontrunner Millionaire. On a more humorous note, despite the Slumdog SAG ensemble nomination (grrr - a prize for the casting directors ability to find cute children?) the cast is still unknown to many. Over @ MovieWeb for example, they think the great male actor Irffan Khan is actually the pretty if blank female star Freida Pinto and they also think that Frieda Pinto is Frieda Pinto while she is simultaneously Mia Drake. Oops.

In other news... Utah joins Austin in lauding The Dark Knight as Best Picture (with Rachel Getting Married as runner up? Interesting if inconsequential... it's really too bad Rachel has been faring so poorly outside of Anne Hathaway. But history will be kind to it long past the Frost/Nixons). They give director to Pixar's Andrew Stanton for WALL•E. They went totally populist.


updated Oscar pages
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Wrestling With Florida

As we discovered earlier today with the SAG nominations, the Oscars are all but over, a month before the nominations are announced: Slumdog Millionaire will win. Barring Benjamin Button becoming a huge hit (iffy) with the public when it opens @ Christmas, Slumdog just has too large a constituency to leapfrog. Especially when the other Best Picture hopefuls have larger obstacle to a win (genre, gay focus, too lightweight, etcetera).

Today the Danny Boyle inspirational picked up it's umpteenth BP win from Florida's Critics. I was born in Florida so I perk up whenever I hear "Florida" though what follows those three syllables is almost never something I want to hear what with Bush dynasties, hanging chads, anti-gay legislation and hurricanes as frequent chasers. The good news: The Wrestler picked up both Actor and Supporting Actress and it probably needs whatever teensy attention it can muster at this point. They so miscalculated with the mid December release date for such a small and seemingly modest movie. It needed time to sink in as a contendah. Full list of Florida winners here. On a 'they clearly don't take this too seriously' note, the Florida Film Critics web page hasn't been updated since 2006. If they don't care why should we?

I'll try to post a smidgeon about the other critics awards tomorrow... but I've updated my Oscar pages to reflect all the wins in the top eight categories. Thank you to Scene Stealers for an updated chart of winners thus far.
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"come with me if you want to link"

Poster Wire an animated poster for Terminator: Salvation. oh god please let this marketing technique take off. We loves it
Awards Daily "a tale of two Nixons" -damn, I wish I'd thought of that
The Big Picture The Wrestler takes a hit from the LA Times. Right in time for Oscar season. Ouch, that'll sting
ONTD Seventeen describes the sexual appeal of Robert Pattison. Dear god he's like a Frankenstein monster of celebs
Modern Tonic has a Best of TV 2008 list...
Are You There, Blog? Carrie Fisher hawking her new book. She's so damn funny


Deadline Hollywood Luhrmann to take on The Great Gatsby next. Damn but Baz likes a challenge. That thing (brilliant) has to be considered unfilmable, right?
The Carpetbagger alerts us to the annual Oscar short films showing
Multiple Personality Cruise visits Letterman "they have this thing called the internet and they have these things called blogs"
Towleroad Seann William Scott photos from Balls Out. That boy (thankfully) has no shame
The Bad and Ugly ...speaking of shameless, Halle Berry going topless again (pics from the set of Frankie and Alice)
Boy Culture Matthew celebrates his 40th in swanky style... Yes, I was there (my illustration is the last one on the page. That is such a great party memorabilia idea. I'm totally going to steal it)

And finally... Heroine Content takes issue with Empire's "100 Greatest Movie Characters" list. There's a lot to take issue with. It's 88% male, 93% white. So annoying. Guess who's not on the list? Margo Channing from All About Eve. Severine from Belle Du Jour. Mrs. Iselin from The Manchurian Candidate. Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire. Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Bree from Klute. F***ing Annie Hall. Yeesh... and that's just the seven that popped into my head without looking at any list of movies. Most of the women chosen were from genre or "guy" movies (Aliens, Star Wars, The Professional, Silence of the Lambs, ...Roger Rabbit) The canons are always being rewritten but they always get rewritten in the same old ways.

Three Different Women. Each Living a Lie

Six years ago today The Hours had its red carpet premiere stateside before strolling on to Oscar glory with stones in its pockets and flowers it had bought itself. To celebrate enjoy this brilliant music video riff...



