Now Playing: Streep Does Tai-Chi, Keanu Does The Streets

L I M I T E D
Chaos Theory -Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer and Mr. Charlize Theron star in this comedy about an efficiency expert (Reynolds) who starts going a little crazy
Dark Matter -Meryl Streep has a supporting role here for which she's winning fine reviews (surprise!) as a wealthy university patron but the movie is about a Chinese student (Liu Ye) at an American university whose academic theories run counter to those of his mentor's (Aidan Quinn).
Persepolis -The English language version this time... some of the same voices though, Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastrioanni remain.
Remember the Daze -a movie about graduating high school seniors in 1999 -- they include Amber Heard, Melonie Diaz and Alexa Vega
The Visitor The wonderful Richard Jenkins (who you'll remember as the ghost that haunted Six Feet Under, the dad that cried for daughter Charlize in North Country and that dinner table political quagmire in I Heart Huckabees) finally gets to carry a movie. This is the sophomore effort from the actor turned writer/director of The Station Agent and it's about a professor whose life is altered when he meets a foreign couple.


D O C U M E N T A R Y L A N D
Body of War -is the story of a paralyzed Iraq war vet. It won the NBR for best documentary but it's only open in DC so far.
Bra Boys Russell Crowe narrates this documentary about manboobs (?) drag queens (?) I kid. This is actually about a surfing community in Australia.
Young @ Heart could be huge. Who doesn't love cute old people doing youthful things like [danny zuko voice] "rockin' and rolling' and whatnot"? P.S. The poster is so cute. Gimmicky but really pinching cheeks worthy, don't you think?

W I D E
Prom Night I'm so glad this is opening because I'm so sick of its 'let's kill beautiful girls on their big night' vibe polluting my TV every night. They play that commercial everywhere ...as if the demographic that might be interested in watching teen beauties hacked up might also enjoy gay minstrels in Bravo, intergalactic interspecies warfare, and endless Clinton vs. Obama punditry.
Smart People Sarah Jessica Parker (or SJP as we prefer) warms up for her summertime pop culture stampede in Sex The City: THE MOVIE --you will be trampled by its Manolo Blahniks! Don't even think you'll escape the puncture wounds -- by romancing 50something widower Dennis Quaid. Ellen Page and Thomas Hayden Church wisecrack from the sidelines. It's a very low key film, Quaid is particularly subdued. He's quite convincing as a misanthropic paunchy literature professor but he's turned down his star wattage so much to fit into a closed man that he doesn't pop like usual ... still, if you enjoy those four actors you could do worse.

sex shooter. shootin' love in your direction. unnnh-huhh unhh-huh

Street Kings Keanu Reeves is swinging around heavy artillery again. It's been awhile. He's now 43 which is... unreal. How can Keanu Reeves be 43? I like the trailer because Chris Evans is playing his junior partner (they're cops) and I like to imagine that performance is actually the real thing --Chris Evans realizing he's a star-in-training whilst Keanu Reeves --whatever one thinks of his acting skills-- is the real thing: a movie star.
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Linkarazzi

Webster's Is My Bitch "fangasm" with Willow & Wesley (for Buffy fans only)
Defamer racism at Sundance? Why is there no distributor for the excellent documentary Trouble The Water. For those who don't remember I reviewed the film for Zoom-In.
Buzz Sugar has more names for the omnibus film New York, I Love You
The Bad and the Ugly has a SPOILER pic from the same film
Anne Thompson why Iron Man will be huge (but how -- $$$ -- huge?)
Lazy Circles loves James McAvoy as much as Courtney Love does
Oscar and the City original songs in Sex & The City? Oscar nods?
Awards Daily Photos from The Edge of Love, a bio (of sorts) of the poet Dylan Thomas with a yummy romantic quadrangle featuring Keira Knightley, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys. Here's the final piece of that quartet: Sienna Miller...


Readers with elephantine memory will note that when I interviewed "14" of The Gallery of the Absurd she said...

There are some faces I just can't seem to "see". I can't paint Sienna Miller or Hillary Duff because I can't get my head around what they look like.

