Big Willie (Shakespeare) Style

Nathaniel: In each episode of the mammoth "Best Pictures From the Outside In" project, Mike (Goatdog's Movies), Nick (Nick's Flick Picks) and I have been viewing two Oscar winners, one from either end of the Academy's 80 years timeline, moving forwards and backwards simultaneously. Today's double feature happens to star two very famous and prolific writers.

Emile & 'Will' co-star in one close-up in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

On our trip forward we hit 1937's The Life of Emile Zola, a biopic cum courtroom drama set in France where Zola continually rocked the boat with controversial novels and politically crusading letters. On our trip backwards in Oscar time we've reached 1998's Shakespeare in Love, a romantic comedy cum theatrical love letter set in England when Shakespeare was making his name. Though we see very little of Zola in the act of writing (he's more of an orator on celluloid), we're treated to plentiful ink-stained close-ups of "Will" (Shakespeare) putting pen to paper even if he's more of a poetic lover on celluloid. Those particular shots made me wish that we were conversing with quill pens and sending each other exquisitely crafted letters rather than jotting out quickie e-mails like, well, this one.

If you were dipping your quill in the ink… what's the first sentence you'd scribble down about each film? Or would you just ignore The Life... altogether and start composing multiple sonnets to ...Love? That's what I'm tempted to do.

Nick: Nathaniel thinks I can limit myself to a SINGLE SENTENCE. Ha ha ha ha ha...

Here's a start: "Zola! Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Well, I absolutely f***ing won't. Not remotely the frame of reference that came to mind. But if I compare thee to a cold winter's night--that is, if I compare thee to Cimarron or Cavalcade--I find that I like thee so very much more. However stodgy and slow, you are a handsome little fellow."

Mike: My attempts to adapt the opening paragraphs of several Zola novels for our discussion having come to naught, I say this: Zola is both overstuffed and understaffed at the same time; the sets are lush and warm, but they're populated by so few people that it seemed like a high-school drama class was given free rein to use the Warner Bros. backlot but unfortunately limited to the dozen or so members of the class. And this: Shakespeare in Love moves with breathtaking exhilaration, its screenplay is a smart and funny exploration of the pain of artistic creation, it deserved almost all the Oscars it won (especially Best Picture), and I'm glad the film industry quickly got over its exploration of Joseph Fiennes as a leading man.

"J'Accuse... !" Paul Muni of being a ham and Joseph Fiennes of being a fox

Nick: Which leads me to a question. As clearly as Emile Zola would have hated Shakespeare in Love (too flouncy! not Real!), do you think the filmmakers of Life of Emile Zola would have hated Shakespeare in Love? Which is to say, does the Zola film express an aspiration toward the liveliness, momentum, and aplomb that I agree Shakespeare in Love possesses, or do we see a concerted drive toward the kind of sobriety, slowness, and superficiality of characterization we often get in Zola.

Another way to ask this would be whether bad films are even trying to be good ones, but I actually feel a little generous toward Zola. There's a severity to its compositions and its tone that I kind of appreciate, and symptoms like its very glancing look at Alfred Dreyfus (Supporting Actor winner Joseph Schildkraut, pictured right) who languishes in jail without developing much of a filmic "personality," COULD be a way of expressing what Dreyfus is losing (i.e., a three-dimensional life) by spending all those years in jail. Just as the film COULD be trying to show what a self-righteous stuffed shirt Emile Zola finally became even when he fought on the side of Right. Paul Cezanne certainly seems to think so. But there's also a nagging sense that Life of Emile Zola may just be failing to be the fuller, richer, more rousing and humane movie it would very much like to be. What do you guys think?

And I don't mean to keep avoiding Shakespeare in Love. I just haven't thought of enough puns yet.

Nathaniel: Is this one question or five? My mind's eye has glazed over and all I can see is that bizarre book cover pan that takes place, I think, between act one (Zola's generic lean years) and the other two acts (the interminable rest of the movie) showing us dozens of Zola's famous titles. I think the purpose of that bridge shot is to signify Great Accomplishment™ without having to actually dramatize it. After all, there's much speechifying to make room for.

If Zzzola is trying to be a rousing experience it's failing in a colossal way. To me it was a veritable anti-drama. I had the opposite reaction to the one named earlier: Cimarron and Cavalcade are solidly fun popcorn pictures in comparison. But I'm glad you mentioned them again, Cimarron in particular. To me the bulk of Zola is basically Cimarron's worst scene --that hysteric courtroom diversion-- only stretched out to feature length.

The one character I identified with was Dreyfus. It felt like a prison to me.