Thanks to Nick for pointing it out two months back. I revisited too often not to eventually share it here. Even if you've already seen it, one viewing can't possibly be enough.

Julie Anne, Mary Louise & Nicole Mary @ the premiere

The Descent Of Man's Hairdos (And The Lack Thereof)

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JA from MNPP here. The picture on the left is Paul Bettany walking the streets of New York (no, not Walking The Streets; just walking on the street) yesterday (via) and looking delicious; the picture on the right is Bettany on the set of the movie for which he's shaved his head, Creation, in which he plays Charles Darwin (via) - co-starring his wife Jennifer Connolly as Darwin's wife and obviously coming soon to an Oscar campaign for 2009 near you!

I suppose Charles Darwin wasn't much of a dish, but Paul Bettany certainly is, and it wouldn't be the first time they sexed up a biopic role with an actor prettier than the person being bio-picked was. So why must he wear that matted mange on his head in the movie when he looks so pretty without in on the street? Bald can be beautiful, Hollywood.

So I guess what I'm saying here is,
I want a sexy Charles Darwin dammit!
It's survival of the hottest, y'all!

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SAG Nominations

@ 9:00 AM EST Angela Bassett announced the nominees for the SAG awards with her unparalleled powers of e•nun'c•ia'tion. I listen to her punctuated "t"s on the telly. Loving her all the while. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there.

Best Ensemble: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire

Does Doubt really need all four of its actors nominated and an Ensemble nomination? What's that for -- the background nuns and the children? Can you say overkill? And Slumdog Millionaire... I can't even go there. Even if I loved the movie I would and could recognize that the acting was nothing special. Certainly not as compared with the casts of Revolutionary Road, Synecdoche New York, Happy-Go-Lucky, Rachel Getting Married, The Wrestler, The Visitor or even unrewarded not Oscar bound movies like Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Stop-Loss or Blindness. I mean... this is a ridiculous nomination. But SAG has never been known for "taste" exactly. Their enthusiasms always take over. They gave Philip Seymour Hoffman a nomination for his worst most mannered performance ever (Flawless) over acting as exquisite as Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story and Jim Broadbent in Topsy Turvy... and that's just off the top of my head. All of this means that Slumdog is easily going to win the Oscar for Best Picture if actors love it this much, without any reservations or qualifiers at all.

• Lead Actor -Jenkins (yay), Langella (biopic), Penn (yay), Pitt (yum) and Rourke (yay)
• Lead Actress -Hathaway (yay), Jolie (yawn), Leo (wow), Streep & Winslet (of course x 2)
• Supporting Actor -Brolin (yay), Downey Jr (hee), Hoffman (wrong category), Ledger (yay), Patel (huh?)
• Supporting Actress -Adams (er, I guess), Cruz (yay), Davis (yay), Henson (yay), Winslet (wrong category)

More elaborate / less monosyllabic thoughts on all categories right here.

Return and share your feelings. It's all about sharing. And feeling.

Sing a Song of Oscars

now, a post with music

As you may have heard there are 49 eligible songs in play for Oscar nominations in the Academy's most dubious award: Best Original Song. You may have heard that... but have you heard them? Now in theory the Best Original Song category can give the audience really wonderful entertainment breaks from all of the canned banter, orchestra drowned speeches and annual "we have no time management skills!" confessionals (some people refer to those as 'film montages'). But it's only a theory as sometimes we have to worry about the Academy's taste level in this category.

I thought I'd share some audio with y'all re: this category. If you're not interested and you'd rather just sleep, here's a minute of Clint Eastwood singing "Gran Torino" to use as lullaby.

If all it takes to win an Oscar is some raspy whispering @ the piano, can I have one? I can play.

If Clint makes the cut you might hear his songsmithing onstage before he picks up his fifth Oscar.

Someone you won't be hearing is Jennifer Hudson. Her Sex & The City number "All Dressed In Love" didn't make the eligibility cut, despite already being on those pricey For Your Consideration ads. But then, JHud probably didn't need that extra pressure of performing at the Oscars anyway. Our heart still goes out to her. In much happier news, we all dodged a bullet: the absolutely horrific Elton John "Drover's Theme" from Australia isn't eligible. Whew. That doesn't mean you won't see über famous rock stars on the stage. It could get very star studded with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen and other household names within the range of possibility.