Yes, that. It's so true. I can never remember her face from one film to the next.
The Egalitarian Bookworm in semi-related news --I'm stretching -- hates the casting of Keira Knightley and other young actresses in literary biopics
MNPP... and we're back to yummy pictures: a couple more from that Emile Hirsch photoshoot we were talking about yesterday

And just because I can't seem to stop today ... here's Jason Patric spanking Cameron Diaz. You know she deserved it! One for each crappy movie she's made.

[more where this came from @ A Socialite's Life]

Something I Love About Mulholland Dr

The way David Lynch is always hiding Rita (Laura Elena Harring), the camera continually forced to move to capture her.




She wants to be found and seen but she comes hidden, with an obstructed view.

just a random thought for the afternoon

more at twiigs.com...

Scrabble People

I'm heading out to see Smart People. If you're talking "wide" releases I'm a totally star-driven ticket buyer and I love SJP and Dennis Quaid. Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page are fine. I'm not super hopeful but whatevs. Defamer said it best about the advertisements for Smart People

...which, judging from the preview, looks too dumb for smart people and too boring for dumb people

Exactly. But I'll go. In fact the poster reminded me that I was late making my moves on my latest games of Scrabulous on Facebook. I can't stop.

I love Scrabble, l-o-v-e. I don't care if you think that makes me nerdy. I'm actually better @ Boggle but Scrabble is more social as word-freak board games go. So here is a board I whipped up for Smart People's release. I tried to use every letter and only words that you could actually use in Scrabble and that reminded me of the movie or the stars involved...

I did end up cheating a bit. You can't really use "Meathead" in Scrabble but it described Thomas Hayden Church too well to pass up. Any sexual words that look out of place you can attribute to my impure thoughts regarding Dennis Quaid. What? Like you wouldn't.

Okay okay, nitpickers. I didn't use all the letters.


You try making words out of that.
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When Did This Guy Get Famous?

A paparazzi puzzlement
MYSTERY SOLVED -(thanks Film Junkie!) The paparazzi and the IMDB have this guys photo / name sometimes in the wrong place. This is Christian Oliver (not Olivier), a German actor.

This is, apparently, Christian Olivier. This is him at three different Hollywood events this month alone (we're only 11 days in). The paparazzi have suddenly decided he is famous. How did they come to this collective agreement? I've been to a few red carpet events and they never suddenly decide that I am famous. The flashbulbs don't go off. ;) I know I risk ridicule if he is someone I should know but I'm stumped. According to the IMBD he has only played himself on French television and appeared in one short film. Why is he famous? Google searches do not uncover this mystery. They reveal a famous 40something balding musician (not him) a computer scientist from Belgium (not him) and other assorted businessmen. Maybe French readers could help out here. It's of no particular importance but I saw his picture three times in the same day, which would usually indicate a big name.

Daniel Craig at 18 ?

<--- Is this what Daniel Craig, 40, looked like as a teenager?

This young man to your left is Harry Eden, 18, who is playing the teen version of Daniel Craig in the new drama Flashbacks of a Fool. The film is about a famous actor whose past comes back to haunt him in some way (hence the title). Eden has a pretty strong resume already, with frequent TV and film work since he was ten years old. He's even won a couple of acting prizes, both of them for the film Pure which co-starred Keira Knightley. He doesn't have any sort of a profile in the states but you might have seen him as Nibs in the recent Peter Pan (2003) or in the classic role of Artful Dodger for Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005).

One thing that will help Eden pull it off: We have little concept of a young Craig. The new Bond didn't get internationally well-known until he was in his 30s, kicked off largely by being the rough trade object of Francis Bacon's obsession in the art biopic Love is the Devil (1998) which I heartily recommend to all people who enjoy themselves some Daniel Craig ---and not just in the nude in the bathtub way. (The great Tilda Swinton is also in the movie if you need more incentive)

Will Eden one day be tortured by Geoffrey Rush, seduce a grandmother, cheat on Gwyneth Paltrow or be licensed to kill on her majesty's secret service? Will be grow up to be anything like one Daniel Craig? Stay tuned...

Harry at 15ish in Oliver (2005). Daniel at 27ish in Our Friends in the North (1996)

I've always found the casting of actors as younger versions of famous stars to be an interesting if mostly frustrating exercize. Often it's hard to see it. Sometimes little kids just become the go to person for everyone. Remember that Dakota Fanning has already played Calista Flockhart Jr, Ellen DeGeneres Jr. and Reese Witherspoon Jr. [previous cheeky fun w' that here]

My favorite casting of a star as a kid is still probably Mayim Bialik as the young Bette Midler in Beaches, such a find!