Mike: I don't think Zola wants to be anything but what it is: a Serious Biopic, a Film for the Educated, a Film for Grownups. Its stodginess defined a genre that was popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s and was certainly well-represented at the Oscars: look at The Story of Louis Pasteur, Madame Curie, One Foot in Heaven, Blossoms in the Dust, ad nauseam, ad hypniam. And I think there was definitely an idea that Hollywood could educate people with these movies--that's the only thing that can explain the seriously streamlined feel of a lot of the proceedings, like it's a lesson plan for fifth graders. It concentrates all the action into a ridiculously small number of characters, resulting in scenes like the one where the military brass are trying to figure out what to do about the Dreyfus letter--I had the feeling that if they pulled the camera back, it would reveal all five or six members of the military sitting in a row of offices, each waiting for his immediate underling to bring this event to his attention. Its weirdness results from these dual and conflicting goals: remind the educated how smart they are, and educate the uneducated. But I don't think it wants to be more rousing or entertaining than it is, because I think the genre forbids that.

Dear god I'm sick of Zola. Can we talk about Shakespeare now? Let's start with how happy we were to be reminded of how great -- passionate, funny, intelligent -- Gwyneth Paltrow can be when given the right role. Hell, we can even talk about Ben Affleck --I loved him in this movie, even though I'll back off my off-blog comment to Nick that I wish he had played Will Shakespeare. Imelda Staunton! Colin Firth! Tom Wilkinson! Anything but Zola!

Nick: Shakespeare in Love is seriously great. I know a lot of people find it overrated and think its Oscar win was bogus, but in a weird way, that whole scuttlebutt has also led to the film being underrated, don't you think? Having just watched so many 1930s comedies as part of this conversation series, it's all the more stunning to see the same swiftness of pace and succinct, delicious exaggeration of character in such a modern comedy. You can totally see Cary Grant (for Joseph), Irene Dunne or Katharine Hepburn (for Gwyneth), Alice Brady (for Imelda), and Walter Connolly (for Geoffrey) in this thing, right? Which means, for all the reasons Mike just mentioned, it would very likely have LOST Best Picture in the 1930s.

It's also incredible to realize that this comedy, unlike almost any other recent comedy I can think of off the top of my head, has zero truck with nastiness (either meanness or grossness), and even when the double-entendres and insider references border on the smug, it isn't that lazy sarcasm that's all over modern movies. I love how generous the movie is, with character and story and tone, and how that doesn't make the movie bubble-headed, because it's also so interested in sadness and separation.

Nathaniel: It's not particularly strange that Shakespeare in Love acquired all that extraneous baggage -- that's to be expected with Oscar wins. But it is sad. For in this particular case of late breaking tide-turning enthusiasm, the Academy has very little to be ashamed of. I wasn't completely wild about it that year (I'm surprised to announce that I'm much crazier about it at this very moment) but this was and is a better picture than the expected champion it overthrew. The cherry on top? I wasn't rooting for her that year (I was leaning Montenegro then Blanchett from the nominees), but Paltrow's performance holds up. She's radiant. She doesn't get enough credit for the actor's command she has over her voice I think. It's quite an instrument and it has so many shadings in this movie, just as her face does in closeup ... storming over with dignified anger or romantic confusion or love of art. Within the context of the annual Best Actress crowning, I'm now willing to concede it's one of the freshest choices they've made in some time. It's both a character performance and a star turn and my god but they're too stingy with the latter these days, you know?

Gwyneth glows while reading her reviews. They also glow.

I enjoy almost every performance in this picture, with the exception of Geoffrey Rush (whom I'll just never really *get* I suppose. It's a mystery), and I'm glad that it took as long to get made as it did. Wasn't this supposed to star Daniel Day-Lewis and Julia Roberts originally some years earlier? Imagine what a different, and frankly lesser, film that would have made all burdened with star power too modern (Julia) or heavy (Daniel) for such a farce.

One quibble: what was with the terrible insert cutting in two different scenes to show us that Someone is Coming to spoil the party? It was like a parody of those countdown clock action movie flourishes where you swear they're stretching that last 10 seconds out into five minutes. That bomb is never going to go off in those action movies and by the time Someone Arrived in each case in Shakespeare in Love, I had forgotten that they were even on their way. Am I making any sense?

Nick: I completely get you, and it's a fair way to concede the flaws in this beautiful film. (I almost added "soulful," but is that too embarrassing an adjective?) I think the movie gets a little bogged down in the interlude when Viola thinks Will is dead and Will thinks Wessex killed Marlowe, and suddenly there is some lakeside moping under a tree. A good five or ten minutes of slightly misjudged tone and tempo. But that's only because the energy and elegance is so well-preserved everywhere else. For instance, in the merry score. And in the splendiferrific costumes by Sandy Powell, with whom Nathaniel and I have a sort of Design for Living three-way marriage thing. Someone should remember to make sure she knows.

Last bit from me: I'm thrilled to hear nice things said about Paltrow. I've maintained for years that despite the rumors, she was better in this than Blanchett was in Elizabeth. I know you guys aren't necessarily agreeing, but finding three people who admire her work in this movie is feat enough. And when I think that, in addition to Julia, this role was once earmarked for Winona effing Ryder... as earmarks go, that would literally have been a Bridge to Nowhere.