Here's a musical sample I prepared for you of eligible songs that might get nominated (you can purchase them all on iTunes). If you'd like to follow along as you listen you're hearing promotional bits from:

1. Mariah Carey "Right to Dream"
2. Regina Spektor's "The Call" from the second Narnia movie
3. Bruce Springsteen "The Wrestler"
4. Deanne Storey singing Jon Brion's "Little Person" from Synecdoche New York
5. will.i.am doing "The Travelling Song" from Madagascar 2
6. Beyoncé "Once in a Lifetime"
7. "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" from Hamlet 2 (hee)
8. "Dracula's Lament" from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (hee hee)
9. Miley Cyrus and John Travolta singing "I Thought I Lost You" from Bolt
10. Jack White & Alicia Keys "Another Way to Die" the new Bond song (please note: Oscar doesn't like James Bond)
11. Peter Gabriel's WALL•E contribution "Down to Earth"
12. Robyn Hitchcock "Up To Our Nex" from Rachel Getting Married
13. Norah Jones "The Story" from her film debut My Blueberry Nights
14. Danny Elfman "Little Things" from Wanted
15. Chaka Khan "Too Much Juice"
16. Emmylou Harris spends Nights "In Rodanthe"
17. Etta James "It Ain't Right" from Dark Streets (that's also where the Chaka Khan song is from).

Yes that's right. There's a thin possibility that both Etta James and the woman playing her in Cadillac Records (that'd be Beyoncé if you're just waking up from the Clint nap) will be taking the stage at the Kodak to perform.

Before I let you go I want to subject you to little snippets from the High School Musical 3 numbers they're pushing. 11 "songs" are eligible but they're only pushing 4 and due to Academy rules only 2 can be nominated. Let's pray it's 0. I mean, wouldn't nominating those tinny ditties be rather like having nominated the Thundercats or Jem theme songs for EMMY's? 'Jem, Jem, truly outrageous. Truly truly outrageous.' That's what the songs sound like: Saturday morning jingles.

With musical-theater loving Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) directing and Hugh Jackman hosting this year's Academy Awards the show might get really musical. We can at least assume that the nominated songs will be showcased. I never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever want to see another Oscar night where they hire a celebrity to do a medley of virtually all of the numbers (that Beyoncé year *shudder*) It's so disrespectful to the original performers plus: it's monotonous! But then again...I suppose if they nominate songs that aren't performed by the actual musicians they could always have Hugh Jackman high-kicking whilst belting out the songs.

Can you imagine him shimmying and shaking to "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire? I know I can...



If you're still reading I'm your biggest fan. For a full list of the 49 songs the Oscar's music branch can vote on and many other bits of awards info, you can head over to my impossibly busy Oscar prediction pages. Five songs or less (you never know) will be announced as actual nominees on January 22nd, 2009.
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Signatures: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Adam of Club Silencio here with a look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.

I've no reason to believe Maggie Gyllenhaal got where she is today because of anything other than talent. She's got a wisdom and savvy well beyond her years and a cool ease on camera. Maggie's one of the finest of her acting generation, and she's worked hard to get to get to that level.

In fact the entire Gyllenhaal family's got baffling levels of talent and sex appeal, not to mention all sorts of other awesome connections. Maggie's tied down Peter Sarsgaard and her brother Jake's godparents are none other than legends Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest. How much better are they than your family?! It's probably a favorite topic of dinner conversation in the Gyllenhaal house...


Still, Maggie seems pretty modest about her envious position off-screen. On-screen it's a completely different story... Her most beloved performances (Lee in Secretary, Sherry in Sherrybaby and Jude in Happy Endings) tell of characters struggling to transcend their place and limitations -- trying to find a way out of their emotional funk. Each of them cutters, recovering addicts and karaoke singers, looking for a way to get ahead in this often cold and cruel cinematic world. Apparently all it takes is some light bondage and feigning an interest in Tom Arnold.


Sex can be painful, humiliating and, at least in the case of Maggie's characters, a means for survival. Maggie says the sexuality in her roles is a layer unto itself, "In my life and in my work, I'm interested in sex as a way of communication, I'm not interested in the fantasy version of a sex scene where everything's like a softcore porn movie. I'm interested in, why communicate things through sex? Is there no other way to communicate this thing? It's another way of talking, for some people now, it's the way they communicate."