Here's the trailer to Flashbacks of a Fool. Notice that they totally know what they're selling here: it only takes 12 seconds before Daniel Craig gets naked.



No word yet on when the film is coming to the States but it opens next week in the UK.
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8 Links

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There Will Be First Viewings

I neglected to mention Tuesday that P.T. Anderson's epic There Will Be Blood is now on DVD. That event easily dwarfs the other new releases (awards season non-starters like Reservation Road and Lions for Lambs). Those of you about to fall under its antisocial mesmerizing spell for the first time will certainly want to read about it --if you haven't already spoiled the whole strange thing with a solid 4 months of hype to maneuver yourself around.

It sat atop my top ten list and won 7 gold medals at the Film Experience's annual awards jamboree: Picture, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Original Score and Line Reading.

If you're seeing it for the first time this week, by all means speak up. If you're seeing it again and have something new to work out, feel free...

Under the Sentimental Moon

The trailer to La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon) held me at violin point. It threatened me with wet eyes, shameless sentiment and that tried and true art house plot staple: cute little kid melts the hearts of grumpy adult during their travels together. You know the type: Kolya, Central Station … and dozens of other less successful films that get submitted for Oscar consideration in the foreign film category each year. The trailer also makes the following bizarrely amnesiac claim

Not since Cinema Paradiso has a film captured the hearts of audiences around the world.

I can’t vouch for the veracity of that claim. That’s nineteen years of movies that the trailer denounces as globally unloved. Oh sure maybe that movie you loved also captured hearts in Mexico, Norway, and Asia but the French refused to be moved, booing it at Cannes. Or maybe something your best friend still raves about came close with only Switzerland remaining neutral. What film is loved by the entire world in the past two decades? Only two if you believe Fox Searchlight and the Weinstein Company.


Read the Full Review @ Pajiba
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April Showers

Vanity Fair's Hollywood ~ Episode 5 (1999)

The Hollywood Historian in me continues his work after a long sabbatical ... Missed other episodes? See: 1995 , 1996, 1997, 1998 | 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005

In 1999, Vanity Fair went both a little crazy (14 people? The most ever for a Hollywood cover) and a little blah (seriously now, zzz). This issue gets my vote for worst cover in their history of Hollywood editions. They called it "New Kids on the Block" as if they were trying to date it instantly. I called it "Call me in Spring 2000 when the next one comes out." None of them look like they're in the mood to due boy band choreography or even sing one bar of a power ballad.

Adrien Brody, Thandie Newton, Monica Potter, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Stiles,
Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Polley, Norman Reedus, Anna Friel,
Omar Epps, Kate Hudson, Vinessa Shaw, and Barry Pepper.

Adrien Brody, newly 26 years-old, had just come off of an extremely disappointing role downsizing in Best Picture nominee The Thin Red Line (see fascinating time capsule interview from several years back) --originally touted as the lead he was barely in the film by the time notoriously slow filmmaker Terence Malick was through with it. He had not yet been cast in The Pianist which would prove his rather massive critical / awards / Halle Berry kissing breakthrough. He was on the cover, as they often are because he was busy... already popular with casting directors with 5 performances emerging between 99 & 00 (his stripper in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and his union organizer in Bread and Roses chief among them).

Thandie Newton was also 26. 1998 had been a big year with both Bernardo Bertolucci's Besieged and Jonathan Demme's Beloved haunted by her beauty. All was not rosy thereafter. She snagged the female lead of Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) but it did as little for her as the previous film had done for Emmanuelle Béart stateside. Interest was renewed with her memorable supporting part in Crash (2005) and buzz has it that we'll next see her as Condoleeza Rice in Oliver Stone's Bush bio W. (2009).

Monica Potter, about to turn 28, was one of many actresses who were weighted down with "next Julia Roberts" buzz. Believe me, it was a plague that decimated the female 20somethings of Hollywood that entire decade. She had been in two hits Patch Adams and Con Air and would be in a couple more (the already forgotten Along Came a Spider, 2001 and the unfortunately remembered franchise-spawning Saw, 2004) Her last big gig was a stint on TV's Boston Legal.

Reese Witherspoon, all of 23, was still an up and comer and she was about to marry Ryan Phillipe, whom she had been dating since '97. Hopes for her career had stayed high mostly due to her impressive and soulful debut in The Man in the Moon (1991) but none of her films had been hits. That wouldn't change in 1999 (though Cruel Intentions nearly did it) because Election, the film that announced her formidable talent with the subtlety of a megaphone, also flopped in theaters (though it's better remembered than most of the smashes of that year... quality does sometimes win out in the end. It just takes a long time --Tortoise and Hare, you know). Two years after this cover, Legally Blonde would open and she'd join Hollywood's A list to become the biggest star to emerge from this cover's gelatinous mass of wannabees ---seriously. There's way too many people on this cover.

Julia Stiles, newly legal at 18, probably won this cover treatment on the basis of the just-then opening lead role in 10 Things I Hate About You (co-starring the late Heath Ledger). She worked a lot in the years that followed in films both successful and otherwise but her career didn't grow as much as people expected or she herself expected for that matter (that's my presumption from some interviews at least). Today people are still familiar and she is pretty terrific in that tiny role in the Bourne series.

Leelee Sobieski, also known as 'Helen Hunt Jr' among my crowd at the time, was a critical darling turning 16... a status I never understood how she achieved so quickly. Never could I understand her appeal but she worked steadily from her debut in the Tim Allen comedy Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) through the blockbuster Deep Impact to Kubrick's controversial Eyes Wide Shut and the horror thriller Joy Ride (2001). She's never stopped working but the press definitely stopped paying attention, ignoring her from about 2002 onward just as suddenly as they'd once inexplicably decided to dote on her. She's in the new Al Pacino thriller 88 Minutes which is about to open.

Giovanni Ribisi, from the twitchy school of acting that also spawned Jeremy Davies was 24. He had already worked a lot in indies with his biggest claim to fame being part of Saving Private Ryan's young soldier ensemble the summer before this cover was shot. He had eight projects open between this cover and the end of 2000. Presumably he slept some time in 2002 or thereabouts because every year brings several films. His career has been cooling off considerably but he's part of the next buzzy Michael Mann picture Public Enemies so his career might find its second wind next year.


Sarah Polley, 20 at the time, just had quite a year with an Oscar nomination for her first full feature behind the camera Away From Her. But we're talking 9 years ago, aren't we? Nine years back she was a critically celebrated actress with The Sweet Hereafter (1997) behind her for which many people thought she deserved an Oscar nomination. She had four movies coming out the year of this cover, the most famous of which would be Doug Liman's Go. Sarah hasn't totally given up acting (two movies coming next year) but expect more work behind the camera, too.


Norman Reedus at 30 was the oldest character on this cover. This former model was about to have a baby with longtime girlfriend Helena Christensen (they split up in 2003). He had made a few indies directly before this cover as well as the horror sci-fi flick Mimic (1997), which was his first picture. The heat was on with three more small films due in 99 but he never "broke out" as it were. He stayed mostly in indies with the occasional small role in bigger films dotting the filmography like Blade 2 and last year's American Gangster.

Anna Friel, about to turn 23, had up and comer buzz despite very little screen work. 1999 was an important year for her (see time capsule interview) as she was part of the quartet of players in Broadway's Closer (which became a film in 2004 --she played "Alice", later become Natalie Portman's role) and she was also in the ensemble in the umpteenth film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (this one with Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer). Everybody forgot about her for awhile but she's more popular and adorable than ever, suddenly, as one fourth of Pushing Daisies central quartet of players. She's "dead girl" ...but you knew that already if you've been watching.

Omar Epps, nearly 26, had gotten his film start in the Harlem set drama Juice(1992) with Tupac Shakur and had been working steadily in both TV (ER) and film up until this cover. 1999 was a big year with three major roles (The Woods, In Too Deep, and The Mod Squad) and 2000 would be equally crowded but success was only moderate. Lead film roles dried up and he moved over to TV in 2004 as a regular cast member on the Emmy nominated House, M.D.

Kate Hudson , turning 20, had an Oscar-winning superstar mother (Goldie Hawn) but little else to recommend her for this cover. Major stardom of her own would arrive approximately a year and a half later when Almost Famous (2000) opened, for which she received an Oscar nomination and became a mainstream media staple. One romantic comedy blockbuster followed (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 2003) but, honestly, she gets a lot of attention for how little success her films have hand. And that filmography: yikes!

Vinessa Shaw, nearly 23, was known from her work as a teenager on television and in films like Hocus Pocus and Ladybugs. Nothing major but the Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut (pictured, right) was in post-production when this cover was shot and the buzz on her appearance/sex appeal in the mystery shrouded film was fairly loud. Not sure why a bigger career didn't materialize but you'll probably remember that she did a brief Russell Crowe snogging act in 3:10 to Yuma last year.

Barry Pepperwas turning 29 and the previous year's feature film landscape had suggested that he might be breaking free of television, where he had spent the first six years of his Hollywood career. In 1998 he had played a memorable sniper role in Saving Private Ryan and supported Will Smith and Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State. A role in Best Picture nominee The Green Mile followed this very December and then he hit the brick wall that was the Scientology inspired Battlefied Earth(2000). The future didn't hold big successful lead roles after that but damn he was good in 25th Hour (2002), don't you think? Next up: supporting Will Smith again in Seven Pounds this Christmas.

Anna Friel ~ then and now

median age: approximately 24. Youngest: Leelee was still fifteen when the cover was shot. oldest: Norman Reedus @ thirty
collective Oscar nominations before this cover: Zilch
collective Oscar nominations after this cover: 4 (Reese, Adrian, Sarah and Kate), 2 of which led to big wins (Witherspoon in Walk the Line & Brody in The Pianist)
fame levels in 2008, according to famousr, from most to least: Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson, Julia Stiles, Adrien Brody, Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi, Thandie Newton, Leelee Sobieski, Sarah Polley, Barry Pepper, Monica Potter, Vinessa Shaw (Anna Friel and Norman Reedus are not listed on the website)
see also: 1995 ,1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
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don't miss future installments. Yes I will one day get through them all

Guillermo Del Toro Hosts a Peak at Hellboy II

It's not that I enjoyed Hellboy all that much. I like the comic book (Mignola's ink heavy artwork = yum) but I thought the movie was too chaotic/nonsensical. But it's all about aesthetics and look how kind Hellboy was (pictured, left) to entirely match the signature colors of the film experience blog? For that reason alone, I shall assist in his promotion of Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

The right suit can take you far.

[I originally had the official site's trailer, hosted by Del Toro here, but accept this YouTube version instead. I don't believe in automatically starting video. What if you're already on to the next post? I give you a choice: watch or don't watch]


P.S. Did you like the first movie?
P.S. II: The Golden Question How the hell does the Oscar's makeup branch vote? I know it's been asked a jillion times but it bears repeating. They ignore Rick Baker (their favorite --he's won 6 Oscars) for Planet of the Apes and Hellboy but nominate him for four Eddie Murphy comedies? Me no understand.
P.S. III The makeup isn't by Rick Baker this time (he's busy making Benicio Del Toro into the Wolfman) but the villain looks like this



and he totally reminds one of The Time Machine which did manage a nomination for makeup back in 2002 (it lost to Salma Hayek's unibrow in Frida). So... maybe they'll get nominated this time? [my current Oscar predictions]

He's either a Time Machine castoff or its Del Toro's spin on Elves: Legolas's ugly cousin gone to seed. Or perhaps he's merely the live action reincarnation of "Nekron" from Ralph Bakshi's Fire & Ice?


Nekron without the 'effeminate therefore evil' gloss that we'll all miss so. [/sarcasm]
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Hump Day Hottie, Dennis Quaid

Another Vanity Fair magazine retro coming your way a little later today but while I prepare, I'm sipping coffee and imagining a chit-chat with birthday boy Dennis Quaid, happy 54th!, whilst doing so. Sometimes in weaker (read: deranged) moments I imagine myself having my own talk show, like one Rupert Pupkin. But I promise I'm not that crazy. I don't rehearse in a basement with cardboard cut-outs. I don't even have one... oh, wait. OK, only one.

<--- Dennis apparently drinks Starbucks. Ewww. Home brew is the way to go. But I still love him. I'm still pissed he wasn't Oscar nominated for his wound tight angry closet case in Far From Heaven. What a rich treasure chest full of performances that film was.

Dennis is looking for love again in Smart People (with Ellen Page, SJP, and Thomas Hayden Church) which opens this Friday. I skipped Vantage Point but I usually try to be there for Mr. Quaid (Dennis, not Randy please). He's aging really well, don't you think? Crow's feet go real well with that huge ever familiar grin. That grin! [sigh]


He coulda played the Joker in the 1989's Batman... if they wanted the Joker to exude sex appeal rather than insanity. Which... well, it would have been a different direction to take it, yes.

Every once in a while I get angry that the internet has such a gap when it comes to 80s & early 90s stars. You can find tributes to classic movie stars everywhere and its impossible to avoid modern celebrities...even D-Listers. But people whose heyday came before the days of flickr but aren't old enough for the nostalgia market? Forget it. So many great photoshoots lost in the chasm between fan clippings and flickr.

Dennis doesn't even have an official site unless you count DQ & the Sharks... (celebrities and their bands. Does everyone have one?). He doesn't even have a decent fansite. There's one but it's got no photos. And when you look like Dennis Quaid still does (pictured, right), photos you deserve!

My favorite Quaid performances are probably Breaking Away (for nostalgia --the first time you know), The Big Easy and Far From Heaven and maybe The Rookie. He's so easy to enjoy. Your favorite?

previously on "hump day hotties"
Drew Barrymore, Matthew Barney, Natalie Wood, Carice van Houten, 2007 Best Actor nominees and many more...
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Linkyrie

NY Post Bryan Singer's Valkyrie pushed to 2009. No Tom Cruise eyepatch for you this year, you naughty "repressive" moviegoer!
Vulture Spike Lee on the Oscars. Entertaining and true.
Boing Boing on this day in 1953, Hollywood went 3-D
Instructables shows you how to make your own Gromit army!
Buzz Sugar has some funny lady casting news
Scene Stealers looks at 'great movies no one should have to watch more than once.' This is interesting because it's such a clear example of how many people have trouble with sad movies. Me, I lurve 'em. [p.s. I did also want to correct one notion, though: The Piano was a success at the box office. $40 million way back in '93 for a challenging frankly sexual movie made for adults? Ka-ching]
Movie Marketing shows the new Baby Mama babymaker website feature. I tried it with my beloved Patty Clarkson but the result was too disturbing too share. [Disturbing to Patty too, I'm sure. -ed.]
lightsabre a rare interview with the costume designer John Mollo (Star Wars)

off-cinema... I'm resting my eyes
Nova Slim has prepared a Madonna mix for you. I love his opening line... (so true)
Queerty an illustrator's cheeky response to a Cheyenne Jackson's interview nugget in the Advocate.
Comic Book Resources A Tori Amos based graphic novel. Woot
Socialite Life Guess the ass. Hee (it wasn't hard... to guess, I mean)
Everything I Know... Broadway's 09 season (coming up) has some big revivals. So bone up on the film versions of Pal Joey, West Side Story and Brigadoon before the long awaited revivals occur.

Tuesday Top Ten: Weirdos

Let's venture where few actors dare to go... or stay, rather. Many thespians go to strange places onscreen but few remain in those outer regions for several films in a row or radiate that quite naturally as a celebrity. This list is dedicated to Angelina Jolie who used to be magnetically weird despite her beauty but is now a classy world-famous humanitarian and earth mother. Shame.

Top Ten Weirdo Actors

This list does not include Tom Cruise because.... too easy.

10 Rossy DePalma -She's not the only bizarre looking person on the list but she's the only one who is here because of how strange the mug is. And yet it's made for the screen, too, don't you think? So pleased that Almodovar has cast her for the sixth time (She'll be in his 2009 feature Broken Hugs. I like to think of this director/muse pair as the modern Spanish counterpart to 70s era Shelley Duvall & Robert Altman. Would Rossy be too much to handle in a lead role? Try Pedro, try.

P.S. Has anyone sniffed her perfume? What ever does it smell like?

09 Johnny Depp -I almost didn't include him because of the familiarity. His weirdness is Disney marketable now: cute, safe, beloved. But then again it doesn't feel artificial, or like a costume he puts on for show the way Norma Jean could famously flip her switch to access Marilyn Monroe. One only has to consider how quickly it came to him --his first Burton film (Edward Scissorhands) and the way the delicious 'beautiful people' years with Winona Ryder always had a gothic undercurrent and sense of humor "Wino Forever" -- and that it never left again. Defecting to France, Captain Jack Sparrow, and that sartorial sense that seems to be composed of equal parts 70s pimp, 90s grunge rocker and Batman's The Joker, all of it just underlines the genuine strangeness.

08 Isabelle Huppert -She's either the greatest actress who ever lived or she's insane, possibly both. I came to this conclusion after watching The Piano Teacher and 8 Women in short succession. Ma Mére only confirmed it. Please don't leave me alone in a room with her.

07 Daniel Day-Lewis -If there is a God and that whole favorite Christian saying 'don't hide your light under a bushel' applies to life in general than God is very mad at DDL for working so infrequently. But he's on this list because he makes his own shoes and because we suspect God is actually more Daniel-Fearing than the other way 'round.

06 Tilda Swinton -Subversive. Brilliant. Iconoclastic. Odd in all of the most inspiring enviable ways. Plus the filmography is to die for ...any artistically bent actor should be green with envy.

05 Vincent Gallo. Maybe the people who agree to (ahem) co-star with him are even crazier.

04 John Malkovich. Charlie Kauffman, screenwriter extraordinaire, has made many perceptive and bizarrely witty choices in his oeuvre. None are greater than putting a portal inside this actor's head for Being John Malkovich. Sure, you could have creative fun for hours imagining variations of this film with a different name following the Being... [it becomes a whole 'nother film --try it], but no actor could have possibly fit better into the inimitably odd demands of this head trip.

"Malkovich! Malkovitch! Malkovitch!"

03 Crispin Glover. Perhaps an obvious choice but even when he goes entirely mainstream (Charlie's Angels or Back to the Future f'rinstance) he's decidedly off. Couldn't quite call myself a "fan" but I do at least cherish all three "Groovin' Larry/Gary"s in The Beaver Trilogy. I seriously do. Have any of you seen it? You won't soon forget it.

02 Juliette Lewis. Many actors dream of being rock stars (and vice versa) but Juliette is one of the only ones who does both convincingly. She was a freak from the get go: an emancipated minor at 14, shacking up with Brad Pitt at 17, Bo Derek braids to the Oscars after salaciously sucking Robert DeNiro's thumb in Cape Fear. She's given so many fine and disturbed performances. Her greatest is in Natural Born Killers in which she's both scarier and funnier than Woody Harrelson with her possessed mood switches and jumping bean mayhem. But the rosetta stone to her public persona onscreen is "Faith" in Strange Days (1995), in which she gives half of a great performance, seems a little wasted and is also possessed by rock n roll dreaming while she's channeling PJ Harvey on stage.


She's one of a kind. Why is Hollywood so scared to use her properly? She's only 34 but she hasn't had a decent movie role since 2000. Get with it casting directors. Time is a wastin'.

01 Christopher Walken. Whether he's imagining deadly car crashes with numb conviction (Annie Hall), playing Russian roulette (The Deer Hunter), dancing in an empty hotel in one of the best music videos ever made (Weapon of Choice), sexing up John Travolta (Hairspray), or badly in need of dental hygiene (Sleepy Hollow) he's always defiantly joyfully weird. Well done.

Would love to hear your lists. Obviously oddity is in the eye of the beholder. There were many others I almost included instead like Sharon Stone [check this out. tee hee] or any proselytizing Scientologists. There's a whole other list to be made of faux-weird ...people we suspect may be deeply and utterly suburban despite outward appearances to the contrary.

if you're here for the first time and you read blogs through a service, please consider subscribing. More weirdness to come. Not so directly mind you... But this blog sells its own crazy




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Doing It

random juvenile thought of the afternoon

Having watched Lust, Caution again I am absolutely certain that Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Tang Wei were actually, well, you know...


Either that or they're both even better actors than I ever imagined. Felt an uncharacteristic and sudden twitch of peeping tom guilt for staring at them in flagrante delicto when they both suddenly turned to the camera, dripping with sweat. But... still couldn't look away. Great movie. Why haven't you seen it yet?
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