The weirdly incestuous '98 Best Actress Battle: Gwyneth & Cate
shared a leading man (Joseph Fiennes) a supporting actor (Geoffrey Rush)
and Queen Elizabeth even had a crucial role in Shakespeare in Love

Nathaniel: I actually was agreeing with you, which surprises me. But don't tell Blanchett's legion of admirers obsessors that I've switched sides ... or it'll be our sites shut down and not plague-ridden Elizabethan playhouses.

Mike: Paltrow gets my vote, although I have to admit that the only thing I remember clearly about Elizabeth is the scene where she gets the bishops to accept the Church of England by locking a few in the basement and then tossing her head coquettishly at the rest.

I don't think Shakespeare is perfect: even though I didn't dislike the constant insert cutting Nathaniel alluded to (it actually added to the comedy by the third or fourth time for me), the ending bothers me. Films about tormented (male) artistic geniuses often feature a fair maiden who inspires him, sleeps with him (sometimes the order is switched), and then gets the hell out of his way so he can go on being a tormented genius. That's a parallel between this film and Zola, although at least Zola's muse (Dreyfus) eventually got to leave his prison island, whereas poor Gwyneth is stuck with Virginia (but at least she doesn't die, which is often the fate of the muse). It would complicate matters too much if she stuck around: we don't really want to think of our geniuses as having small talk over coffee in the morning, squabbling about income taxes, or changing diapers--or being really happy.

But then again, that's one of the things that sets these two films apart: Shakespeare is bittersweet, but Zola gives us what feels like the crowning achievement of Zola's life. Sure, he dies, but he dies a hero, having accomplished everything he needs to do. The bulk of Will Shakespeare's writing life is ahead of him, and will always be tinged with melancholy, but most of Zola's biopic and his ultimate triumph are only peripherally related to what he's best remembered for--writing. As a film, as a biopic, and as an exploration of what it's like to be a writer, Shakespeare beats Zola.

Readers: Keep the conversation flowing in the comments...

vote: The Best Pic Tournament, our choices and yours so go and vote. Mike has mashed up the two films. Paltrow sure gets around.
next week's double feature: Titanic (1997) and You Can't Take it With You (1938)

Statistics: Shakespeare in Love was nominated for 13 Oscars (one shy of the all-time record) and won 7: Picture, Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actress, Costume Design, Art Direction and Comedy Score (during the brief period when the Oscars momentarily thought they were the Golden Globes). The Life of Emile Zola was up for 10 statues and won 3: Picture, Screenplay and Supporting Actor.


Best Pictures From the Outside In (so far)
episode 1 No Country For Old Men (07) and Wings (27/28)
episode 2 The Departed (06) and Broadway Melody (28/29)
episode 3 Crash (05) and All Quiet on the Western Front (29/30)
episode 4 Million Dollar Baby (04) and Cimarron (30/31)
episode 5 LotR: The Return of the King (03) and Grand Hotel (31/32)
episode 6 Chicago (02) and Cavalcade (32/33)
episode 7 A Beautiful Mind (01) and It Happened One Night (34)
episode 8 Gladiator (00) and Mutiny on the Bounty (35)
episode 9 American Beauty (99) and The Great Ziegfeld (36)
episode 10 Shakespeare in Love (98) and The Life of Emile Zola (37)

Waltz With Bashir -Israel's Probable Oscar Submission

[Thanks to reader Yonatan for this news]

Waltz With Bashir (trailer below) won 6 out of the 7 Ophirs (Israeli's Oscars) it was nominated for. That's usually the sign that it'll be the Oscar submission for the country.



We'll wait to see if it fares the same (animation nomination) or better than Persepolis. No animated film has ever been nominated in the Foreign Language Oscar race but there's generally at least one a year submitted as of late. NOTE: The Foreign Film Oscar pages will be completed updated with all 25 official submissions thus far, as soon as I have a moment to breathe: Thursday morning (yes, I'm turning blue)

Books You Can't See As Movies

When Blindness opens Oct 3rd we'll have to have a discussion about what type of books can be transferred to the screen and which can't. Or rather: which should and shouldn't. Everything can transfer.

I was thinking about this topic because of Brittanica Blog's count down of the top ten films of 1968. Today's selection (#9) Romeo & Juliet is, of course, drawn from an eminently transferable property. I love Franco Zeffirelli's celebrated film version for roughly the same reasons everyone else does: it understood how youthful the play was and finally portrayed it that way lushly onscreen. It's interesting to me that Baz Luhrmann's terrific similarly fresh & hormonal Romeo + Juliet (1996) wasn't greeted as ecstatically by the Oscars when it came out three decades later. "It's too much. It's too fast!" you could hear the naysayers naysaying when confronted with its chaotic emotional and visual rollercoaster. But too much too fast is the brilliant dagger point of that particular Shakespearean tragedy.

The first 1968 selection (#10) was The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, the movie adaptation of Carson McCuller's fine ensemble novel. I am usually curious to see movies based on books I loved and this would definitely qualify as a book I love. And yet... I can't bear to think of this one as a film, so I've never sought out the feature. The book's prose, characterizations, the lyrical projected tragedy... I can't see them in the same way visually as I do in my head. The book only devastates through the knowledge that slowly seeps as to what will come to pass... not what happens really. It's an emotionally projected tragedy and when movies try to do that, well, they do it through narration. It rarely has the same effect as your own internal voice.

Is there any book you've loved that you never want to see onscreen?
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Little Children (2006) by Adrian Tomine

I love The New Yorker. If I ruled the world every magazine would use plenty of cinematic themed illustrations. EW will go there occassionally but not enough in my estimation [Adrian Tomine gallery]

Link After Reading

Cinema Styles has a good piece on the seemingly unstoppable expansion of running times
Y Kant Goran Rite on Superman (1978). Succint and well put, sir.
Ephemerist on Christina Hendrick's decolletage @ the EMMYs
<-- The New Republic "Gratuitous Argument Starter" ranking the work of the Coen Bros. My ranking (subject to change) is to the left
Victim of the Time Goes back in time
Bauer-Griffin Mark Ruffalo shouts out to Obama
Webster's Is My Bitch "catfight" (noun) starring Drew & Kiki

Just Jared Robert Pattinson in Interview. (Will there by more hysteria or less once this Twilight thingy opens?)
He Shot Cyrus has a low maintenance blog-a-thon coming up: "My Best Post" -- you've already written it, see?
Mo Rocca fun piece on Dolly Parton's career and Broadway bound 9 to 5
Gelf Magazine looks at the world of blurb distortion in movie marketing
I Watch Stuff Anna Faris stunting her own career. Challenging yourself is hard, yo.

Drawn! rounds up a couple of pieces on the still-in-progress animated feature Coraline (2009)


I really enjoyed the short Neil Gaiman book its based on and, though I mourn the now long shelved idea (Gaiman approved) of Michelle Pfeiffer as Mother/Other Mother in a live action version, I'm hoping this stop motion film honors the modestly scaled, inventively creepy magic tale. Cross your fingers.

Good Mornin' (Hollywood)

Good Mornin'!
Good Mornin' to you Hollywood, CA and greater Los Angeles readers. You started your day off right with a quick jaunt over to the Film Experience! Good for you. If you're from Cali, say hi in the comments.

Please note: Superstar celebrities may comment under false names to protect their privacy.
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Monologue: Elinor Dashwood's Sense

Monologue Mondays are back ~ Season 3

This past summer's misguided reboot of Brideshead Revisited, all pretty to look at but dully obvious to think about, makes one long for the day when world class directors were making British costume dramas. Nowadays we get Becoming Reducing Jane or Revisiting Brideshead Revisited [sic] instead of complex emotional work like Howards End or 1995's spirited Sense & Sensibility.

[aside: You counter with "But Joe Wright!" to which I say "OK... but don't interrupt my train of thought!"]

Emma Thompson, a veteran of better earlier costume dramas, was a major bright spot in Brideshead. A little Emma can go a long way to rescuing a movie. When the movie itself is good a little Emma can go a long way to making it great.

Wisely, Emma even understands that a little Emma goes a long way. In signature performances like Howards End (1992) and Sense & Sensibility (1995) she tends to store up the emotion, focusing on nuance for the first two acts of her portrayal. When she finally does release it for dramatic affect, her climax is always galvanizing. Consider the mini explosion of Elinor Dashwood. Her heart is breaking...

Edward made his promise a long time ago, long before he met me. Though he may harbor some regrets, I believe he will be happy in the knowledge that he did his duty and kept his word. After all - after all that is bewitching in the idea of one's happiness depending entirely on one person, it is not always possible. We must accept. Edward will marry Lucy - and you and I will go home.

Her sister Marianne (the vibrant Kate Winslet) who has a history of misunderstanding emotional temperaments different than her own, interjects, frustrated with what she sees as heartless resignation. This infuriates Elinor...

What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering? For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced upon me by the very person whose prior claims ruined all my hopes. I have had to endure her exultation again and again whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have produced proof enough of a broken heart even for you!

Oh Elinor. Just as quickly as Emma let's Elinor's despair loose she pulls her back, portraying Elinor's personal programming with crystalline clarity. The subject of the scene is Elinor's quiet despair but it's Marianne who suddenly needs comforting. Elinor crosses the room with just a beat of annoyance and a whiff of unspoken self-lecture brushing her face. She holds her crying sister when she's the one that desperately needs to be held.


"When Subtlety Attacks!" could be the tagline of this Emma Thompson performance but it's also descriptive of Ang Lee's best films. They're so carefully measured and layered that when they finally do explode: the sex scenes in Lust, Caution, the kiss in Crouching Tiger, the break-up in Brokeback Mountain or that titular Ice Storm, it can pulverize the viewer. If they ever hold an Ang Lee or an Emma Thompson retrospective, that's the tagline they ought to consider.

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Previously on Monologue Mondays (Season 2) Bay of Angels (1963), In Bruges (2008), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Hitchcock in 1969, Velvet Goldmine (1998), Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004), Eastern Promises (2007) and A Mighty Heart (2007) (Season 1) Blade Runner (1982), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), Bring It On (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Sideways (2004), Bull Durham (1988), Trainspotting (1996), Addams Family Values (1993), American Psycho (2000), Tootsie (1982), Strange Days (1995) and The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
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Vintage Viggo

Viggo Mortensen in 1980 when he was 22, five years before his first feature film (Peter Weir's Witness) [Photographed by Ellen Graham in New York City]
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Revolutionary Road

I love the way Kate's voice sounds so flatly husky and small, Leonardo's too. The lines almost sound like they're numbed by suburbia, too much smoking and whisky. Or, more likely, Mad Men is just on my mind after its EMMY win (similar time period and marital dissatisfaction). Everything that's said between Leo & Kate here might be whispered between them, even if its uttered for us.

I also enjoyed Kate running through the woods (eery memories of Heavenly Creatures, still one of her finest hours) and the depersonalizing shots of hordes of men in suits. But then, Sam Mendes has never made a film that didn't look like a million bucks. He likes those A grade cinematographers, don't he? My chief worry is that it'll play stiff and thematic. Road to Perdition and Jarhead weren't exactly loose and spontaneous pictures, you know? Here's to this Titanic reunion, though. What a crazy handsome couple.

Good (?) Mornin'

This week's banner (I change them up, see? If they don't quite scroll, they pan as some stars disappear, replaced by others) wishes you a good morning. With coffee. The banner is inspired by Peter @ Coffee Coffee and More Coffee who rarely reviews a movie that I've even heard of. Which I consider quite a feat.

The self-portrait in the sidebar is too small for fine details but I'm drinking some too. I raise my cup to Mads, Fonda, Sigourney and the rest of the guzzlers. I'm drinking from the same Pinocchio coffee cup I've had since the Disney marketing blitz of 1940. The first blog post I wrote while sipping from it was a bloodshot ode to crazy/beautiful Vivien in Waterloo Bridge. I haven't slept since!

Admire my stamina.
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EMMY *Live-Blogging* (The Broadcast)

If you're a completist (And why wouldn't you be?) you'd want to start here with the arrivals.

8:04 So far it's a dud. (Tough audience right? It's only 4 minutes in) A "holy crap" filled montage of famous TV lines said by famous TV people who didn't originally say them. Followed by Oprah's bizarre affected accent (I so wish she and Madonna would duet). Now it's the hosts of reality shows doing a long "bit" which they claim is not a "bit" at all. LIES. it's all lies.
8:07 Still, I thank them for showing me Heidi Klum in a tux. It's a look she hasn't worked in Project Runway. Why do beautiful women look so sexy in suits?
8:08 Never mind.


Supporting Actor, Comedy: Jeremy Piven Entourage.
Funny, yes. But Emmy, Emmy, Emmy... do the same people really need to win each year. Three years in a row? Spread the wealth baby. Neil Patrick Harris! We wanted to see him lay one on his boyfriend. Academies are always so stingy.

Supporting Actress, Comedy: Jean Smart in Samantha Who?
A good performance but even when they don't repeat (it's the first season) they repeat (like Piven, it's her third win). This Academy is so habitual. They're like chain smokers who can't veer from their favorite brands. But more importantly: Julia Louis Dreyfus dress is hideous. Neon orange + cutouts = rarely a good look for humans.

8:26 Heidi Klum's 4th outfit of the evening. I think I might keep count.
8:27 More Desperate Housewivesszzzzz. They're not Sex & The City. Sigh.

Supporting Actor, Drama: Zeljko Ivanek in Damages
The first time I saw this actor perform was in Mass Appeal (1984) and I was kinda into it and horrified by it at the same time as a young gay boy who didn't know he was that way. So this is his second closet case performance I've seen. I've come to believe that he's an overactor by nature. In fact, though it may be unpopular to say I think everyone on Damages is overdoing it a little bit. It's Overactors Anonymous. I'm not saying the scenery isn't tasty and they shouldn't chew...

8:34 Ricky Gervais is finally bringing a little funny to the show by torturing Steve Carell. 34 minutes in, it was about time. Directing prize the guy who did the Academy Awards. Er, why?
8:45 A dig at Katherine Heigl for her comments about the writing on Grey's Anatomy. That doesn't surprise me but I think more actors should speak their mind when the material isn't great. She's probably kind of a bitchy diva but she was right about her character.

Supporting Actress, Drama: Dianne Wiest In Treatment
She has two EMMYs to go with her two Oscars. [editors note: If TONY is next, she'll be a triple-crowner!] She plays a therapist on this HBO show. I would need less therapy if Academies actually rewarded great actors like her more often.

8:51 Steve Martin. My god I love him. It's probably because when I was a little kid I thought "King Tut" was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. Too bad he hasn't made a good movie in how long?
9:02 Josh Groban is having a psychotic breakdown on stage for your, um, enjoyment. He's basically William Shatner Jr. at this point: Complete Fame Whore.



If not Shatner Jr. perhaps Meryl Streep Jr via Mamma Mia! "Look at me being f-u-n-ny!" I say this because I love Meryl and apparently many of you love Josh. Who knew?

9:08 The Lovely Laura Linney™ wins Actress in a TV movie or miniseries. It's frustrating to me that she has to console herself with EMMYs. What about the Oscar?

9:17 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart wins after a weird intro by way of Laugh-In reunion (Lily Tomlin! ringydingy). So... it's a cliche to say it but sometimes cliches are truths. The Daily Show is the only news show I truly trust. He's a modern hero.
9:19 Heidi's 6th outfit. Something in leopard. Rrrrowr [*does Thomas Hayden Church Sideways hand gesture* --yes, I'm a little tipsy right now]
9:21 Direction of a Comedy goes to Pushing Daisies "Pie-lette" awwww

Too Fey to Function

9:25 Tina Fey wins Best Writing for 30 Rock. I truly enjoy that show but I am a wee bit sad that she probably won't be writing any more movies as funny as Mean Girls while this show is still on.
9:28 Oh blessed commercial break.
9:31 West Wing. It still won't go away! But at least the show is appropriately political tonight. Vote.
9:33 Did this guy (some Academy president) just WELCOME me to the show? I've been watching it for 93 minutes now. What the hell?

<--- 9:40 They either haven't showed Michelle Pfeiffer and her husband yet or I was typing when they did. But they're there. See!
9:43 Supporting Actor in a Mini Series Tom Wilkinson in John Adams. It's cleaning up as many predicted when it first premiered.
9:45 Um yikes. Cop cars are surrounding my building, a helicopter is lighting up the roof.
9:54 Sandra Oh & Patrick Dempsey (who knows from supporting actresses) are here to present Supporting Actress in a MiniSeries. The great Dame Eileen Atkins wins for Cranford.
9:56 The cop cars seem to have left this street but the helicopters are still hovering.

9:57 Kathy Griffin and Don Rickles. "Let's read these funny lines they wrote for us"
9:58 Reaction shot mystery: Why is Adrian Grenier so extremely beautiful to look at for 2 seconds and entirely boring to look at for more than 3?
9:59 Reality Show Competition. 6th consecutive win for Amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
10:01 Sally Field gives the Best MiniSeries prize to John Adams' producer Tom Hanks. "Have you been a good boy?" Oh, please don't remind me that I have to sit through Forrest Gump again in a few weeks for Best Pictures From the Outside In. I love Sally but I just can't go there yet. Please and thanks.

10:08 I absolutely love that they've paired The Chenoweth and NPH but they're not going to let them sing. I am aghast. If I could type nothing but heart symbols until this Broadway pair leaves the screen, I would.
10:17 House gets Best Director. Mad Men gets Best Writing. Do they split the difference and give Drama Series to a third show?
10:23 They've gone back to Mini Series prizes (this night will last forever). Paul Giamatti for John Adams.
10:25 Candice Bergen is wearing an outfit that... it's just. No.

Best Actor, Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
YES.
Best Actress, Drama: Glenn Close, Damages
There you go bitches. I know so many of you wanted it. My heart was with the unnominated Mary McDonnell [sniffle]. Great speech from Glenn. Shout out to mature sexy complicated women. This category is indeed proof that they can carry shows ("...AND MOVIES!" Nathaniel shouts)

10:30 In Memoriam. [double sniffle]

I kinda really hate that awards shows always end up running out of time. Because what happens is that the "big" winners always get stiffed in terms of attention and time of speeches and "bits" etcetera. Grrr

Best Actor, Drama: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
I've actually never heard of this show. But then, I'm a movie guy so... (why am I live blogging this again? Yeah, I don't know either)
Best Actress, Comedy: Tina Fey, 30 Rock

10:44 More Host humor. If Heidi Klum doesn't win this I am going to throw something at the television.
10:50 Best Host goes to Jeff Probst of Survivor fame. That's still on? Haven't they exhausted all the remote islands by now? I threw a piece of popcorn at the screen. I missed. Or maybe it was lodge inside his dimples, hidden from view. I'm pissed for Heidi but when you've got perfect bone structure, designers at your beck and call, Seal, endless money and a hit show, well, she probably doesn't care too much.
10:53 Betty White. She makes me smile.

Best Comedy: 30 Rock / Best Drama: Mad Men
Two very deserving sometimes brilliant shows so even if the rest of their choices were uninspired at least they let the top prizes slip into good hands.

Is it time for the Oscars yet? That was five months long.


Bye Laura!
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EMMY *Live-Blogging* (God Help Me)

Refresh your screens regularly and watch the post grow. Oh the magic of technology...

6:36 (Arrivals) Ryan Seacrest says that he was "instructed not to touch the women" Heh. As if this is a temptation.
6:41 Kristin Chenowith is getting tinier. Which would seem impossible, but no. She reveals she will sing again on Pushing Daisies. Something from the 80s. Wheeeee. She also has a bow on her cleavage. Which is funny since she clearly does view her breasts as a Gift to All.
6:43 Marcia Cross just air kissed Kristin. I suddenly felt territorial. Marcia is Crazy (Kimberly) and Brittle (Bree) so please stay away from my diminutive diva. Marcia has apparently sprayed adhesive to her pink tulle and rolled around on a pile of carefully dried dusty flowers.

6:50 The boyfriend says "someone appliquéd hubcabs to their dress" Hee. She went by too quickly. Who was that? I think it was Mrs. Mad Men January Jones. But the camera cut away quickly.
6:54 Tina Fey is talking but she is not wearing her sexy glasses, so I'm not hearing her. Instead I am lost in the blue of Mary Louise Parker's gown. Mmmmm Mary Louise Parker.
7:04 Patrick Dempsey starring in a remake of The Picture of Dorian Gray right there on the red carpet.

7:11 I'm bored. Too many Housewives and they're not visibly Desperate enough. The red carpet being old hat to all of them. E! is a bit like Top 40 radio was in the 80s. There was like 10 songs in rotation. E! is like that with TV shows. They assume we only care about like 5 of them.

7:15 OK. I take that back about the lack of Desperation. Gabrielle (aka Eva Longoria) just said "I don't really care" about not getting a nomination. Then she let loose a disproportionately loud laugh that might have come directly from Annette Bening's mouth while portraying a Woman Who Lies To Herself™. I ain't lying.

D E S P E R A T E !

7:18 Glenn Close is wearing black sunglasses and the same Armani dress she wore to the 1986, 1987 and 1989 Oscars. I'm kidding but I might actually be right. How does one tell the difference. Black, lace sleeves, the whole thing. Same as it ever was.



7:21 David Boreanz is wearing Paul Smith socks -- very cute. The Boyfriend approves. I'm totally confused because he's out in the sun and not bursting into flames? I know even the minor character actors in movies but when it comes to TV stars I always think of them as strictly their characters. So they're like fake celebrities to me. "Angel" is a celebrity. Boreanaz? Not so much.
7:25 Christina Hendricks is on the red carpet to suggest that maybe she isn't padded on Mad Men. STACKED. yum yum.

7:40 HOLLY HUNTER. Thank God a movie star showed up. I didn't want to have to wait for stray reaction shots of La Pfeiffer on hubby's arm.
7:50 OMG... I just flipped over to ABC and so glad I did. Salma Hayek is singing in despair because Jimmy Kimmel just said "She's no Penelope Cruz."



Hee. So fun when stars have a sense of humor about themselves.

7:55 Back to E! just in time for Wayne Brady to make sure everyone knows he's heterosexual. 'It's a little metrosexual. But only a little bit!'. Zzzzz. Suppressed sexual panic is so unattractive. Just let it out Wayne. Cry, scream, grab your co-conspirator in sexual panic (the eager accomodating Guilliane) and prove it.

I agree with Project Runway's Christian who, surveying the dresses in this arrival party said:

I need a little more drama

On with the show... (and a new post)

Link-Stained

Haiku Movie Reviews brilliantly succinct take on The Women ('08)
PitchFork listen to the new James Bond theme song. It's a rock number again. Don't they know that the best ones are the chanteusey deals? It's a nice girlie counterbalance to Bond's skirt-chasing and violence.
<--- Village Voice a horrifying piece from J Hoberman on summer movies and political history. If the choice is McCain as the Dark Knight and Obama is WALL•E as this article suggests (and not as strenuously as it may sound), we're basically doomed. Cynicism and optimism. Which the populace prefers.
Cinebeats has a piece on the late Anthony Perkins and his music career. Interesting stuff
Go Fug Yourself wants Justin Long to touch Kirsten Dunst. Make that sad sack happy
Willamette Week using the viral web to sell books & brand authors
For the Reels a webcomic that skewers movies old and new

PopSugar Javier Bardem won an Cinematography Award at San Sebastian. I'm sure that Javier Bardem hasn't been working on the sly as a Director of Photography but when I looked it up on the web almost every bit of reportage was the same 'Javier wins Cinematography Award'. Entertainment journalism can be so vague/funny. It's like a game of madlibs "[Celebrity Name] ____ [verb] ___ [thing] ___ in [place] ___ !!! " and that's the report, the whole damn thing. Maybe the cinematographers have awarded him for being dreamy to look at, light and shoot? Antonio Banderas was also there.


They should immediately co-star for Almodóvar in an uninhibited horny sequel to Law of Desire. It's been too long away from the great Pedro for both: 18 years for Antonio, 11 years for Javier. Too long. (Although at least Javi has had the smarts to work with other top drawer auteurs since)

Small Screen Saturation

EMMY Awards live blogging tonight?

Since I've been out of town for over a month, I've been playing catch up on the crowded DVR. Watched a bunch of Project Runway. I'm rooting for Jerell and Korto at this point and so eager to see nasal nasty vintage-obsesse Kenley given the boot ... even if she does amusingly list 8 time Oscar costume design winner Edith Head among her favorite designers.

I also stared at wee descriptions of Saving Grace episodes but didn't hit play. Holly Hunter is super but I just don't really feel the show. I am never eager to watch. If your show stars lawyers, doctors, cops or detectives I feel like playing on the web instead. Maybe if I was 10 and hadn't already seen 30 years of those jobs dramatized. I'm no mathematician or census professional but I suspect doctors, lawyers, detectives and cops combined make up less than 10% of the jobs that people have in the world so why do they make up 88% of television occupations? Get some talented writers and actors involved and I am fully confident that they could make an exciting relevant series about a zookeeper or a corporate recruiter or a video game designer or even a dry cleaner you know? TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. I'm begging you.


I also watched a couple of the new Season 2 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episodes. Shirley Manson from Garbage is a new T-villain but not as angry & fun as she used to be in music videos. I'm not really sure why I watch this show. It's predictable, unoriginal, awkward. It is improving as it goes and addressing criticisms (suddenly John Connor, the eventual savior of mankind is less whiny and more decisive) which is usually a good sign for longterm health or at least the sign of a competent show runner. Still and all, it's living off the glories of two frankly incredible James Cameron movies. Those movies must have done a number on me because every time that classic familiar ominous march/drone score kicks in, my stomach tightens. I keep watching.

I'm saving Mad Men for last, following the 'go out with a bang' theory. Although Mad Men is so subtle that "bang" isn't the right word at all. I remain delightfully perplexed that so many people love it. It requires attention and thought and... well, if people are asked to do that at the movie theater they revolt and proclaim "boring" and choose something with lots of guns or Will Ferrell instead.

Sigourney's a Fan... of What?

Lazy Saturday, flipping through the NYT Style magazine... came across this photo of Ms. Weaver declaring her fandom.


But of what? The ad, as it turns out, is for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel... but unless, they've built a life size replica of the Reading Room of the New York Public Library in one of their lux properties (perhaps in some Charlie Kaufman Synecdoche New York-esque momentary corporate insanity?) she's not really expressing her love of the Mandarin in this photo.

If you're wondering why I'm posting a picture of a confusing hotel ad that's actually a library portrait, you've stumbled on the wrong blog. The question and the answer is Sigourney Weaver.
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Re-Opening Ceremony

And we're off, heading straight into Fall Film Season and on through to February 2009's date with Oscar. A new season of The Film Experience has begun.


I haven't worked out exactly what I'm doing technically with the site/blog fusion and whatnot... so we may have a Re-Opening Redux coming your way (hey, if Wong Kar Wai and Francis Coppola can do it...) but for now, past years of Oscar coverage are back up along with the popular Film Bitch Awards (aka my ballot, if I had one, plus a gajillion extra categories) ... basically everything is back up, glitches and all*

NOW: new Oscar Predictions & commentary in all categories.


NEXT! More silliness with a side of seriosity ... i.e. the return of most of the regular TFE series you know & love, old and new obsessions --we're just not sure what they are just yet, regular experimentation and flashbacks to years past including a little bit o' 1968.

* Hey, I don't have a team of paid employees. It's just me & my computer, nitpickers.

Sophia, Liz, Monty, Marlon ... (sigh)

While I was in DC I missed this fab issue of The New Yorker wherein rarely seen Richard Avedon photos were suddenly published (there's a new photo book coming out next month). Since it's Sophia Loren's birthday today and since StinkyLulu always reminds us that they share the same self-celebratory day, here's one of the new/old photos: Avedon in NYC with Sophia, circa 1966.

Just lovely, yes?

Click over to see new/old shots of La Liz, Garland, Monty Clift in Montauk and more... and if 2009's big starry musical adaptation of Nine is any good next year, expect a huge Sophia Loren resurgence in the media. After all, she'll be celebrating the big "75th" next year on this very day. Just in time for Nine's Oscar buzz to kick in before its December release.
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