Sex opens doors to job promotions, getting back the custody of your child, and bigger and better karaoke venues. Take it from Maggie: communication is key.


(P.S. Jake, let's talk. )

I Need an Agent

My fame [*snort*] to income ratio is just not working for me. I am totally willing to sell out for cash. The movies are my first love but since I lost my B job to cut backs two months back --the one that subsidized my writing -- I'll do anything. I'll write about any topic for bank except maybe How-To manuals involving weapon construction or slaughterhouse techniques. Otherwise, it's all good. I'll even write for a soap opera or a right wing fantasy show like 24. I'd pen a Tolkein-sized book extolling the virtues of Ms. Hilary Swank if someone advanced enough cash. If you like this can-do attitude and you have made other whores writers successful, you can send resumes or inquiries to filmexperience (at) gmail (dot) com.

While I'm asking for help I'd also love to enjoy the services of a personal trainer, a massage therapist, a dentist, a pet psychic, a sales agent and a PR firm, so long as they're willing to defer their salaries until the aforementioned agent is found.
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What's the last movie you rented?

And did you like it? Tell all in the comments (while I work on some lengthier future posts)
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Red Carpet Lineup

a random sampling of actresses working red carpets this week


The Lovely Laura Linney has been absent from (big) screens this year. I kinda miss her, though having her at the Oscars last February was more than I could have asked for in a way so it's all good. Maybe The Other Man will get a real release next year? This getup makes Katharine Heigl look more matronly than her 30 year old self should look I think. She's not one to hold her tongue so do you suppose she has a few words for the Alliance of Women Film Journalists who recently gave her 27 Dresses their "Hall of Shame Award" for 2008? Speaking of weddings... is Goldie Hawn finally getting hitched after 25 years of...? No, it's just a white dress. All the same Jennifer Aniston is purposely not looking at her whilst putting on her "I'm so happy! I'm really so happy!" face in this imaginary red carpet lineup. You can't see her other hand but I have it on good authority that it was used to send a private yet easily decipheral signal to Joe Reid after this weekend's Podcast.

I think Christine Taylor should be in more movies. Sometimes I imagine Ben Stiller keeps her locked up in their mansion in Beverly Hills only letting her out for his film premieres or for cameos in his movies. I don't understand her career... or lack of. She can definitely deliver the chuckles --even in brief bits like the one she had in Kabluey. Sutton Foster is a rarity. She's a genuinely photogenic stage star who doesn't really dabble in TV or film. If you ever get the chance to see her perform: do so! Here's my two absolutely favorite Foster numbers: "Forget About the Boy" and "I Don't Wanna Show Off"



She's "Astonishing" to borrow the title of her show stopper in that Little Women musical a few years back. Lately she's only been doing big budget screen-to-stage transfers (Young Frankenstein in the Terri Garr role / Shrek in the Cameron Diaz role) which is a shame because she's an actual Broadway draw. These projects don't need stars to sell tickets. It seems like such a waste of her considerable gifts. Meanwhile Julianne Moore was seen on the red carpet looking defiantly and enigmatically wrapped in thought. Was she dreaming up new ways to abuse her screen children? (They have it so rough). Supposedly we'll see Julie in at least three new movies next year. It might be a great year for Moore maniacs if the roles are any good.

You Can't Hurry Link (No, You Just Had to Wait)

And Your Little Blog, Too attends a Wrestler event with Rourke & Aronofsky taking questions
Burbanked's insightful nervous look at the Terminator: Salvation trailer
Public School Intelligentsia the most vicious review of Changeling since at least the NYFF
IFC top ten lists spreadsheet
Sunset Gun great influential fashions onscreen
AV Club 17 worst films of 2008


The House Next Door a positive review of Revolutionary Road that doubles as a book review
The Big Picture translates the letter to Twilight fans from the franchises' new director Chris Weitz (American Pie, The Golden Compass)
Art of the Title on Raging Bull (1980)
The Hot Blog Steven Soderbergh talks to a semi-hostile crowd at Che
Guardian is Guy Ritchie sexing up Sherlock Holmes?
Ephemerist "first" diagrammed

and the Wolverine trailer because you should all love Mr. Jackman, with or without the pointy claws...
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD