Film Experience Blog

2011-03-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

LIVE BLOGGING OSCAR TONIGHT.

2011-02-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

If you've come here and you're not a regular. we've moved to a beautiful new site.
OSCAR CRAZINESS ALL WEEK and live blog / tweets tonight.

Another Suitcase...

2011-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

Where am I going to....?

To the new site silly. It's totally oscar season.
Don't miss anything! Final Predictions, Film Bitch Awards and all of that.

Float on Over... We're Off on a New Adventure

2011-01-21T03:58:00.000-08:00

We were so attached to this ol' blog that we refused to leave it.

So we uprooted it for a new adventure.

So float over yourselves. There's room for everyone in the spacious new blog (now with Oscar charts, top ten lists, screening log, galleries and NEW FILM BITCH AWARDS all in the same spot. It's the whole works!

Hey Stragglers! BEST OF THE YEAR IS HERE

2011-01-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

We've moved over to a new site that's a combo of this blog you love and the old site, freshly renovated. Things are really picking up so check it out. We've started the Best of the Year countdown!

Honorable Mentions (#24-14)
Runners Up and Top Ten Pt. 1 (#13-08)

All that plus awards news, Christian Bale's body, Michelle Pfeiffer's new project, Guild Awards, Natalie Portman discussion and much more. So move over with us. Can't wait to see you there.

Psssst. the Film Bitch Awards start any minute (okay, late tonight)

We've Moved.

2011-01-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

Where do you want these boxes?

Come see the freshly renovated blog & site. Everything* in one place. Happy 2011!

*still working on importing the archives and the contents of this blog but daily posting and Oscar charts and everything are over there.

Alexandre Desplat "A Fast Moving Train"

2011-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Previous Desplat Goodies: "Breakfast with... Desplat", "How to Watch Movies" and Random Quotables

As promised here's the profile and interview I did for Tribeca Film...

If you're a regular moviegoer, you're familiar with his work. Even if you only get to the movies on special occasions for an Oscar hopeful like The King's Speech or an event film like the latest Harry Potter, you’ve heard it. Alexandre Desplat, the gifted 49-year-old French film composer is in demand. He scored five movies this year alone, with just as many on the way in 2011.

I had first scheduled an interview with Alexandre Desplat a full year ago, when he received his third nearly consecutive Oscar nomination for the whimsical score for the animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox. One year later, his voice finally materializes on the other line...

Read the rest at Tribeca Film

Wherein Desplat talks about his crazy workload, collaborating with Roman Polanski and composing around brilliant performances like Nicole Kidman (Birth) and Colin Firth (The King's Speech).

The Linky City

2011-01-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

Two bits from Chicago
Roger Ebert the eclectic international and intergenerational cast list of the new Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies. Congratulations to all! This can only be a gazillion times smarter than the previous short run with the Bens.
Wall Street Journal saddest movie news of the day: a classic cinema shut down in Chicago.

General Linkage
Cinematical Matt Damon's "abs double." A funny quirk of crediting.
Show Tracker What are Mad Men cast members up to between seasons?
The Social Network's official site overfloweth.
Ferdy on Films announces her favorites of the year. It's almost exclusively a festival list but she considers going by theatrical release like we do a hegemonic. Ouch!

Confession/Question
Weird reader question coming, so bear with me. Before you interview a star, the publicists almost always say "no personal questions!" and I'm always like "uh, why would I ask one of those?". I am so tied up in the celluloid that it honestly never occurs to me to say something like "so tell me who you're screwing." The only time this interests me is when it has curio above/below the line value -- for instance, I love knowing which costume designer or art director is married to which actor or actress -- or when its part of the overarching Hollywood Mythology (superstar couples like Brad & Angie, Newman & Woodward, Matt & Ben, Liz & Dick, Warren & Annette, etcetera). But sometimes my lack of interest in offscreen celebrity dating shocks even myself. I was reading on PopBytes that Macauley Culkin and Mila Kunis just broke up and I didn't even know they were a couple. Or if I knew it, I never committed it to memory. And they've been together for 8 years! I blame this ignorance on having next-to-no Mila familiarity until she started working on the big screen regularly a couple of years ago. (I have only seen, like, 2 episodes of That 70s Show.) Whenever a TV star is suddenly in demand in the movies, I have that damn info-lag.

So my question is this: Which specific aspect of celebrity life or the movie industry or whatnot do you have almost zero interest in, despite your interest in everything else???

The Razzies Are Coming! The Razzies Are Coming!

2011-01-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Why so glum Christina?

"and you're in my mirror AGAIN?"

Oh right, you suspect that a Razzie nomination is coming your way for Worst Actress for Burlesque? Happily the movie, though, is not on the longlist for a potential Worst Picture bid.

Worst Picture Longlist: The Bounty Hunter, Clash of the Titans, The Expendables, Grown Ups, Jonah Hex, Killers, The Last Airbender, Little Fockers, Sex and the City 2, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Vampires Suck and Yogi Bear.

Nominations will be announced on Monday, January 24th. You can still join up and be a voter for $25 [begging] but if you have $25 to throw around, I'd prefer you donate it to The Film Experience. I work hard for you all year and the Razzies only spring up once! [/begging]

The Razzies are rarely discussed in a serious way on the web as it's mostly an opportunity for free-form mocking. It's good that Burlesque missed this longlist. Burlesque is NOT a bad movie; it's fully aware of what it is and it's totally entertaining. If you get a good helping of entertainment out of a movie, it is not worthy of Worst Picture gong.

But in some ways, the Razzies reflect just as much laziness in groupthink voting as any of the "Best" focused precursors do year in and year out. Both actresses are on the longlists for Worst Actress. There is nothing about Cher, as an actress, that one could conceivably view as worst; she's fully aware of what she's capable of and she's totally entertaining (I'm sensing a repetitive theme here). More inexplicably, since Cher is an easy/visible/lazy target, is that Cam Gigandent is on the longlist of Worst Supporting Actor for his best performance to date... which is not saying much, but throw a guy a bone! If you can watch Easy A and Burlesque and think he's worse in the latter, you are probably missing your eyeballs altogether. (In which case: How are you watching movies, silly!?)

Curio: Dawn Dudek's Filmscapes

2011-01-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here with your weekly art break.

Reading the opening to Nathaniel's interview with Kirsten Dunst ("one half expects her to flicker when one meets her, as if she's being projected still", lovely!) reminded me of this painting by Dawn Dudek.

M escapes to dream.

2007, acrylic on canvas

Dawn creates magical split-frame paintings that go beyond merely imitating the atmosphere of a film; her paintings capture feeling of watching a moment at 24 frames per second. Her subjects range from more obscure films to the (slightly) more commercial. One of the fun things about looking at her work is figuring out what film inspired each painting. Some I recognized immediately, others took longer, and for many, I needed help. But not knowing doesn't detract from the experience at all. A selection of some of my favorites, below.

Cleo wears her new hat on Tuesday.

2007, acrylic on canvas

Su waiting for Chow

2006, acrylic on canvas

William in pursuit

2007, acrylic on canvas

El Paso

2010, acrylic on canvas

The twilight of Cathy Whitaker

2006, acrylic on canvas

My Udo My Udo What Have Ye Done

2011-01-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

JA from MNPP here. Have you read this phenomenally odd and delightful interview with the actor Udo Kier at The AV Club? Odd and delightful are the two words I'd always use whenever mentioning Mr. Kier, but he really brings it this time around.

Over at MNPP I picked out my fifteen favorite quotes from the interview, but I'm so oddly delighted in this chat's wake I've got to just keep on thinking about Udo, and what better way to do that then to mercilessly pick apart the work he's done over the years with a completely frivolous list. He's worked so much in such a vast array of projects that there are dozens of his performances that I've missed (I don't know how this is possible but it appears I've never seen any of the films he's done with Fassbinder, for example), but out of the many I have seen here are my five favorite performances of his.

5 Favorites

Lee Meyers, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done - I don't think it's often that Udo gets picked to play a straight man to somebody else's nuttery, but when stacked up against a way out there Michael Shannon it's not only possible, it's enthralling.

NSFW image after the jump

Hans, My Own Private Idaho - I think he sums it up best: "Amazing to have sex with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix!"

.

.

Count Dracula, Andy Warhol's Dracula - It's hard choosing between his Dracula and his Dr. Frankenstein in the previous year's (superior) Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, but his sickly Drac casts an enfeebledly hypnotic spell I can't quite shake.

Aage Krüger / Little Brother, The Kingdom - You haven't truly lived until you've seen Udo's face emerge from the vital space of a birthing mother.

.

.

Franz Hess, Grindhouse's fake trailer for "Werewolf Women of the SS" - Sure I could've picked something from his other classier works, like all the stuff he's done with Von Trier (he's Lars' most commonly used actor, ya know), but I think this one about sums it all up in a nice tight insane bow.

Runner-up: He played a character named "Wolfgang Herzog" on an episode of Nash Bridges. I haven't seen it, I don't need to see it, without knowing it demands a place upon this list.
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Mo'Nique to Announce Oscar Nominees

2011-01-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

I'm riffing on a conversation from Facebook (sorry Matt & Erik!) here but since Mo'Nique will announce the Oscar nominees on January 25th with AMPAS president Tom Sherak, can she please do it in character as Mary Jones!!?!

Frankly, no matter which wonderful film or actor gets a terribly unjust snub that morning (and I know a handful who are in danger), it'd still be the greatest Oscar morning of all time if Mo'Nique will rip down one of those 5 screens that hang behind the podium as soon as she's displeased with one of the names uttered.

I know you know the set I'm talking about...

the general setup each year.

Just rip down one of them screens, Mo'Nique!

Hurl it at the sea of reporters, caught off guard. You'll be all anyone talks about that Tuesday even though you didn't even have a movie this year.

This is my new favorite Oscar nomination morning fantasy of all time! If you share this fantasy, pass it on. We can will it into happening. Hear us oh great Mo'Nique!
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WGA Nominees. So Many Disqualifications Make This Hard To Read

2011-01-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

The Writers Guild members have spoken. Though their tongues were kinda bound by their rules which prohibit, as I understand it, non-members from receiving nominations (AMPAS members can vote for you even if you aren't affiliated with them or with an American guild). So for what it's worth, here are the nominations.

"I heard you were an MTV girl"
Alice in The Fighter

Original Screenplay

Black Swan, Screenplay by Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin; Story by Andres Heinz; Fox Searchlight
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Paramount Pictures
Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan; Warner Bros.
The Kids Are All Right, Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg; Focus Features
Please Give, Written by Nicole Holofcener; Sony Pictures Classics

Last year and the year before this category had very little overlap between WGA and Oscar (2 and only 1 similarity respectively). You have to go back to 2007 to get a year with a lot of agreement (4 of 5).
Oscar contenders that were not eligible for the WGA prize for various reasons are The King's Speech, Blue Valentine, Biutiful and Another Year. You'd be foolish to count the first and the last out especially, since Speech is a frontrunning film of sorts and Another Year comes from Mike Leigh whose process has long fascinated the writers branch within the Academy. I suspect the Black Swan and Please Give screenplays aren't safe, the former because it's viewed as a director's film and the latter because it's profile is low, though it's very clever in terms of dialogue. my current screenplay predictions.

"You don't look like you belong here
Phillip." -Steven Russell to
(I Love You) Phillip Morris

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy; Based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston; Fox Searchlight
I Love You Phillip Morris, Written by John Requa & Glenn Ficarra; Based on the book by Steven McVicker; Roadside Attractions
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich; Sony Pictures
The Town, Screenplay by Peter Craig and Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard; Based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan; Warner Bros.
True Grit, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Based on the novel by Charles Portis; Paramount Pictures

Major Oscar contenders that were not eligible include Winter's Bone, Toy Story 3 and The Ghost Writer as well as a few longshots that could theoretically appear if their fanbases buck current precursor trends and rank them #1 on their ballots en masse: The Way Back, Never Let Me Go, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. (This category has stronger overlap with Oscar nominations than their Original category. But I expect this to only line up 3/5 this year with Winter's Bone and Toy Story 3 being very strong Oscar contenders.
Snubbed: Rabbit Hole. It's just having trouble catching on.
How about that I Love You Phillip Morris citation? Surprise! It's a fun inclusion. Too bad the movie didn't get a wider release. It's comic enough that you'd think they would have risked a wide release. It's only at 68 theaters currently and will be Jim Carrey's lowest grossing major role since Earth Girls are Easy (1989) well before he broke out as a major star.

Documentary Screenplay
Enemies of the People, Written, Directed, Filmed and Produced by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath; International Film Circuit
Freedom Riders, Written, Produced and Directed by Stanley Nelson; International Film Circuit
Gasland, Written and Directed by Josh Fox; HBO Documentary Films and International WOW Company
Inside Job, Produced, Written and Directed by Charles Ferguson; Co-written by Chad Beck, Adam Bolt; Sony Pictures Classics
The Two Escobars, Written by Michael Zimbalist, Jeff Zimbalist; ESPN Films
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?, Written and Directed by John Scheinfeld; Lorber Films

No, I'm not sure why there are six nominees. Perhaps there is no tiebreaker system. Interesting that this list, like the PGA nominees earlier today, contain so few Oscar finalists...

Box Office Blather: Princess Dividends and Per Screen Averages

2011-01-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

The box office for New Year's weekend was little changed from Christmas weekend when Jeff Bridges double dipped and I had a creepy 90s flashback (that whole post still applies) so instead of sharing their grosses in that banal way you can get anywhere, let's share their gross minus their budget. This is an inexact science for sure. It doesn't include the $$$ of worldwide grosses but it also doesn't include the $$$ of advertising costs so we like it as a vague snapshot of how the movies are doing.

Top Ten Box Office
key: red (budgets way too big) black (passed their budget) green (heading towards significant profits.)

Little Fockers + $2 million (second week)
True Grit + $48 million (second week)
Tron Legacy -$39 million (third week)
Yogi Bear - $15 million (third week)
Chronicles of Narnia -$69 million (fourth week)
The Fighter + $21 million (fourth week)
Tangled - $93 million (sixth week - not as disastrous as it looks since Disney is its own franchise. People really like this gargantuanly expensive movie so it might restore some faith in the faltering "brand" and help the next movie. Plus it adds another "princess" to their merchandise line. Ka-ching!)
Gulliver's Travels -$85 million (second week)
Black Swan + $34 million (fifth week)
The King's Speech + $7 million (sixth week)

This is far less depressing than just regular ol' box office reporting right? The good movies aren't as expensive to make and they're making significant money. [Tangent: Let True Grit (review) and Black Swan (plentiful posts) be a lesson to filmmakers and studios: these movies look sensational and feature movie stars. How on earth is your movie so much more expensive?]

One more list. How about the best per-screen averages? Naturally this favors movies in very few theaters that have withheld themselves for several months of buzz whilst waiting for Golden Globe and Oscar fever to kick in. From my ~~throne~~ armchair that looks like distributors just throwing money away while people talk about product they can't spend money on for 3 to 12 months. This only increases the likelihood of piracy and/or likelihood that people might be sick of you in the abstract when you're finally available for tangible purchase. Yes, I live in NYC and seeing movies is easy but I remember quite well what a trial it was before I moved here. I'm still, I'm still Jenny from the block.

That list goes like so...

Top Per Screen Average

Blue Valentine (4 theaters) $48,000+ (debut)
Country Strong (2 theaters) $20,000+ (2nd week)
Another Year (6 theaters) $18,000+ (debut)
Somewhere (8 theaters) $17,000+ (2nd week)
The Illusionist (3 theaters) $15,000+ (2nd week)
The King's Speech (700 theaters) $11,000+ (6th week)

They must be partying at the Weinstein Co. right now (#1 and #6)

I can't fathom why Country Strong, built to appeal to an enormous market of people who love country music, didn't just open wide? If the film isn't very good -- which they keep saying -- why not make all your money up front before word of mouth doesn't kick in? Naturally this chart is very good news for The King's Speech since it's already gone wide and it's still filling plentiful seats wherever it plays. But here's the sad news: It's rough going out there for Rabbit Hole which has only a $4,000+ average on 34 screens in its 3rd week. Now that's a better number than most of the top ten movies but it's not generally enough to get distributors excited about spending more money to release you winder. Sniffle. Rabbit Hole is not half as depressing as Blue Valentine so if the "depression" factor is keeping people away, they're being silly. It's a really good movie. Why can't Nicole catch a break? Sigh.

What did you spend your money on over New Year's? (I mean, besides booze)
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PGA Nominations: No Winter's Bone

2011-01-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

And for best Pro Golfer the nomin--- er, oh yes yes.
The Producers Guild of America. Righty-o.

Best Picture
127 Hours Danny Boyle, Christian Colson
Black Swan Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver
Inception Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
The Fighter David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Mark Wahlberg
The Kids Are All Right Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray
The King's Speech Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
The Social Network Dana Brunetti, Cean Chaffin, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin
The Town Basil Iwanyk, Graham King
Toy Story 3 Darla K. Anderson
True Grit Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin

The snubbee here in terms of Oscar buzz is Winter's Bone. But it's a tiny indie and maybe that's not what the PGA wanted to value? Still it's absence reminds us that the Best Picture race, is really down to those 11 films. Last year, there were only about 12 films standing before Oscar nominations were announced. Is it always going to be this simple to predict with the new widened Best Picture field. If so, sadness. Predicting should be tougher. But at least it's tough to say which of the 11 is getting the Oscar boot.

I'm currently assuming that it's either 127 Hours or The Town on the outs come January 25th but who knows? Maybe it'll be something that breaks my heart more like The Kids Are All Right or --GASP-- how will the internet go on living if it's Inception? When there is just one too many strong precursor candidates in any category (see also supporting actress) sometimes the person/film left out is not the one everyone thought was most vulnerable.

Animated Pictures:
Despicable Me John Cohen, Janet Healy, Christopher Meledandri
How To Train Your Dragon Bonnie Arnold
Toy Story 3 Darla K. Anderson

Despicable Me eh? I guess you have to give the producers credit for how good that looked and how successful it was despite a budget that was far lower than most of the animated films that were hits this year.

Documentary Pictures:
Client 9 Awaiting final credit determination
Earth Made of Glass Reid Carolin, Deborah Scranton
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs
Smash His Camera Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger
The Tillman Story John Battsek
Waiting For 'Superman' Lesley Chilcott

I'm proud of them for not restricting themselves to only Oscar finalists here. Though I still don't really get the enthusiasm for Client 9, Inside Job and Waiting For 'Superman'... as they seem to be such straightforward docs. I guess I'm drawn to more creative / surprising let's informational documentaries.

Episodic TV, Comedy
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Episodic TV, Drama
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Lost
Mad Men
True Blood

Longform TV
Murder on the Orient Express
Pillars of Earth
Temple Grandin
The Pacific
You Don't Know Jack

I sometimes have nightmares that in the year 2014 people will still be nominating Temple Grandin for prizes. Isn't that already like 3 years old?

NonFiction TV
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Deadliest Catch
Intervention
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
Undercover Boss

Live Entertainment and Competition TV
The Amazing Race
The Colbert Report
Project Runway
Real Time With Bill Maher
Top Chef

Dating a Semi Sadist

2011-01-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

OFCS Winners

2011-01-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

The Online Film Critics Society announced their winners this morning. It's the expected winners who've 'worn a groove' as Sasha has been known to say. So everyone votes for them and shall for the rest of the season. For the most part. Hopefully supporting actress will shift towards Leo, Adams or Weaver for the win... all of them actually supporting players, and amazing ones at that. It's been a good year for actresses it has.

Is this awards season all a dream? It's happening on a loop.

No surprises in the winners so I had to goof off a little in the listing. Just trying to keep it fun.

Picture: The Social Network
Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Lead Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Our Leading Lady of Ubiquity: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Lead Actor Who Supports The Other Lead Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Lead Actress Who Supports Entirety of Her Movie: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Original Exposition: Christopher Nolan, Inception
Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Cinematography: Roger Deakins, True Grit
Editing: Lee Smith, Inception
Animated Feature That Cures Cancer: Toy Story 3
Foreign Language Film: Mother
Documentary: Exit Through The Gift Shop

A Second Look At "True Grit"

2011-01-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

Last night, I began what I thought would be a live-blog of True Grit. I scrapped it without posting as it was basically a series of line quotations; presumably you don't come to the blog to watch me take dictation.

It's a testament to the Coen Bros singular voice and gift with language that they can launch a movie with a particularly evocative scriptural quotation

"The wicked flee when none pursueth."Proverbs 28:1

...and begin topping it straightaway with their own words. Or what one assumes are their own words since this is an adaptation. Confession: I have not read the Charles Portis novel or seen the John Wayne film. I've been allergic to John Wayne for as long as I can remember and the only successful antihistamine I've yet encountered is Montgomery Clift (see Red River. Literally. See it. What a film!)

True Grit is an extremely mannered film. That's not a qualitative judgment, just an observation. As I stated in my 7 word review "even the horses act with meticulous predetermination." Which is to say -- here comes the qualitative judging -- this particular movie could stand to breathe in a little of its cold night air or just to stumble from its saddle, the way Rooster does once he's fallen to drink. True Grit doesn't feel entirely human. No Country For Old Men benefitted enormously from the Coen Bros machine-like control of cinema. It made the whole film feel malevolent and underlined its thematic death march. That level of inhuman control is not as much to your advantage when you're telling a story about a little girl out to avenge her father's death.

The plot setup, in case you haven't yet seen it, is that Cheney (Josh Brolin) has killed Mattie Ross's (Hailee Steinfeld) father and fled. Since the law doesn't seem to care Mattie hires a Marshall Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down her daddy's killer. A Texas ranger (Matt Damon) accompanies them. Mattie admires men with grit and she's got the stuff herself, but none of the characters (including Mattie) have much in the way of emotional depth. Some, like the villains, are straight up types / cartoons.

The performances are often amusing but these roles are but tiny sandboxes in which the actors can play. Matt Damon is quite funny in that casual fraternal way of his. Josh Brolin and Hailee Steinfeld don't fare as well, especially on second viewing, adding a stiff "I'm acting now" vibe to the film's already overt mannerisms. These can't be the easiest lines to say -- think for a moment on how hard it is to speak naturally without contractions -- but sometimes, particularly with Steinfeld, the dialogue is spoken as if it were lines rather than verbalized thoughts. Even in two-character scenes, she's monologuing rather than conversing. I continue to be bewildered by the intense praise and awardage Steinfeld is receiving for what is, at best, a solid performance of an endearing lead role, and what is, at worst, an adequate reading of a role that could have elevated the film if there were more complex subtext. There's precious little nuance or backstory teased out which keeps the role in its one dimensional origin space. Arguably Steinfeld also hits those non-verbal notes to convey Mattie thinking or scheming a bit too hard. Is she telling us that Mattie is less clever than she thinks she is or is this merely overplaying?

Best in show, and by an enormous margin with a star turn that deepens on second viewing, is Jeff Bridges as the sozzled Rooster Cogburn. The actor knows that this already iconic role is a rich opportunity for showmanship and understands its imitations otherwise, so he zeroes in on the voice and the physicality, both of which can be readily aped at home to further endear people to the character and actor. (Pop culture statisticians tell us that "I can't do nuthin' for you, son" has already been quoted with amateur approximations of Rooster's voice at least 36,230 times since December 22nd from people of both sexes and of all ages in over 4 different countries. I'm rooting for "performin' his necessaries" to also hit it big.)

Bridges' best decision is that tilted stare, sometimes with his head just slightly yanked backwards; is Rooster trying to refocus his eyes? 'I mean his eye.' He continually holds that stare a shade too long. There's just so much humor in the way Rooster sizes up each character. Even better is that Rooster has the same reaction to surprising lines that are lobbed his way. He treats them like verbal pistol-cocking and he'd best locate a target.

The Coen Bros are beloved of cinephiles and it's not hard to understand why. Filmmakers like the brothers force you to think about the construction of films, because you suddenly notice that every shot, every cut, every moment represents a choice. The dark side of this is that the mannered films perpetually risk devouring themselves like an oroborus or, be they less aggressive or more pretentious, merely sticking their head up their own arse. Excessive stylization is also anathema to viewers who don't like to be confronted by the man (or men) behind the curtain while they're watching films. But on second viewing, the belabored filmmaking proves more boon than bane though and makes the movie quite a lot funnier.

And as everyone has noted, the technical elements are lovely. Roger Deakins' cinematography is beautifully expressive as well as just being plainly beautiful and the editing is top notch. (It's less discussed than their writing skills but aren't the Coens just as gifted in the editing bay?) Nick once called the dissolve a more "soulful" option than a cut and the Coen Bros lean on it a lot here. It works well for the film. What True Grit lacks in heart and warmth it nearly makes up for in cool soul.

Best line in the movie? It comes during a fade to black near the beginning of the picture as Mattie crashes at the local undertakers before beginning her trip with Rooster.

"If you would like to sleep in a coffin, it would be all right."

It's a comic line in direct context but it's so much more, too. Could there be a slyer preceding line for such a willful march towards vengeance? And could there be a more perfect line to illustrate the often morbid comic sensibility of the Coen brothers?

Speaking of death...

True Grit really sticks its landing which is so important and so hard for movies to do. [VAGUE SPOILER] The climactic nighttime run, which needs to be the most operatically emotional moment in the movie, is just that. Bridges lends the scene natural gravitas and the brave surreal length of that race against the clock is superbly handled. The 25 years later coda, which we also need, is more surprising but ends the movie on just the right note of starch. Mattie (now played by Elizabeth Marvel, the acclaimed stage actress who we're betting is the new Coen regular) has never been a particularly emotional or fun-loving girl and though "time gets away from us" we know it hasn't actually changed her all that much.

B (up from B-)

Quentin Tarantino's Top Ten

2011-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

No, no not mine. Not Nathaniel's. my top ten list is coming. Patience. I was waiting for the new site to be available but it's still coming and going. It apparently fancies itself an online Brigadoon but on a much speedier rotation. But since we love it when people within the movie industry actually reveal their favorites, let's share Quentin Tarantino's.

QT's Top Ten of '10Links go to blogposts about those films.

He also likes (in descending order): Kick-Ass, Knight and Day, Get Him to the Greek, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Kids Are All Right, How to Train Your Dragon, Robin Hood, Amer and Jack-Ass 3D.

It's an eclectic mix (toons, gleeful violence, melodrama, indie comedies, Hollywood hits) as one should expect from a filmmaker who is a total original despite also being one of the Great Appropriators of modern pop culture. How close will that top ten list above be to his Oscar ballot? I always wonder if AMPAS members actually put their ten favs on their ballots, or if they just vote for their favorites among those they think have a shot?

Hitfix notes that Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, which took the Venice prize that Tarantino juried, does not appear in his top 20. Having served on a few juries myself, I can assure you this isn't odd. You always have a very limited pool to vote on at festivals. Maybe Somewhere is his 21st favorite of the year, you know?

But what I REALLY want to know, and I'm sure you do too, is who goes on his director's ballot? Looking at the list above can we guess it's something like

Lee Unkrich (or does he share the reservations about animation directors competing with live action directors that many voters must feel given that no animation director has ever been nominated?)
David Fincher
The Coen Bros or Ben Affleck?
Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) or David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) for overseas breakthroughs?

Can I buy a movie ticket to see that ballot?

more articles on Quentin Tarantino

Pete Postlethwaite (1946-2011)

2011-01-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

The death of Pete Postlethwaite yesterday at 64 of cancer will undoubtedly be felt at the movies. He's been a regular key ensemble player for a solid two decades now. 2010 was another big year for him: He played the corpse in Inception -- the one causing all those daddy issues -- and he also appeared in Clash of the Titans. One more film is coming in 2011 (the British comedy Killing Bono) but for many moviegoers his last showcase on the screen will be as the flower shop owner in Ben Affleck's The Town (pictured left). The starry cast of that movie, Postlethwaite included, won the NBR Best Ensemble prize and a BFCA Ensemble nomination.

His odd but memorable features probably insured that he'd play his fare share of criminals. But despite his recent bloody role in The Town, Postlethwaite being the thorns in the rose bush, I personally associate him with more noble turns. I first became aware of Who He Was when he was Oscar nominated as the title character in the Daniel Day-Lewis drama In the Name of the Father (1993) though I then realized I had already enjoyed him in Alien3 and Hamlet (the one with Mel Gibson); it's hard to forget that face. I was so in love with Baz Luhrmann's dizzyingly erratic Romeo + Juliet (1996) that Father Laurence, who sets all the fake death in motion to unfortunately disastrous effect, is still my favorite of his roles.

Shakespearean drug pusher.

Other key roles include: Amistad, The Usual Suspects and Brassed Off. What's your favorite Postlethwaite performance or movie?
*

Linking Soon

2011-01-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

Jackie Beat superstar drag icon reviews The Stepford Wives (1975).
Cinema Blend Katey's top 10 list. I forgot to link up at the time but I'm always curious what friends will choose. We're about to record a podcast. Wheeee.
CineEuropa reviews the Macedonian Oscar entry Mothers.

I read this book. Thought it could be really cinematic. But only if they
bucked the trend of super faithful adaptations. Books are not movies!

Release Dates

Just Jared Tom Hardy as The Warrior gets a release date, September 9th.
Lady Gaga "Born This Way" on May 23rd.
Coming Soon Water For Elephants has a new still (to your left) and opens on April 22nd.
PlayBill looks at the upcoming Broadway openings. (Honestly, it seems like half of the shows running closed today, January 2nd, 2011.)
IndieWire looks at which 2011 releases will reflect 2010 releases. Some are obvious: 2011's Black Swan is The Wolverine. Some not so much.

Also...

The new site is up (mostly) -- it seems to be flickering in and out but should be running smoothly within the next couple of days. Still working on importing the blog. But you can see the new Oscar predictions and what not. If you're lucky. If not, try again later.

Lambert & Huppert in "White Material"

2011-01-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

"There can be only one..."

...01 / 01 / 11

How about that funky date today? Happy New Year.

The New Year couldn't come soon enough because I was informed yesterday that this blog had run out of storage space! The renovated site should be up in the next 36 hours to rescue us. I'll let you know.

Today's very special once in a hundred years date reminded me oof Highlander's Christopher Lambert. On account of all the #1s.

"There can be only one!"

I assume this mnemonic moment was brought to me by Claire Denis's White Material which I was just watching the other day (in theaters and on IFC on demand) in which he plays Isabelle Huppert's ex-husband who -- I'm not sure if I got the details right because Denis always makes you work for them -- still lives on the African coffee plantation with her (and his new wife and his two wildly contrasted sons from both marriages).

It's crazy enough to live with your ex. When your ex is Isabelle Huppert (she's always trouble) and you're running a plantation in a region that's slipping into violent chaos and the French military are helicoptering out and dropping you survival kits on their way, you are totally off your gourd. Everyone in this movie is insane. But Huppert is contagious like that.

Lambert's presence is an extremely clever bit of casting since the international star already famously embodied everyone's favorite white-man-rules-Africa imperialist fantasy in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes. In White Material there is no fantasy unless you count the delirium one can sometimes experience when faced with Huppert's riveting confrontational opacity. You'd expect, given the plot, that her plantation owner Maria is a stubborn delusional but Huppert tilts her closer to the implacably deterministic. She isn't flaunting a death wish so much as a death expectation. Rebel forces and their child soldiers have had it with this "white material" on their land but Maria is staying put. Disturbing movie.

"Manuel" (Nicholas Duvauchelle). Does he get his death wish from his mother?

I can't say I fully connected but I always love Denis's reliable command of atmosphere and I appreciated what Guy Lodge correctly described as "laudably complicated politics". I'm desperately awaiting Nick's full review because his twitter capsule

Agonized and fearless, eerily sympathetic, formally electric, like the last visions of someone being burned alive

...makes me love the movie more in retrospect than when I was watching it. That happens sometimes with the best of film criticism.

Interview: The Return of Kirsten Dunst (A Very Good Thing)

2010-12-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

at the NYC premiere
of All Good Things.

It might sound silly to say, but seeing her in the flesh is something of a shock. Kirsten Dunst has been in the movies for many years, and she's made such indelible mark in them, whether as a child vampire, an unknowable teen dream, a disciplined cheerleader, a superhero's better half and so on; one half expects her to flicker when one meets her,as if she's being projected still. But there she was earlier this month at a New York City luncheon honoring her heartbreaking work in All Good Things. Her image did not fade or dissolve but remained steady in medium shot. She ate, she sipped, she walked around the room talking with reporters, friends and peers.

There was, however, a close-up. We shook hands and exchanged a few pleasantries. Then she was whisked off, not by a sharp edit, jump cut or a quick pan, but by her people taking her to the next reporter. Imagine it!

I remind her of the busy luncheon a few days later over the phone. She's already thousands of miles away. This time, she's a disembodied voice which is surprisingly more familiar, like a movie image. "You were so in demand," I say, reminding her of the crowd and well-wishers.

"You know...," she says, and I do having been there, "A lot of babies to kiss. A lot of hands to shake."

Katie (Kirsten) fixes her husband's bow tie in All Good Things.

It's good to hear the smile in her voice and remember her amiable presence in the room that day. Especially considering the sadness that lingers from her fine work in All Good Things. People have won Oscar nominations for giving much less to their films than she does here, in one of her finest performances. She starts out sunny and delightful, the girlish woman we sort of recognize from numerous other films but she's soon torn apart by her husband's (Ryan Gosling) dark almost alien soul. The film is based on a true story, the unsolved mystery of the disappearance of Katie Marks (Kirsten), the bride of the heir to a wealthy New York family. I've followed her career enthusiastically for many years, once even referring to her as "the future of the movies" but naturally we start with the present and the subject at hand.

It's not the first time she's played a real life character but how did she tackle someone who isn't easy to research, someone who went missing? Here Kirsten cedes most of the credit to her director, who knew the case inside and out.

Kirsten: Everything that we knew about [Katie] is in the script. She's not a public figure. Yes, she's a real person but not someone that we know her mannerisms. It was really about making her feel like a whole person that was unravelling, as he was in a way, someone with her own strong motives so it wouldn't just be The Victim of this crime.

Doomed Love

Nathaniel: You have to have the full range of their romance.

Kirsten: That was so important. You have to believe these people were completely in love with each other in order for her to stay and to excuse the behavior.

Nathaniel: Did anything change a lot from filming to the finished movie? You're acting piecemeal and the movie takes place over a really long span. Did anything surprise you about the finished product?

Kirsten: With every movie you kind of never know how exactly it's going to come together. I had an idea but obviously I wasn't there for the last half of the movie. [She pauses briefly, considering] ...I only saw Ryan in drag once on the set so I wasn't sure how all that was going to come together.

While we were working we played things very differently; we improvised a lot. The scene where he asked me to marry him was very different in the script. We got to play around a lot which was exciting. But you never know what it's going to end up being.

Nathaniel: I thought it was interesting that this movie opened so close to Blue Valentine, another unravelling Ryan Gosling marriage, and then I remembered that you've worked with Michelle Williams before on Dick. Hollywood is a small world.

[more on All Good Things, Eternal Sunshine, and her favorite films after the jump]

Ryan's Disastrous Screen Marriages

Kirsten: It is a small world. I'm friendly with Michelle. That's funny. [Pauses considering the two movies] Ryan... he loves a good love story, that one! [laughs]

Nathaniel: With some movie stars chemistry is a hit-and-miss thing but I've always felt from your films that you have a dependable connection to your co-stars and scene partners. What do you attribute that to?

Kirsten: That's nice of you to say but it isn't always as organic as it can be. You get lucky sometimes. With Ryan, it felt very natural. The way he works as an actor is similar to me. We don't stay in a box like 'We did it this way so that's how we're going to do it for the rest of the scene.' We're both very open to change and were very perceptive of each other. With Ryan it was really easy. You do have to fall in love with them a little [your co-stars]. In this movie it was especially important because otherwise, why does this woman stay?

It's not always easy to have that chemistry but you find things in the person you can connect with.

Nathaniel: When it's harder with actors -- I'm not going to ask you to name names of course -- is it because the processes are different or is it just a lack of a personal connection?

Kirsten: I think it's -- I do think it has to do with the the process. When you work with someone who you can be inspired by, it elevates it. When you don't have that it kind of dies in a way and then you have to put more effort into it. You're lucky if you work with actors that it feels truthful to respond to, not forced.

And I've definitely felt that way in the past. But I think that certain directors are better at choosing actors that match well with each other. And I have feelings about actors and who I think I'd work well with better moreso than others.

Nathaniel: So who would you love to work with?

Kirsten: [Amused, like she's been caught] And then you ask me that question!!! I can think of directors more. [Curiously, she pauses and doesn't offer up any names.]

I'd like to work with Leonardo DiCaprio. I've known him throughout the years and I feel like we'd be good together. Even as brother and sister. I feel like I'd work well with him.

Nathaniel: I have a silly question for you. I'm going to name my three favorite single moments from your filmography. You tell me which one you would reshoot right this second if you had to.

Kirsten: Ummmm... okay.

Nathaniel: Here we go.

Dancing in your undies with Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine)
Kissing Tobey Maguire upside down in the rain. (Spider-Man)
Brushing your teeth with Jesse Bradford. (Bring It On)

Kirsten: [laughs] Funny question. Definitely dancing in my underwear with Mark! That was fun. That [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind] was such a loose set. It felt like whatever we did, wherever we went, the camera followed us. It was practical lighting, natural lighting. It felt very free, like we weren't even acting at all. When that happens, you know it's going to be good. You don't always feel that way but you get glimpses of it in certain movies. When it feels like you're just in it with someone, it's the best.

I felt that way working with Lars Von Trier, too.

Nathaniel: [Surprised] But they say he's very hard on his actresses.

Kirsten: I did not experience that with Lars. I had a great working relationship with him. I trust him.

[Thinking about it...] I think that if you close off your actors you're not going to get what you want. I don't think. I never felt that... well, I didn't have that experience. Also: he's very funny. Even if he didn't like like a take or whatever it was, he doesn't berate you. There's nothing like that. He wouldn't get the performances he gets if he did that. People usually shut down in that environment.

Nathaniel: Weren't you going to work with Michel Gondry again after Eternal Sunshine. You were going to do a Debbie Harry picture?

Kirsten: Yeah, yeah. No. That was definitely happening at one point. It's difficult. Debbie was, I think.... [trails off] It kind of went away. [Referring to Debbie again] "I don't know if i really want to tell my story." You know what I mean?

Nathaniel: So it was her hesitancy?

Kirsten: I think so. It was awhile ago. I can't really remember why. But I think that that's only natural. Usually that stuff happens, biopics, after someone has passed away. It's a weird thing. But I'd still love to do that if she wanted to do that.

Nathaniel: The reason I bring that up is that I love your singing voice. Last time i heard it was in that "Turning Japanese" video.

Kirsten: [Very animated] Oh god. That was so painfully difficult. I HATED doing that. Not the dancing around Tokyo but singing the song. It's the hardest song. It's a cockney dude who sings the song and it's very specific to his voice and the way he speaks. It's a personality song, not an easy cover song.

I hated singing in the sound sutdio. I was singing to myself. I could hear myself. Oof that was not... it was not... [laughter]

Nathaniel: I don't know if you know this but your wikipedia page describes you as "an actress, model and singer"

Kirsten: That's hilarious.

Nathaniel: Are those the three words you'd use to describe yourself?

Kirsten: No. Not at all! [laughter] That's funny. I did some kid modelling when I was younger. I've only sung for parts; a singer is someone who puts out an album. That's a very generous description. [Sarcastically] It sounds like I've mastered it all!

Nathaniel: You've done some directing, too.

Kirsten: I did a short film. I'm playing around with a screenplay with two friends right now. Not something for me to direct but to be in. I definitely want to direct some day. I need to have -- I think when I do that I need to block out a year of just thinking, writing, reading. You can't be focused on which role you're taking next -- I personally can't -- and then be "I want to direct. What should I do?" You know what I mean? I've had ideas but i'd have to really focus on just that. That won't be for probably a few years. We'll see what happens.

Nathaniel: So no Ben Affleck then for you; everything at once?

Kirsten: That's... I couldn't do that the first time out. That would be very stressful. I'd just want to direct.

Nathaniel: You started out as a child actress and you're next film is with Chloe Moretz, right? Hick.

Kirsten: I'm not committed to that film, actually. That's a rumor.

Nathaniel: Oh, okay. But do you ever look at these young actresses like her, Elle Fanning, and think "that was me."

Kirsten: Yeah, I do. It's weird. Yes.

The first of many little girl vampires.

Nathaniel: You and Chloe have both played teenage vampires.

Kirsten: Even Dakota [Fanning] played a vampire in the Twilight movies.

Nathaniel: It's a running theme.

Kirsten: It is.

Nathaniel: One of things that was remarkable about meeting you -- maybe because I've seen you in movies for a long time -- I'm not sure how to phrase this. You're very womanly in persona and your screen persona is very young. When you take a part like All Good Things do you think about it as a transition role. Do you plot out your career like that?

Kirsten: I don't. I'm older now is all. I don't think I grow up in that film but what you emanate is different as you grow up. That'll continue to happen. It's more prominent because you've seen me young, as a teenager, adult. This role is pretty adult even though she starts out young. But I'm not like "Now is the time to play adults." It's just more prominent because I was a child actor.

Nathaniel: Yeah, I can see that. The scene that really impressed me the most [SPOILER] you're looking in the mirror after the abortion. You can feel Katie as a character aging. Not makeup effects. Just you as an actress conveying the weight of that. That's my favorite beat in the performance. [Recognizing Kirsten is displaying some hesitancy about this 'now you're grown up! thing...] I'm not saying that this is your coming out ball -- I mean you've been famous for a long time now -- but it felt like a transition to me.

Kirsten: I'm older now and It'll be different from now on, for sure. This is the first movie -- well, it's hard for me because... [Reconsidering] In The Cat's Meow I had to play someone older but she was kind of a childlike adult. I feel like [All Good Things] is definitely a transition into a different way of people looking at me. I think you're absolutely right but it's hard for me to look outside of myself in that way.

Nathaniel: I'm sure you're experience from the inside is very different than ours.

Kirsten: It is.

Nathaniel: Well, All Good Things... it's a beautiful performance. My favorite performance of yours was always Crazy/Beautiful and I just love Marie-Antoinette. It's a grossly undervalued movie.

Kirsten: You know, people who love Marie Antoinette really love it so I feel like it'll stick around.

5 Best Performances: Virgin Suicides, Crazy/Beautiful, Eternal Sunshine,
Marie-Antoinette, All Good Things. Do you agree?

Nathaniel: Those are the ones for me, personally, but how about you? Are there any you feel more connected to?

Kirsten: [No hesistation] The Virgin Suicides. That was a different thing for me at the time. I was allowed to not talk and not be the bubbly girl. I was allowed to show another side of myself that I was even discovering at the time. That was a really cool moment for me to look back on. [Pause] Usually I see these things more in retrospect than when they're happening.

And I loved doing Eternal Sunshine. [Delighted voice] I'm just so proud to be in that movie. It's so many people's favorite film. To be in someone's favorite film is just -- that's what you want. You want to be in great films that are memorable. It's nice when the movie is not on your shoulders, too. It's fun to do a smaller part sometimes.

Nathaniel: Well, you've already racked up several great films. Good luck adding to that list.

At this point, we wrapped up our interview. Kirsten mentioned Melancholia (the Lars Von Trier picture) again and amusingly we both expressed curiousity about what that final movie will be like. There is only a little bit of information about the movie out there, though Lars did famously mischievously joke that there would be "no more happy endings" (As if the rest of his filmography is rainbows and bliss!) Still, like she said, you never know what something is going to end up being. When I called her 'the future of the movies' years ago, I had no idea exactly what that future would hold, for her or Hollywood. It was a vote of confidence and faith that this gifted natural would flourish. She did. There were a few rough spots, sure, as there are in any career. But after a short break, All Good Things marks a major return to a career that's already had more dizzying heights than most 28 year-old actors could dream of.

Kirsten might not want to call All Good Things a transition, and perhaps it is the wrong word. Transition implies something unformed and her Katie Marks is a fully shaped character. It's not a comeback either since she hasn't really been away, but just stuck in that spider web. Let's call it a reminder, then. Let it serve as a reminder to Hollywood of what she's always been capable of doing. May she keep on reminding them.
*

The Year In Funny

2010-12-31T05:39:00.000-08:00

year in review parts 1-7
tear-jerkers, music videos, worst films, gay characters and more...

Four Lions

Michael C. from Serious Film here for a few good laughs.

Any future film historians examining the tail end of 2010 will likely mark this year as dark days for screen comedy. Comedy icons Woody Allen and James L Brooks rolled twin gutter balls, while mainstream audiences lined up around the block to watch the star of Taxi Driver do 98 minutes of boner jokes. As if to rub salt in the wound, the Golden Globes saw fit to nominate an inexplicable slate of comedies that were, with few exceptions, unfunny, unexceptional, or in some cases downright awful.

Still, if you managed to look beyond the large pile of high profile duds there were plenty of laughs to be had in 2010. So here for your consideration is the year in comedy. Not the best movies overall, but purely those films and performances that most moved the needle on the laugh-o-meter.

Funniest Leading Man - Most movie funny men neatly divide their comedic and dramatic work. Kevin Kline will be a goofball in A Fish Called Wanda then it's goodbye mustache and hello serious face in Grand Canyon. With his daring work in I Love You Phillip Morris, Jim Carrey managed the best of both worlds delivering one of his fullest performances to date while still scoring big laughs as the relentlessly dishonest con man Steven Russell. Bonus Points: Though his character can barely go a full minute without lying, Carrey is able to let the audience see just how sincerely smitten he is, keeping his character from becoming a one-note huckster.

Funniest Leading Lady - Easy A may have been a formulaic piece of slick Hollywood fluff but that didn't keep Emma Stone from rising above the material to show just what formidable comedic chops she's packing. Stone pulls every laugh possible from this familiar material and then adds a few of her own. Bonus Points: Stone's minute-long soliloquy on the subject of aphrodisiacs was a symphony of first date awkwardness that had me guffawing out loud. Riffing wildly on oysters and Spanish fly, Stone makes a rapid series of funny faces, giggles at her own jokes, and manages to include both the phrases "painful urination" and "bloody discharge". A star is born. [previous posts]

Funniest Supporting Performance - I'm as surprised as you are, but damned if no supporting performance of 2010 made me laugh as much as Sean Combs playing Sergio, Get Him to the Greek's egomaniacal, hard-partying, half-crazed music executive. To merely dismiss this performance as a thinly veiled version of himself is, I think, to sell short a genuinely funny comedic showcase. Combs manages to steals scenes from two of the biggest names in comedy today - no minor feat.

Funniest Animated Performance - A three-way tie. Toy Story 3's Spanish Buzz Lightyear was a bolt of comic relief in the middle of the nerve-wracking climax. His mating dance for Jessie may be the comedic high point of 2010. The Illusionist managed to resurrect the gentle comic spirit of Jacques Tati in its protagonist, and like the live action version, his animated counterpart provides a movie's worth of warm smiles. Finally, in Tangled [previous posts] Disney gave us one of their best supporting characters in ages with Maximus, the horse worth an entire squadron of royal guards.

Funniest Stare - Perched somewhere between a barn owl and Hannibal Lecter, Jonah Hill's level gaze is enough to reduce John C Reilly to cold sweats in Cyrus. Hill's oddball performance was the best thing about a film that often felt half-baked.

Funniest Parents - There are few roles more thankless than that of the parents in a teen movie. With the pressure off, Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson [interview] took Easy A as an opportunity to crank up the zany charm and transform their limited screen time into a series of self-contained comic vignettes. Name another teen comedy where the audiences is hoping for more scenes where the lead goes home to talk it over with her parents.

Funniest Movie (From a Certain Angle) - It would be hard to argue with anyone who came out of Noah Baumbach's Greenberg asking, "What the hell was so funny about that?" But if you can summon a little pity for Stiller's filter-less malcontent, then you can see the humor in unleashing this out of control man-child on the greater Los Angeles area.

Funniest Movie That Is Not A Comedy - The Social Network is a unquestionably a drama, but it also has one of the highest laugh counts of the year. One could hear the audience actually pausing for a moment to absorb the sheer cleverness of a line before bursting out laughing. Bonus points for being the most quotable movie of the year.

Most Welcome Presence - Welcome back, Michael Keaton! How we missed you. He turned up to get laughs as both The Other Guys oblivious TLC-quoting police captain and as Toy Story's totally not a girl's toy, Ken. Here's hoping Hollywood keeps right on casting this comedic MVP.

Funniest Mystery Science Theater Fodder - Attention must be paid to the lovers of unintentional comedy, and those folks received a big gift with The Last Airbender. M. Night Shyamalan's epic mess hit the sweet spot of boundless silliness told with completely stone-faced solemnity. How many years until live audience-participation showings of Airbender spring up?

Biggest Waste of a Great Cast - Date Night. How can you gather a cast that includes Carrell, Fey, Franco, Kunis, Liotta, Fichtner, Wahlberg, Wiig, Ruffalo, and Taraji P Henson and still manage only minimal laughs? Put them through the motions of an exhausted plot nobody cares about involving stolen flash drives, car chases, and mobsters, that's how.

Somebody Get This Guy a Script - Last year Flight of the Conchord's Jemaine Clements was wasted in the universally hated Gentlemen Broncos. This year he is wasted in Dinner for Schmucks. One of my fondest 2011 wishes is that Clement gets a vehicle worthy of his priceless comic presence.

Funniest Ensemble - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. From Keiran Culkin's acid wit to Alison Pill's killer deadpan all the way down to the glorious appearance of the Vegan Police this cast is firing on all cylinders. And although everyone and their cousin have written about how Michael Cera needs to find a different role, Cera's comic timing in the title role was still spot on. [previous posts]

Biggest Waste of a Great Title - Hot Tub Time Machine. Surely we can use this title again? It's too good to blow it on these limp 80's jokes.

Biggest Let Down - I left all my critical faculties at the door and was ready for Robert Rodriguez's Machete to give me the guiltiest guilty pleasure ever, maybe this generation's answer to Kentucky Fried Movie. What I got was a movie that bored despite Lindsay Lohan in a nun's outfit shooting off a machine gun, all with a layer of deadly preachiness on top.

The Low Lows of High Concepts - When future generations ask what killed the romantic comedy I will sadly respond, "High concepts." Whether it was a magic wishing fountain in When In Rome, a special marriage proposal day in Leap Year, a sperm sample switcheroo in The Switch, or whatever was going on in Killers, Hollywood is so in love with their big ideas they forgot the little details like likable characters, relatable situations, or romantic chemistry.

I'll Pass - Grown Ups, Marmaduke, Little Fockers, The Bounty Hunter, Furry Vengeance...ugh... I can't go on. See you all at Wal Mart's 5.99 bin, or, more likely, the depths of the Netflix instant view selection.

The Ten Funniest Movies of 2010

10. TANGLED
One of the big surprises of the year. Despite an advertising campaign to the contrary we finally got an animated film that dropped the ironic Shrek-y pop culture references long enough to tell a sweet, straight-forward story. The result? Disney's best animated film in at least a decade and their funniest since The Emperor's New Groove.

09. THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
It's getting more attention for Oscar-friendly tears than for laughs, but Lisa Cholodenko's heartfelt script was one of the most consistently entertaining and well observed of the year. We know the characters and their blind spots so well that we laugh and cringe in equal measure as they stumble directly into emotional land mines.

08. THE SOCIAL NETWORK
"Wait. Let me check your math."

07. THE OTHER GUYS
Admittedly this is as hit or miss as most other McKay projects, but for my money the scale tips firmly in the favor of hits. And when the hits are as funny as Whalberg's ballet dancing, Ferrell on the subject of Tuna vs. Lions and Jackson and the Rock going out with a whimper instead of bang then you can't leave it off this list even though the odd gag lands with a thud (Ferrell's pimping past, I'm looking at you).

06. I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS
Again, not a perfect film but when a story barrels along with such confidence you just go along for the ride. Bouyed by Carrey's ferocious performance and strong supporting working by an endearingly dim Ewan McGregor and a sweet Leslie Mann, Phillip Morris plays like the funny, seedier cousin of Catch Me If You Can.

05. GET HIM TO THE GREEK
Russell Brand and company were right to think this one-off character had legs. This one was an example of that rare species: the solidly funny mainstream comedy that manages to be raunchy without being mean-spirited. Brand stakes his claim as a Hollywood star while Hill proves he can get laughs as the comic straight man. Plus it also gave the entertainment industry a good spoofing without stretching the material past believability.

04. TOY STORY 3
Toy Story's tear-jerking scenes may be getting all the attention but the laughs here are just as big as ever. For starters, Mr. Tortilla Head is an instant classic, and Ken, Big Baby, and a group of method acting toys made for hilarious new additions. The opening fantasy sequence by itself would earn this a place on the list. By my estimation the "death by monkeys" gag alone was worth a half dozen cookie cutter Hollywood comedies.

03. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
While not the masterpiece it's most ardent fans are making it out to be, the films flaws are minor when compared to the film's successes. Whip smart gags, a witty visual style that pops, an ensemble with nary a weak link, and best of all, Edgar Wright's energetic direction which keeps the whole production rollicking along with a spirit of giddy invention. Any serious critical evaluation of the film should be prefaced with the acknowledgement that watching Scott Pilgrim is massive amounts of fun.

02. LOUIS CK: HILARIOUS
If you were lucky enough to catch this concert movie of Louis CK's stand up act as it toured the country last fall then you know what I know, which is that this is possibly the best stand-up special of its kind since Chris Rock exploded with Bring the Pain in '96. Louis CK does that thing that the greats do - actually getting us to see the world with new eyes. His riff on how the miracles of the modern age are wasted on today's whiney consumerists deserves comparison with the classic routines of George Carlin. Oh, and it's clutch-your-side-gasping, fall-out-of-your-chair funny.

01. FOUR LIONS
More than any other comedy this year, Christopher Morris' Four Lions took big risks for its laughs. A comedy about a band of inept terrorists plotting attacks like a group of overgrown children playing in a treehouse, Lions is at once shocking and hilarious. Like the racial humor in Blazing Saddles it gets double laughs, one for the joke and a second one for getting away with what it did. In broad strokes these guys aren't much different than Waiting for Guffman's incompetent actors, in that the laughs come from the huge gap between their grandiose view of themselves and their stubborn lack of actual ability. There was infinite ways for this material to go wrong, but the infallible test of its success is whether or not we laugh, and I did. Loudly and often.

So let's hear it. What made you laugh the hardest this year, and which flicks left you sitting their stone-faced?

some tears to balance this out? Check out the Crybaby Countdown: Tearjerk-iest moments of 2010

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Here Comes a New Year...

2010-12-31T03:00:00.000-08:00

What's your biggest movie wish? (I haven't given 2011 that much thought yet but I'm hoping that the Pedro/Antonio reunion is worth the wait.)
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Crybaby Countdown: The Tearjerk-iest Moments of 2010

2010-12-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

year in review

Kurt here from Your Movie Buddy, getting honest about choking up. I live to cry at the movies, but it's so, so rare. It's like genuine belly laughs: they're great, but they just don't happen that much, especially for frequent, discerning filmgoers. My strongest recent memory of getting all sniffly would probably be during the candlelight vigil scene at the end of Milk. Such a powerful sight. I don't discriminate, though: I'm not afraid to admit I fell victim to the climax of the DeNiro weeper Everybody's Fine. Tearducts play by their own rules. Here's what gave mine a workout this year:

SPOILERS APLENTY...

9. “Because it's important to you,” Date Night

It's no must-see, but Date Night scores major heartstring points as a valentine to long-term commitment. In the end, Steve Carrell and Tina Fey (let's call them “Stina”) have a lovely breakfast scene in which Steve throws in this affecting, encapsulating line about the couple's shared suburban pastimes.

8. Funeral scene, Undertow

Yes, it's another gay film stricken by tragedy. But it's a very, very moving one, especially in its closing scene, when in-denial protagonist Miguel (Cristian Mercado) at last pays tribute to the lover (Manolo Cardona) he lost too soon.

7. On the bench, Rabbit Hole

I don't have one specific scene to cite here, but rather every park scene Nicole Kidman shares with Miles Teller (who, IMO, was robbed of Supporting Actor attention). Their moments together are such wise, aching and beautiful depictions of forgiveness and mutual healing.

6. “Just read it to me, as a friend,” The King's Speech

For me, moving and plausible friendships are right up there with troop-rallying battle cries and father-son reconciliations in the lump-in-the-throat department. This moment between Firth and Rush runs deep.

5. Scrubbing the sidewalk, For Colored Girls
In the wrongly-reviled Tyler Perry melodrama, the suffering is constant, but a lot of it hits its mark. The most shattering scene is when Kimberly Elise is comforted by Kerry Washington during an unfathomable moment of post-traumatic cleansing. Then someone walks over her stain, and it's like claws to the soul.

4. Wedding, Blue Valentine

There are crushing moments aplenty in this oh-so-painful love story, but none trump that which finally shows you – in one gleaming-white, all-American flashback – all the initial hope and joy that's deteriorated through the course of this tragic couple's marriage.

3. Off to college, The Kids Are All Right

This hugely emotional au revoir is the perfect capper to everyone's new favorite family portrait. When all is said and done, family comes first, and at the end of the day, what's truly important is that the kids are...oh, you know.

2. Lantern release, Tangled

I liked the story of Tangled just fine, and Rapunzel's quest for freedom and identity is nicely developed, but what truly underscores this absolutely breathtaking peak of the Disney gem is its pure ability to transport: to childhood, to Disney's princess heyday, to movie heaven.

1. Moving on (Finale), Toy Story 3

I am not on the Toy Story 3 bandwagon by any means, but you better believe I was a puddle of mush just like everyone else during the final scene. I truly think it's one of the most emotional series finales in history. The greatness of its impact is that it's at once universal and personal: it feels like it's speaking to every viewer individually.

Need to laugh now? The YEAR IN COMEDY

Your turn, TFE readers. Spill it.
What had you fighting back tears this year?
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Let's Do the Link Warp Again

2010-12-30T18:42:00.000-08:00

A note for impatient readers: My top ten list is coming (I'm aiming for January 1st / 2nd) but first there's a couple year in reviews things and an interview with Kirsten Dunst. The new site will be up soon, too. Hopefully everything will be running smoothly within the next week.

Vulture Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu speaks out. Good read. I especially liked the Woody Allen bits.
/Film Remember when Buried won that surprise NBR Screenplay award. That's not the end of the film's Oscar campaign story...
Wired Patton Oswalt (The United States of Tara) asks for the death/rebirth of geek culture by ETEWAF (Everything That Ever Was... Available Forever). Really interesting piece, especially if you're feeling burnt out by the internet's constant regurgitation of past things and repurposing of newish things.
Playbill has a list of a ton of people's favorite theater moments of the year. I wish I could still afford theater. [sniffle]
Towleroad my weekly article with a teensy bit on the "depressing" double of Rabbit Hole and Blue Valentine.
Cinema Blend Casper the Friendly Ghost is coming back to the movies. In Related News: Hollywood isn't even trying anymore. True story: I saw the Christina Ricci Casper (1995) at the drive-in and my best friend cried and we all made fun of him for weeks afterwards.

Three random questions:

Do you think Anne Hathaway is pissed that her Oscar co-host gets the EW cover but Natalie Portman gets what would then, symmetrically speaking, be hers?
Will there be a single day in 2011 where we aren't staring at Natalie Portman's mug?
Was there a day in 2010 when we didn't see James Francos?

offscreen

The Awl Call this next year twenty-eleven, please not "two thousand eleven". A compelling funny argument.

Distant Relatives: Repulsion and Black Swan

2010-12-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

Robert here, with my series Distant Relatives, where we look at two films, (one classic, one modern) related through a common theme and ask what their similarities and differences can tell us about the evolution of cinema. Since one of these films is still in theaters, I thought I'd mention that while certain plot elements are revealed I've done my best not to spoil any of the film's dramatic resolution.

Women well into their nervous breakdowns

We love to watch people go mad in the movies. We watch people go mad because of fame and money. We watch people go mad because of war or tragedy. And we watch people go mad because of the relentless pursuit of perfection. We're especially fascinated by beautiful people going mad. "I hate to do this to a beautiful woman," said one of the cameramen of Catherine Deneuve on the set of Repulsion. As if tormenting a plain looking person would be somewhat less repulsive. We envy and idealize the beautiful. What reason should they have to go mad, when life has dealt them such a winning hand?

But Natalie Portman's Nina and Catherine Deneuve's Carol do spiral down into madness. Both are haunted by visions of walking nightmares. Both see their reflections become broken and distorted. And both are eventually brought to violence. Each film contains moments of such fierce discomfort, we begin to expect (or fear) that the director is capable of showing us anything. Now that is horror. A scene of cuticle cutting in Repulsion suggests that Darren Aronofsky was probably influenced by that film's understanding of our empathy toward hangnail trauma. But it's not fear of physical pain that's the catalyst for these beauties' insanty.

Would you fuck that girl?

They're all the same these bloody virgins, they're all teasers that's all.

Sex is dirty. Sex is bad. Both of these women have stilted sexuality in a world that demands they be sex objects. Each film does a superb job of getting us into their heads, making us understand how they see sex. As Carol lies in bed at night, hearing the animalistic moans and grunts being made by her sister and her sister's beau in the next room, we agree that they don't sound sexy at all. They don't sound like something Carol would want to partake in. They don't sound like something we would want to do. For Nina, a subway encounter with a perverted old man tells us all we need to know about how sex appears before her: dirty, aggressive, a violation. There's nothing present that suggests the comfort of love or even the enjoyment of pleasure.

For both of these women, being virginal is part of attaining or maintaining perfection. Carol's pursuit of this ideal is subconscious. She doesn't hope to achieve anything by accomplishing it, but being spoiled by a man would be akin to falling from grace. For Nina, avoiding sex is part of her active pursuit of artistic perfection. Her mother has pushed her in the direction of the pure innocent ballerina. When company director Thomas Leroy insists that sexuality is her only path to perfection, it both contradicts and reinforces her attitudes toward sexuality and innocence. After all, he demands she become sexual to embody the black swan, the dark character. So sex may now be the goal, but it's still something sinister.

No way out

The activeness of Nina versus the passiveness of Carol is one of the major differences between these two films. Yet in both cases it seemingly makes their downfall more inevitable. Carol has no direction in life, no goals, no hobbies even. Her descent into madness seems a natural progression of that emptiness. For Nina, her pursuit of artistic triumph is so great, it can only lead where it eventually does - downward. What both of these women do share is obsession, and that, however manifest, is the key to their fates. The two women justify their darkness differently as well. Black Swan plays with the doppleganger (echoing Swan Lake). Nina, perhaps unable to accept any darkness within herself, creates mirror images of herself, onto whom she can project her inner evil. Carol recedes within herself, becoming further and further the eternal victim. She rationalizes her actions as necessary self-defense. She has to. By the end of her film, even the walls are attacking her.

In the over forty-five years between these two films, we notice that audiences have changed little. Stories of beauty and obsession are still captivating. Both films present us with a heroine who the picture empathizes with and sexualizes, almost becoming another one of the many gazing and lecherous men that surround them. Like Nina, Black Swan the film is more active in its pursuit of our emotional distress. The film is bombastic, swirling around, throwing a large amount of stimuli at is from all sides. Repulsion is more passive like Carol, building slowly to a point where fantastic images truly shock. Both methods work for their respective films, though the more modern one is maybe indicative of a time when the weight of film history and media saturation requires images be louder. But however the times have changed, we still respond to beauty in peril. We still are shocked at beauty embodying evil. And like that camerman we feel terrible about it, but keep it in our gaze.

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Patty Clarkson's 2010 Triple: Cairo Time, Easy A and Shutter Island

2010-12-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

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Patty and the NYC premiere
this summer

Earlier this month I met with Patricia Clarkson to discuss another fine year in one of the most pleasurable of modern character actor filmographies. Hers. I was waiting for the right opportunity to share it with you, and since Cairo Time is out on DVD, Academy voters are busy weighing the various Best Actress options, and today is Patty's 51st birthday, it was high time.

Through an unfortunate scheduling snafu I was less prepared when I met her than I am accustomed to being. I apologized with a wee warning that I'd be winging it. I bring this up because, as many of will remember, I have closely clocked her career. She came in at #2 in my 2005 countdown "Actresses of the Aughts" (yes we should revisit that list now that the decade has wrapped) and because I just want to share the unedited transcript. She was just so delightful to talk to. The punctuations and descriptions are my own of course to convey the flavor of the conversation. Happily, she's as vivacious and fun to interview as she is to watch onscreen.

Our conversation started by chatting about the NYC premiere of Cairo Time this past summer.

Nathaniel: Really enjoyed the movie. We didn't get a chance to talk afterwards at the banquet but you seemed very buoyant and happy that evening.

Patty: Yes. It was very nice night and it had been a long journey with the film. So... just up until then my mother and sister were in town. It was just a wonderful night to share it with my friends and my family [pause] ...and strangers.

[Laughter]

Nathaniel: Strangers like me sitting at the corner table. But it was wonderful to see you carry a whole movie for change.

Patty: It's a nice thing. It's rare. You know, I've been the female lead in a few things but it's rare to really kind of carry a film -- especially for me but it's even rare for women in general. We're always sharing top billing with somebody, you know what I mean? Or we're often the supporting people. It's beautiful that Ruba [Ruba Nadda the writer/director] wrote a film with a woman, almost 50, in the lead. That's how she wanted it. I'm very thankful to her for that always.

Patricia as Juliette.

Nathaniel: This character ["Juliette" in Cairo Time] has a really slow burn. I mean the character arc is very gradual.

Patty: Very! So gradual. It's really truly one of the most deceptively difficult parts I've ever played in my career. Not only because you're in every frame and you're shooting every day all day. But emotionally, oddly, it was... [her voice trails off thinking of the work]. It's a very, very quarter-inch by quarter-inch slow burn progression.

Nathaniel: In a situation like that do you have to have a lot of trust that the editing, for example, would bear you out since there's not that one scene? If you compare it to something like Far From Heaven where you can play a hairpin turn in the character that's just so devastating.

Patty: Right. Well that's also such a more forward character. This is... she [Ruba] wrote a very passive protagonist -- I found it very beautiful -- a very setback reluctant, for lack of a better world, woman at times. Antithetical to me and often to many characters I've played which are very forward and very gregarious and very present. This is a woman who is reserved, truly reserved. But I still think lovely and approachable in her own way.

Nathaniel: One thing I loved about the movie was the costume design.

Patty: Beautiful dresses, yes.

Nathaniel: They went along with the gradual arc so well. And the resolution of the movie -- those final scenes are just beautifully played.

Patty: Oh, thank you. It's the courage that Ruba had to really trust that those scenes would work, that they'd stay with the film and take this very, very subtle intimate --no bells and whistles! -- film and be around for the end and have the payoff. Most of the people I've seen have gotten it. They took the journey and were moved and transported. So...

Patricia & Alexander Siddig in the final scenes of Cairo Time

Nathaniel: Would you reteam with Alexander Siddig when you could let 'er rip more?

Patty: IN ANYTHING! There will be a sequel to Cairo Time. And it's just me and Alexander on a train. I've already written it. Ruba doesn't know about it but I've written it. And neither does Alexander.

[Much laughter]

Nathaniel: Speaking of actors who you don't get to get to see do leads enough...

Patty: He's such a beautiful stunning man. Ruba's next two projects are with Alexander and me. He's the lead in Ruba's next movie in Jordan, a beautiful story of a man whose daughter goes missing. And Ruba has another film for me that we'll shoot next January, a year from now. It's very exciting.

We're going to keep going with Ruba. [Laughter]

Whatever Patty Works... is magic

Nathaniel: Speaking of writer/directors... you've done two films with Woody Allen.

Patty: Yes, yes. I have high hopes for him; lovely unknown man.

Nathaniel: [laughter]

Patty: You know, it's an actor's dream to work with him and he doesn't disappoint. It was wonderful and I loved those parts that I got to play. Vicky Cristina Barcelona wasn't a large part but what was there was lovely and then Whatever Works was such a delicious divine part.

Nathaniel: You were the highlight.

Patty: Well... (giving credit away) Marietta! It's kind of a part I dreamed of playing, you know, just a big broad great southern lady.

Nathaniel: With Woody, you hear all sorts of contradictory things about him on the set. Some actors say he never speaks to them.

Patty: He's easy going but he's not chatty. This is why I really adore him. It's a very indulgent business; we are coddled and pampered so much. Woody just doesn't do that. It's all about the work. He doesn't care about your personal life. You show up. He wants you to be professional, know your lines, know what you're doing. Do your homework. He shows up and starts shooting at 9 AM, ready to go. He doesn't want drama. He doesn't want any of that. It's all about the work. I love that. I love that way of working.

Nathaniel: When you have to do a part that's heavily exposition as some supporting parts are, like in Shutter Island.

Patty: Yeah?

Nathaniel: How much of a challenge is that? It seems to me, from an outside perspective as I'm not an actor, that that would be both less rewarding and more difficult.

Patty: Well, Yes. At times it can be. But, remember, here I am. I'm working with Martin Scorsese who is divine and Leo... the two of them. They're a match made in heaven and they really make the best of an expositional circumstances. And it actually turned out to be, like, a real ride I had to take with that character and with Leo. And the cave. And my really ugly schmatte dress! And my wig!

[Much laughter]

You know it's like 'AAAAAHHH TROLL LADY!'

"People tell the world you're crazy and all your protests to the
contrary just confirm what they're saying."

It was -- it ended up being surprisingly difficult in good ways. It did challenge me. Leo is a deeply committed and passionate actor. And so is Marty. Both of them are like powerhouses coming at you. There's nothing laid back and cool and simple and easy. It's like [makes whooshing noise]... it's a conducive environment to do good and hopefully great work. It is about about the work also. With great directors, it always is.

Nathaniel: High Art.

Patty: Great director.

Nathaniel: Lisa Cholodenko is having such a good year.

Patty: Beautiful year, yeah. I just saw her the other night at the Gothams.

Nathaniel: Her first couple movies, like High Art, were heavy and this one is really light and funny.

Patty: Although it's incredibly moving.

Nathaniel: Did you know she had that in her?

Patty: Yes, of course. She's just gifted. Great directors can just do anything. She has a marvelous sense of humor. She's very intelligent and I think she can -- because even in The Kids Are All Right there's pathos. I mean, there is. It's nuanced and hysterically funny but there is, you know, still depth of emotion that will always be in her work.

Nathaniel: You yourself have a real gift for comedy. One of the things I would love to see you do, if they even made them anymore, is a rapid fire screwball comedy.

Patty: OHMYGOD. I dream of that. You know, I dream of standing in a room in a smart sexy suit or sitting on a couch with my legs crossed chatting with George Clooney... rapid fire. Yes! [laughter]

Nathaniel: You get to do little hints of that but I would love a big screwball.

Patty: I do but I haven't done a kind of great balls-out real romantic comedy.

Tucci & Clarkson with Liza (!) at a Cairo Time event two weeks ago.

Nathaniel: You were a highlight of Easy A this year.
Patty: We had so much fun, Stanley and I.

Nathaniel: You have great chemistry.

Patty: We do. Stanley and I have known each other for so long. We're very close in a really great way. We just have a cool friendship, we do. And we're able to modify it slightly and bring it on as, like, a married couple or whatever. We can take our friendship and mold it into what we need it to be whether that's for Blind Date or Easy A.

Nathaniel: I find in a lot of movies, a lot of times, the parent/child thing... you can't always see how the child would come from those parents.

Patty: Yes.

Nathaniel: And in that movie. You and Stanley were just -- it's like you genetically gifted all of your humor to her.

Patty: [Laughter]

Easy Mother and Grade A Daughter

Nathaniel: Because she had that same sort of lively...

Patty: Well, she is -- Emma Stone is sublime. You know, I hate this expression but she is a star. She is in the best sense. She's so beautiful and so multi-talented. She can do drama, comedy, action -- she's doing Spider-Man now. She's just really on her way and she should be. She should be. She's one of those new fabulous girls and she deserves to be.

Nathaniel: In terms of your public persona... do you get recognized a lot?

Patty: It depends on the city. If I'm in New York, oh god yes. If I'm in New Orleans oh god yes. In LA , yes. If I'm in Omaha, no. [Laughter]

Nathaniel: You've played such a wide range of roles. What do you think the perception of you is, generally?

Patty: I think it's shifted somewhat. [Reconsidering...] You know, I don't know.

Nathaniel: You don't think they come to you with any preconceived notions?

Patty: No. I think... Like in New York. It's like "oh, we love you. You're a New York actor." It's lovely. They claim me. 'Claim away, honey! As long as I keep working.'

I think people just think of me as, you know, just an actor. They're very flattering and complimentary most of the time. I'm trying to think -- I don't think anybody has ever come up to me and said "I don't like you" but there's always tomorrow.

[Laughter]

Nathaniel: One of my favorite parts of yours in Elegy.

Patty: Ohhhh, Isabel Coixet. Look at the extraordinary directors I've worked with! She's a stunning woman. She speaks five languages. She's a genius. She's one of the smartest people I've ever met and I have really smart friends. Like Rich Greenberg who is a genius. But she's one of a kind. I love that film. It's kind of taken on a different life, a new -- well, it doesn't have a cult following exactly but I have had a lot more people talking to me about it now than when it came out.

Nathaniel: It's one of your fullest characters I think. You were just giving us a lot of information about the character's life in a handful of scenes. Are there any other roles you wish would be rediscovered?

Patty: You know, I wish more people would see Blind Date. I know it's not for everybody but I love that film. I don't know if you've seen it?

Nathaniel: ... that one I haven't so I'm a little embarrassed that that's the one you name-check.[Laughter]

Patty: Noooo. You'll see it at some point. You can rent it. I hope people rediscover that. That's the one I hope for.

Nathaniel: I think the first time I saw you in a lead was [forgetting...] oh god...

Patty: The Dying Gaul.

Nathaniel: The Dying Gaul!

Patty's first top billing

Patty: Beautiful film. [Craig Lucas] is a sublime man. Deeply gifted, beautiful writer, and beautiful eye. He should be writing and directing. It's a wonderful film and that's been discovered in some ways. More people have seen it and say 'I love that movie... it's got that strange title...'

Nathaniel: Yeah, you had to prompt me too.

Patty: Yeah. But oh that white bikini. oh my god. [embarrassed high voice] WHOOOOO!!!

[laughter break]

Nathaniel: What's next for you Patty?

Patty: Not a white bikini !!!

[more laughter]

Nathaniel: Oh come on, you look pretty great in that dress in Cairo Time.

Patty: Beautiful dresses. What's next for me? I just did another movie with the Easy A director. This is a movie starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake [Friends With Benefits]. And a small part in Lone Scherfig's new movie called One Day starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. I play Jim's dying mother. It's me doing British which is very intimidating in front of entire British cast and crew. I thought 'oh my god I am going to be dying by the end of this character.'

But it's good to be frightened at 50 and it's good that people keep upsetting the apple cart.

Nathaniel: It was a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks for bearing with me.

Patty: You didn't seem to be winging it.

Nathaniel: Well I've been watching since High Art.

Patty at the New Yorker Festival in October.

****

And with that we said our goodbyes.

Did you see Patty's triple this year? It's actually a quadruple as she had a role in Legendary but that one, alas, slipped by me. Which was your favorite of her recent roles? If you haven't seen Cairo Time, queue it up. But just make sure to turn off your phones. It's one of those movies that requires your full attention, all the better to appreciate Patty's careful modulation of that slow burn arc.

But then, you should always pay close attention to Patty's work. She rewards audiences again and again.
*
Leonardo DiCaprio Stanley Tucci

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Alexandre Desplat Interview Part 2

2010-12-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

Part 1 "How to Watch Movies... with Alexandre Desplat"

Part 2 Excerpts
Alexandre Desplat is the busiest composer in film but he made time to talk a few weeks back. My profile will be up at Tribeca Film in January but for now I thought I'd share a few unused excerpts from our conversation whilst Academy voters are presumably scribbling down his name on their ballots for Best Original Score. But will they vote for The King's Speech or The Ghost Writer? [We discussed both movies ~ coming in Part 3.]

We'll know which score the voters preferred on January 25th unless, who knows, maybe they'll both be nominated? A double dipping wouldn't be unprecedented in that category and considering Desplat's workload it's bound to happen eventually.

On Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
official soundtrack page

Nathaniel: Is it difficult to take over something, a franchise, with ten years of pre-existing themes like Harry Potter? Did you have a lot less freedom?

Desplat: Well, John Williams, being one of the best composers of last 50 years, if not the last master of them all; I was more than happy to use some of his themes. The only theme that was meant to be reprised was "Hedwig's Theme" which has become kind of the Harry Potter main title. As I was starting work on the film I let my imagination go in many territories around this theme. When I was spotting the movie and started diving into the film it occurred to the director [David Yates], more even to me, that the theme did not have much left to do in this story because they're away from their school and the heroes are now grownups and this lovely world of fantasy is not their world anymore. So we used it two or three times early in the film almost to get rid of it, like they're getting rid of their childhood. It's part of their childhood to which they say goodbye. And the theme just vanishes for the same reasons.

On Process and Inspiration

Nathaniel: Is your process different for each film? How do you even begin the work?

Desplat: It differs for each film. The King's Speech I was shown the movie almost on its final cut. Some other films I get the script beforehand -- I got the The Ghost Writer script a year before. It's all very different which is good because you have to find different energies and different ways of getting inspiration. The main issue is how do you get excited, how do you get your cortex in movement? It could be from reading the script, it could be from seeing the images. Watching the images remains what I prefer because it has what the film has become. Reading the scripts it still belongs to literature so I am almost in favor of watching the first edit.

On Composing For International Cinema
I was struggling with a question about Jacques Audiard's The Beat That My Heart Skipped (one of my favorite Desplat scores) and he saved me by predicting the question and jumping in.

Desplat discussing Benjamin Button with David Fincher

Desplat: You know the only difference is the language because the directors have the same obsessions. Even though they have their own grammar it's always the same vocabulary: closeup, wide shot, tracking shot, overhead shot, aerial shot, whatever. How many actors and the way you put them in the frame? So it's just a matter of communication for me to be able to translate in music what the director wants. Again, If the director has a strong point of view I enjoy the process that brings the music into his films. It's just a matter of spending time together, exchanging ideas.

I would always choose to work on a project that the story or the director resonates with me. With Ang Lee, Jacques Audiard or David Fincher, I found the same notion of exchange. These filmmakers have actually a huge cinephilia behind them. They know the history of cinema as well as I do. So we are in the same territory in a way.

Nathaniel: You're speaking the same langauge.

Desplat: Exactly.

On Oscar Ballots

You know I had to ask him about this.

Nathaniel: In addition to enjoying Oscar nominations, you've been a member of AMPAS for the past few years. When it comes time to judge other composers and fill out your ballot, what are you looking for?

Desplat: I want to see what the composer brings to the film that was not there -- what else is the score bringing? Is it just following the action or opening a dimension of emotion that only this score could create? That's what i'm looking for, to be moved and surprised.

And also I'm interested in the instrumentation, if the composer takes chances, puts himself in danger. Comfort has never been good to artists. I don't mean every day comfort. It's good to eat and have hot water but I mean the artistic comfort zone where you repeat yourself... [he spoke at length about why this happens and that you must avoid it]

Desplat admires Maurice Jarre's experimentations in the 80s.

So when Maurice Jarre in the early 80s stops doing orchestra scores and dives into the electronic and makes, with Peter Weir, almost a revolution in film scoring, that's a great move. I'm always impressed by these kinds of actions.

But at first I look at the movie. I'm trying to be like a sponge just waiting for the emotion to overwhelm me. And if the score is good, it will.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Year in Review: Music Videos a.k.a. Short Movie Musicals

2010-12-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

I couldn't be happier that the music video has regained its cultural capital in the age of YouTube. There's something about the form that is just magical. Or maybe it's just that it's been the most reliable fix for movie-musical lovers during the past 30 years. You can pretend these 3 to 5 minute show stoppers are but one scene in a larger movie musical, can't you? At least that's what I do with my favorite videos.

So herewith, several favorites in no particular order. If you're wondering what music videos have to do with The Film Experience remember that they're short films and that this year's most celebrated director David Fincher (The Social Network) started that mammoth career by making mammoth music videos for Madonna (among others).

Please to enjoy. And let me know your favorite(s) in the comments.

8 FAV MUSIC VIDEOS OF '10
Why only 8? I ran out of steam. You don't have time to watch 10 anyway.

Brandon Flowers "Crossfire"

In which Charlize Theron kicks much ninja ass. I love the self-effacing helplessness of your rock star hero who just can't stop getting into predicaments from which his hot girl (Charlize) must rescue him. Movie stars slumming in music videos is one of the best things in the world though this video does bring up my constant worry about Charlize: Why is she so awesome without making any movies worth caring about?

Janelle Monáe (feat. Big Boi) "Tightrope"

Those feet. The way they slide, spin, shuffle, dance. It's quite a feat.

Cosmo Jarvis "Gay Pirate".

I heart this so hard. That "Yo Ho" chorus is to die. Plus, it's lit and choreographed cleverly for one take (joy) and it's easily enjoyable both on the surface -- gay pirates! -- and moreso if you want to dig deeper (think don't ask don't tell) which is the best kind of artistic trick.

But there's more: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gaga, and more one-take madness coming...

...

Lady Gaga (feat. Beyoncé) "Telephone"

I mostly love this one for the costumes, the Amazon aggression and the Kill Bill and Thelma & Louise shout outs. True story: I was playing charades the other night at a Christmas party and I had to act out this dance. HIGHLY EMBARRASSING.

Cazwell "Ice Cream Truck" [NSFW]

Because it's raunchy/hilarious (NSFW). Cazwell's songs sometimes have good laughs (I Saw Beyoncé at Burger King -lol) but this is the first video to match/surpass the fun embedded in the song.

Vampire Weekend "Giving Up the Gun"

Four things we love in different contexts entirely: tennis, Vampire Weekend, funny Jake Gyllenhaal, people battling with themselves through the magic of movie editing. These four things together = quadruple happiness.

Cee-Lo "F*** You"

A musical biopic (of sorts) that's actually entertaining. The only thing that would make this video better is if Cristal, Ronnette & Chiffon were playing the doo-wop chorus behind the counter.

Ok Go "This Too Shall Pass"
[Rube Goldberg Machine Version]

Ingenuity, humor, and one take which continually ups the ante. It's for anyone who has ever marvelled at How Things Work. The ending is so great. The one take thing is an addiction we too rarely get a fix of -- we love it within feature films even more; over there it's an endangered species known as "the long take." I couldn't find much statistical data about ASL (average shot length) on the web -- most of it is really random studies of singular movies but everyone knows it's been decreasing steadily for years. It's definitely under 4 seconds now, maybe closer to 2 with action films, which are even more shard fragment-like coming in under that.

Now it's your turn. Which music videos did you love this year?

Exit Music: This last one isn't an all time great music video, but it's my absofavorite song this year so I have to end with it.

Yes, No, Maybe So Double: "Hanna" and "The Other Woman"

2010-12-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's a double dip for Yes No Maybe So as we're way behind. Can't the movie world just stop for a little bit during the holidays so that we can all enjoy the movies we have right in front of us? Too many things. Too many things. Here's a girlish double and we'll get more manly in the next installment.

Let's start with The Other Woman which used to be called Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (better less generic title) starring the ubiquitous Natalie Portman. And that's ubiquitous with a capital U because, really, she's only going to get more inescapable from here on out.

The Other Woman

First there's this movie, then there's that Ashton Kuchner romcom, then Your Highness, then there's Thor (yes, 4 releases in 2011) plus the next two months of awards shows and then the wedding and the baby and so on. Is she aiming for Jolie/Pitt levels of über celebrity status? You won't be able to get away from her. You're going to look in the mirror and see Natalie Portman.

Don Roos's key successes (The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings) were told in a unique voice (always a plus) and revealed a deft hand with actors. His frequent collaborator Lisa Kudrow (yay!) plays the first wife and I think everyone wants to know if Natalie, post-Swan even though this was shot earlier, is going to be able to up her game as she moves into her thirties.

On the other hand this looks soft, overly happy and above all unfocused (child rearing, adultery, infant death, custody battles, family bonds, the kitchen sink). It also displays this other woman and asks you to root for her to win the married man which is...unnngh. Really? But it's a trailer, and maybe this isn't at all easy to summarize. Roos, particularly in Happy Endings, was able to balance a lot of flawed characters and emotional arcs. So maybe the marketing department just doesn't know what to do with it?

Despite what seems like far too many plot points (especially for a trailer) you have to admit there's a certain amount of 'wow... this could go in all sorts of interesting emotional directions.' That is if, and it's a big if, the trailer is a false witness to the actual tone.

It doesn't look promising to me but I am curious. You?

This trailer and discussion has presumed spoilers.

Hanna

Next we have Saoirse Ronan training for kills in the woods, with the dissonant mix of modern music and fairy tale titles. Little Saoirse's eventual target: Cate Blanchett.

You can't say that Joe Wright skimps on acting talent lining up Queen Blanchett to square off against Eric Bana (daddy?) and Saoirse Ronan (baby girl?). You also can't say that he didn't earn a couple films worth of experimentation and possible failure after his first two terrific pictures (Pride & Prejudice and Atonement).

I know that the deady little girl thing is a rite of passage for all underage startlets (just ask Natalie Portman, Kirsten Dunst, Dakota Fanning and Chloe Moretz and whoever gets cast in Hunger Games) but I can't say that the child soldier thing is for me. Rooting for trained assassins is so ... unpleasant. Child assassins? Even worse. Why is it such a popular genre? And isn't the trailer giving away a huge twist. [SPOILER?] Isn't it basically saying that Saoirse is Cate's daughter and that Cate is the villain rather than the victim/target? [/SPOILER?]

Visually there are a handful of hooky images and many trailers don't succeed at that even though they all try. Maybe Joe Wright and team could provide real chills (acting) and thrills (action).

So I guess that's two Maybe Sos for me. How are you feeling about seeing either of these pictures?
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A Lisa Kudrow Binge

2010-12-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

"I don't need to see that."

This week I accidentally binged on Lisa Kudrow.

I've usually enjoyed her comic movie roles (especially in the Don Roos films The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings) though I was a little unnerved by what seemed to be an encroaching bitterness in her comic persona the last time couple of times we visited (Kabluey and Easy A). I was starting to miss "Phoebe"'s sunniness on early seasons of Friends.

But I had somehow never seen The Comeback (2005) which I watched this week (two episodes left... maybe I should save them). Its very brilliance probably doomed it as it's an exceedingly uncomfortable showbiz comedy. Its comic impulses have satiric bite... one might call it comedy with real fangs. I was squirming even while laughing loudly. Immediately after watching those I tried a few episodes of Web Therapy, which I am also super late to -- hey, I'm too busy with the movies-- and now I'm fully back on Team Kudrow which I had somehow slipped away from. I got so nostalgic for past Kudrow glory that I even ended up looking up what Jennifer Aniston & Courtney Cox were up to, which I assure you I have never purposefully done before, though I do watch and enjoy Cougar Town on occasion.

Kurdow laughing at Streep's guest
role antics on Web Therapy

It's fascinating that Kudrow's big fame began with such a naive neo-Bohemian persona as Phoebe Buffay and now she so eagerly conquers these self-lacerating or unlikeable characters... It's almost like she's been morphing over the year's from Phoebe to Phoebe's misanthropic twin Ursula. Remember her?

My point is this: Lisa Kudrow is talented and underappreciated, even if she's not exactly underrewarded - hello gazillion$ in Friends residuals. She's probably only less of a mainstream presence now because her preferred style of comedy is of the take-no-prisoners variety.

Here's the first of the three most recent episodes of Web Therapy (episode #46) which starred Meryl Streep (as "therapist" Camilla Bowner) who is doing reparative therapy on Fiona Wallice's (Lisa Kudrow's) gay husband. Wickedly subtle humor courses under the less subtle verbal gags ... it's all in their nuanced line deliveries, reactive beats and funny expressions.

Are you now or have you ever been on Team Kudrow?

Related Reading:
Signatures: Lisa Kudrow
Monologue: "Michelle's Miracle Glue"

Utah & Phoenix Film Critics: 127 Inceptions For the King

2010-12-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

It's so cute that film critics circles are so interested in "their own" as it were. Boston is always accused of rallying behind Boston-set films (in their defense they often have many of them to choose from) and a few days back Utah, where 127 Hours takes place, really handed that film some water in its moment of need. Not that the Academy voters are actively debating Utah's choices before filling out their ballots this week... they're more likely to be swayed by James Franco's grandma (see video after the jump).

But given that 127 Hours has been slipping down a thin rocky crevice away from sunny awards heat (AWKWARD METAPHOR ALERT) it'll take every honor it can get. Will AMPAS go for it or do we have another Into the Wild (2007) on our hands i.e. lots of preseason heat, little to show for it on Oscar nom morn?

Christmas Greetings From the Franco's from James Franco

The prizes from Utah and Phoenix.

Utah Film Critics
Best Picture (tie) 127 Hours and The Social Network
Best Director (tie) Christopher Nolan for Inception and David Fincher for The Social Network
Best Actor James Franco in 127 Hours
Best Actress Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale in The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Best Screenplay Aaron Sorkin in The Social Network
Best Cinematography Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle for 127 Hours
Best Documentary Catfish
Best Foreign Feature (tie) Micmacs and A Prophet
Best Animated Feature Toy Story 3

They had an even number of critics attending on voting day, hence all the ties. What, no tiebreaker system???
Nice to see some love for Catfish which has been mostly ignored since many critics groups seem to be voting directly from the limited pool of Oscar documentary finalists.

Meanwhile, Phoenix honored no films set in Arizona... though they came as close as they could with Let Me In. And they almost became the only critics group to ignore The Social Network. Instead they went 'cross the Atlantic for both of their big ones: The King's Speech and Inception.

The King's Inception: What will Cobb find inside Bertie's dream?

Phoenix Film Critics
Best Picture The King's Speech
[top ten: 127 Hours, Inception, Never Let Me Go, Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, True Grit, Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone]
Best Director Christopher Nolan for Inception
Best Actor Colin Firth in The King's Speech
Best Actress Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale in The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Breakthru Performance (on camera) Chloe Moretz in Kick-Ass
Breathru Performance (off camera) Debra Granik for Winter's Bone
Best Youth Performance (Male) Kodi Smit-McPhee in Let Me In
Best Youth Performance (Female) Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Best Screenplay (Original) Inception
Best Screenplay (Adapted) The Social Network
Best Live Action Family Film Eyesore in Wonderland
Overlooked Film of the Year Never Let Me Go
Best Original Song "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" Burlesque
Best Cinematography Roger Deakins for True Grit
Best Score Hans Zimmer for Inception
Best Editing Inception
Best Art Direction Inception
Best Visual Effects Inception
Best Stunts Inception
Best Costume Design Eyesore in Wonderland
Best Documentary Restrepo
Best Foreign Feature Biutiful
Best Animated Feature Toy Story 3

Remind me to never move to Phoenix. You know why.
Okay. Normally I don't take well to those annual gripes that go something like "if this movie didn't have the best ____, how is it the best picture? yadda yadda", ignorant as they sometimes are to the fact that voters are supposed to be voting on different criteria for each category. But seriously. How do they explain this one? Inception has a better screenplay and better direction than The King's Speech and it's "best" at just about everything (it won 7 categories) but it still loses Best Picture to The King's Speech? I guess Colin Firth's performance is Best Everything in order to lift the Speech up out of reach of Inception's dream invaders.

Link House

2010-12-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

In Contention on another 'Year of the Woman.'
Acidemic's wildly surprising top ten. Erich is his own man as a critic. Which is why I like reading him.
BoingBoing life size wax figure of Patrick Swayze in Road House. No really.
Playbill if you're in NYC for the holidays, a ton of good shows are closing. Here's your last chance to see them.
Movie|Line Mike Ryan looks back at his year interviewing celebrities.
The Wrap 25 new films for the National Historic Registry including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Exorcist.
Chateau Thombeau Joan Crawford in a loud dress. (love the punchline)

And now from the completely random department, Ranker has a list of the "steamiest incestuous relationships on film" a perfect topic for the, uh, holidays? The list has a surprising amount of good films on it (from Chinatown --um the incest is not steamy. Ewww! -- to The Lion King (yes, really) to The Dreamers). But the obvious exclusion, and you can't really make a list this specific without including it is Close My Eyes which features a very young and constantly naked Clive Owen as a man who just really loves his big sister. Do you love Clive Owen? Like a brother or...

Where he be anyway?

Box Office Blather: Jeff Bridges Double Dips

2010-12-28T09:42:00.000-08:00

A weekly box office series, in beta, to see if we like. To remind you that you're here and not elsewhere and we can't just do things normally, we'll come at it from weird angles when we can.

Jeff Bridges stars in TRON GRIT

Little Fockers $30 NEW
True Grit $24.8 NEW
Tron Legacy $19.5 (cumulative: $87.3)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader $9.4 (cumulative: $62.5)
Yogi Bear $7.8 (cumulative: $35.8)
The Fighter $7.6 (cumulative: $26.6)
Tangled $6.4 (cumulative: $143.6)
Gulliver's Travel $6.3 NEW
Black Swan $6.2 (cumulative: $28.6)
The Tourist $5.4 (cumulative: $40.8)
The King's Speech $4.4 (cumulative: $8.3)
How Do You Know $3.5 (cumulative: $15)

With Little Fockers and True Grit topping the charts and we experience an unexpected flashback. Bridges & Babs haven't dipped into the top box office together since The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). And this time Jeff is double-dipping.

♪ this is it... OHHHH i finally found someone... someone to share my life ♪♫

The first thing to note is that Jeff Bridges is hogging the higher altitudes of the chart as both True Grit's grizzled Rooster Cogburn and the god/father figure for Garret Hedlund (and cross-generational computer geeks) in Tron Legacy. I haven't seen the latter picture but it's good to see Bridges back in sleeker form again after those last two sloshed rundown beer-bellied men in Grit and Crazy Heart. The new old western is is now the Coen Bros' best opening narrowly beating Burn After Reading (2008) which, had almost exactly the same budget but more stars to sell itself with. No Country For Old Men (2007) is their highest grosser though. Will Grit surpass it?

art by Daniel Foez

Couple other things.

You'd think the Narnia series would die as its box office descends with each film but it's still popular globally and the budget on this one dropped considerably. Does it show?
Christmas was the first wide weekend for The King's Speech, arguably the only major film relying entirely on Oscar buzz to sell tickets. (You can't really count the films that have barely even tried to open and they are unfortunately many.)
Tangled is holding well, despite losing some theaters to Christmas fare, demonstrating long legs to accessorize that golden hair. It'll need them. For some reason it cost $260 to make -- which is at quite a bit more expensive than the three animated films which have outgrossed it this year. Was it the frequent retooling that made it that expensive? It'll presumably be awhile before profits once you factor in marketing costs.

Speaking of animated fairytales... Does anyone else remember The Last Unicorn? Is that even on DVD? Here's Jeff Bridges (as the charming Prince) serenading/romancing Mia Farrow (the unicorn)

It's not some sick interspecies romance because somehow she's a beautiful woman and not just a unicorn. No, I don't remember the story at all.

Three questions to send you on your way:

The Mirror Has Two Faces? Go. (even if you haven't seen it you MUST read this awesome review of it by Glenn at Stale Popcorn. It's laugh out loud funny)
Aren't you glad Jeff's musical talents improved before The Fabulous Baker Boys and Crazy Heart?
What did you see over Christmas?

Barbra Streisand

Curio: Rich Pellegrino's Portraits

2010-12-28T07:37:00.000-08:00

"Marty McFly" gouache
on hardboard, 5 x 7

Alexa here with your weekly art appreciation.

Nathaniel shared a link to this artist's work with me and I just had to blog it. Rich Pellegrino is a painter, RISD graduate, and child of the 80s. He paints in watercolor, acrylic, or gouache, straight out of the tube, creating richly textured portraits that are almost musical. ("I want a brush stroke to sound like a distorted A chord. You know -- something loud and visceral.")

It's not surprising that many of his subjects are musicians, but he's also inspired by film (especially the work of Guillermo Del Toro, who he calls a master of color and light).

Here is a selection of some of his colorful film characters. You can buy prints at his shop, too!

"Jack" (from The Darjeeling Limited) and "Audrey"

"Willy Wonka" and "Sobchak"

(Both from Gallery 1988 Crazy4Cult Group Show)

"Rosario Dawson/Zooey Dechanel"

No Clue ... Gets It

2010-12-28T03:45:00.000-08:00

Toy Story 3's Brilliant Oscar Campaign

2010-12-27T18:18:00.000-08:00

[COME SEE THE NEW BLOG]

Let's talk about the best FYC campaign of the year. The one where Pixar tries to build a case for Toy Story 3 as the Best Picture of the year, not just a nominee. Pixar won't be happy to just get the annual ghetto Oscar for Animated Feature, they want the big one. Do you believe this is possible? I can't say that I do...

Or, rather, it's possible but not bloody likely. A good correlation might be the foreign language film category. They also have their own category and very few have ever been nominated for Best Picture and none have won (the closest to a "foreign" winner is Slumdog Millionaire which is technically a British film but is partially in Hindi).

But let's look at the ads themselves, from worst to best, which use "Not since _____ " to compare TS3 to previous Best Picture winners.

Here's the two I find most problematic. I can't think, other than gender, how Jesse connects to Annie Hall (1977)? From body language to clothing, speaking patterns to personality, Jessie and Annie couldn't be any more different. And I can't see the connection in the photo either. The "Not since Titanic" ad is gorgeously composed but...

...it seems rather tasteless to equate toys in the garbage dump to the who died at sea when the Titanic sunk.

I've heard the argument that it's okay to compare TS3 to the cheese-tastic epic that is Titanic and I heartily agree on that point. Both films are highly entertaining adventures. But the ad still screams "people who drowned!" only these toys don't actually die. Spoiler! TS3 is a lovely funny movie but it gets credit for really weird things, like for this scene which 'bravely confronts mortality'. The American animated film hasn't confronted death very often at all; it's a downer. Outside of Bambi and Up, when does it ever happen? Oh, sure, the villains die (usually accidentally or via a third party so that the hero/heroine isn't guilty of murder or manslaughter) but the audience is expected to cheer; it's not far removed from a knockout in a boxing movie. Characters regularly cheat death in animated films (by miracles, magical tears, kisses, luck, etcetera) but surviving the swing of the grim reaper's scythe is not the same thing as facing mortality. It's the opposite.

These two, referencing Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and The French Connection (1971) are a smidgeon better but the connections... The atonal torture stuff in Slumdog is not something to remind us of (worst part of that movie) and I'm blanking on the telephone thing. When we think of The French Connection, don't we think of car chases? When I see the words French Connection and a big phone, I think immediately of Gene Hackman and so the phone makes me think of all those recording devices in The Conversation but that didn't win Best Picture. Still, it's one of the best films of the 70s which is saying a lot.

These are cuter. American Beauty (1999) uses American icon Barbie. And we readily forgive the literal toilet humor of this On The Waterfront (1954) gag because Pixar is one of the rare animated studios that doesn't regular subject us to that kind of desperate humor. And Woody spinning on that toilet roll was a really funny bit of slapstick.

The Platoon connection is obvious but the simplicity of the image is great and I think those anonymous green soldiers are insufficiently honored in discussions of the Toy Story movies. They're almost as great as the linking red monkeys. The Rocky (1976) joke is even better because it's not an exact parallel but it's the last man standing in the ring.

And from this point forward they're all brilliant. Big Baby and Lotso subbing for Clark Gable and Charles Naughton in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Love it. And not just because I think the movie is totally underrated. This bit using "Not since... The Sting " (1973) is just so smart. Pixar movies have such great camera angles. They do always shoot them like classic movies inside those computers.

UPDATE 12/28: Oopsie, I missed this Silence of the Lambs (1991) spoof when I posted this. Or perhaps it's new. Sick humor -wheeeee -- but isn't the Mr Potatohead tortilla gag the most memorably weird image in the movie?

Love the bold color and compositions of The Godfather Part II (1974) and Return of the King (2003) ads. The RoTK ad is especially choice because it's such a beautiful twin, visually, of such an indelible moment in another famous threequel.

And finally, my choice for the two best ads which use Shakespeare in Love (1999) and The Sound of Music (1965) so fondly. Who didn't love discovering the thespian tendencies of Mr Pricklepants and to imagine him getting another big Shakespearean moment? Heaven.

Finally, we have Ken as one of the Von Trapp children. I'm bravely confronting mortality because I just died and went to heaven.

Adieu adieu to you and you and you ♪ ♫

[COME SEE THE NEW BLOG]

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For Natalie & Benjamin: A Swan-Themed Wedding.

2010-12-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

By now you've probably heard the exciting news that Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millipeid, the Black Swan pair who've been our "crush of the moment" for too many moments now (see sidebar), are pregnant and engaged.

a photoshopped imagining of their wedding cake
top from The Film Experience.

There's no exact word on when either of the blessed events (baby & wedding) are to occur though hundreds of thousands of years of human history tell us that the genetically lucky baby, certain to possess both dark haired beauty and physical grace, is coming in 2011.

We immediately tweeted advocating for a swan-themed wedding. Which is an obvious joke but come on. Swan has to be a common theme for weddings anyway and the possibilities are endless. Here are some other great suggestions from friends @jigsawlounge, @joereid and @moviedork18 on twitter.

I told Joe Reid that Timothy Hutton (Beautiful Girls) has to share that duty with Jean Reno (The Professional) if we're going there. But we shouldn't go there. That said, it does cause the mind to wander into Natalie's large filmography for wedding ideas. I still haven't figured out a way to work Clive Owen (Closer) in. Moviedork's comment made me giggle because it reminded me that Black Swan isn't the first time Natalie has had doubles. Remember those Queen Amidala decoys in the Star Wars prequels?!

He's sleeping with Natalie Portman and you're not.
The future Mr. Natalie Portman, choreographer/dancer/actor Benjamin Millipeid.

But we digress...

Congratulations to the happy couple.

What would you suggest for Natalie's wedding? How would you work her filmography into the nuptials?
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Links: True Grit, Spidey, Gay Rugby, and "Original" Films

2010-12-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

Movie|Line celebrates a year of "The Verge," their great up-and-coming actor series.
Cinema Blend goosing the sales of True Grit (the novel)
Today One of the Fantastic Four will die in the comic's #587th issue. Does anyone still believe in these marketing ploys? I'm sure they'll come back to life within 3 years. That's how comics do.
MUBI The great Michel Piccoli is 85 today. Has anyone seen La Belle Noiseuse (1991)? That's such a good one.
CineEuropa international actor Armin Mueller-Stahl will receive a lifetime achievement award at Berlinale this year.
The Guardian talks to Andrew Garfield about Spider-Man (with audio)
Blog Stage an informative and weird animated bit describing what's going on with Spider Man's Broadway disaster.
Towleroad Mickey Rourke to pay gay rugby legend Gareth Thomas in a sports bio. We've had a lot of sports bios at the movies but you can't say we've had a lot of rugby films, gay or otherwise.
Scott Feinberg, fine Oscar pundit, delivers his top ten.

Finally, the New York Times has a totally bizarre article called "Hollywood Moves Away from Middlebrow Movies" which is about the new quality edict in Hollywood. I never understand these articles which seem to find all sorts of bizarre trends that the box office data doesn't actually support like "originality sells!" Er, no... I wish! I knew the article was in trouble when it says that Hollywood is going for quality and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is referred to as "arty" example of directorial artistry. Let me get this straight, in an article praising studio interest in Quality Original Films one of the prime examples is a messily 3D converted 2D film of a story that's been adapted literally dozens of times for the movies back to the days of silent film?

sigh

I swear to the cinematic gods that that one 2010 junkpile is going to be the death of me. It will not go away. I'll even have to be dealing with it in 2011 for the Oscars. Nooooooooooooooooo
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The Ballots Are Coming. The Ballots Are Coming.

2010-12-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

The day has arrived. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences mails out those mythical Oscar nomination ballots to their members. Each member gets to nominate for their branch category(or categories) and for Best Picture. The ballots are due back on Friday January 14th at the latest but supposedly the majority of voters are quick about mailing them back. On the morning of Tuesday, January 25th we'll hear the results of the voting. Which actors did the other actors rally behind, which sound design thrilled the sound mixers, and which newbie will the exclusive music branch fraternity punch in Original Score category? And so on.

So freeze the Oscar buzz this week. It's decision time. If you believe that out of sight equals out of mind -- and you'd be wise to do so given the borg-mind of precursors -- you'll understand why so many of the Oscar hopefuls have just hit theaters. For example, how many earlier worthier nominees will True Grit muscle out? We shall see.

Here's the events that will occur during voting.

Dec 27 Box Office media coverage (as far as Oscar goes, True Grit's strong opening and Black Swan and The King's Speech expansions will be the stories.)
Dec 27 Online Film Critics Nominees (the usual suspects with key LAFCA's suggestions placing.)
Dec 29 Blue Valentine finally opens in a handful of theaters. Jesus, they took long enough.
Dec 31 New Year's Eve Shenanigans. Who fills out their ballots while plastered? Oh come on, you know someone does. (I mean, besides HFPA and NBR members.)
Jan. 3 Online Film Critics Society winners announced
Jan. 4 Producers Guild of America nominations
Jan. 4 Writers Guild of America nominations
Jan. 7 Blue Valentine expands
Jan. 10 Directors Guild of America nominations announced

And finally, a Film Experience reminder to any Academy voters reading, particularly actors: Don't let precursor groups control you!

FACT: You are not a "Supporting" actor, when you're in every scene
and the entire story is about you.

Here's how it's supposed to work: You look at your lead ballots and you pick the five best in that category and rank them in order. If someone is not one of your five best, sorry no can do. It's totally sad for #6 & #7 *sniffle* but it's called a "shortlist" for a reason. It's supposed to be a major honor. If you're sad for your #6, don't demote them to another category. That's so unkind to the hard working character actors who deserve to be judged on a level playing field with other actors who have to sell entire characters in a limited number of scenes and gird up the starring player(s) when acting opposite them; different achievement, but you know it's equally worthy of honor. You've acted in films so you get the difficulties of either carrying a whole picture handily or adding a specific color or mood or a contrasting personality to the ensemble and thereby elevating the film. Vote accordingly.

A dramatization: Ewan McGregor contemplates his ballot.

Above all else, don't let anyone else tell you what to do. Including me (sigh) though if you'll allow me two suggestions, and I'll keep it simple, it's this:

Watch some acclaimed or popular films released before September before you vote. Films like The Ghost Writer, I Am Love, Mother, Animal Kingdom, The Kids Are All Right, Shutter Island, How to Train Your Dragon all had their ardent fans. Are you one of them? You don't want to keep perpetuating the myth that AMPAS voters can't remember what they had for breakfast, let alone what opened last month.
If you're not truly moved by some movie everyone is talking about... let's say you didn't like The Social Network or True Grit, ignore it in your best picture field. Just because everyone is talking about it right now, does not mean it's "best". What is "best" is totally up to you. If you wanna vote for Rabbit Hole or Another Year or whatever -- it's your ballot.

Happy voting!

Cinematic Shame: Worst of the Year

2010-12-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

year in review part 5 of several
COME SEE THE NEW BLOG FOR THE FINAL CELEBRATION OF 2010

I thought it would be tasteless to drop this lump of coal on Christmas so I saved it one day. It's naughty, not nice. But before we get to the unsatisfying trends, performances, and movies of the year, some caveats. I didn't see everything and am not, generally speaking, paid to attend terrible movies. Even when I'm doing freelance gigs, nobody has ever said to me "Nathaniel, we'd love for you to write a 3,000 word essay about Yogi Bear." [Editors of the world take note: I would totally do this for money.]

Most Repetitive Actor or Actress Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, you have now done three movies in a row where you're a tortured soul with an emotionally unstable dead wife. This is an even more specific brick-wall niche then when Jodie Foster kept getting trapped in small places or when Julianne Moore kept losing her children (imaginary or otherwise).

DiCaprio's new franchise!

It's time to shake things up. Throw us anything at all that's different than this. Love, a former fan who is bored of your worryface.

Unbest Actress This one was hard to choose as no one pled for the title. I didn't quite understand what Diane Lane was doing in the gold-hued Secretariat. She alternated between stiff and overemphatic playing which conjured mental images of someone trying to both be an Oscar and mime the actress winning one. While it's true that Christina Aguilera is no natural in Burlesque, she acquits herself better than some pop divas have in the past and the bulk of her role is singing (which you may have heard she does well). So if she's nominated for Razzies soon, that'll be just mean spirited. Therefore the prize must go to Katie Holmes who played a beautiful intellectual who loved nothing but poetry, philosophy and Josh Duhamel in The Romantics. Only the "beautiful" part was played convincingly.

Duhamel & Holmes: just your average poetry-quoting
post-graduate intellectuals.

Unbest Actor Aaron Johnson was mildly charismatic in Kick-Ass but in Nowhere Boy, the performance just didn't work and not only because he didn't look right for the part. He kept delivering a decent rendition of an arrogant semi-talented teen ... but where was the future John Lennon in that generic teenager? It's not easy to play a legendary charismatic performer. You've got to bring your own blazing showman's charisma along to function as a makeshift doppelganger.

Unbest Supporting Actress Early in the year I thought this might go to Ellen Page who was too listless in Inception as if she hadn't found any notes to add to an underwritten part but watching the film again, she was better than I remembered. Perhaps I expected a Juno or a Whip It level performance every time out? Still, this character was too much like the one she plays in the Cisco commercials. In both "Ellen Page" enters a room, exhibits curious disbelief about some new technological marvel and says something like "neato. explain that to me again."

But the choice is clear. Frankly I don't know how you do what Melissa Leo did in The Fighter (best!) and also do what Melissa Leo did in Conviction (worst!) in the same calendar year. In the sports drama she plays a real character, in both senses of the word, with dynamic energy and insight. In the legal drama she plays a real character but as a character-free cartoon. In scene after scene she was practically twirling an invisible mustache as the reprehensible cop who hates on Sam Rockwell. A lack of recognizable human nuance isn't always a problem if you're willing to go big-bigger-biggest, but she didn't. That's a huge problem when you're in a film with a showboater (Juliette Lewis), a hard worker (Hilary Swank), a warm presence (Minnie Driver) and a natural (Sam Rockwell).

Unbest Supporting Actor Geoffrey Rush was so far over the top in Bran Nue Dae he was practically acting via satellite from an orbiting space station. But then, that's Rush's M.O. and judging on the rest of the insane musical film, they didn't hire him for subtlety.

But in the end, this came down to a death match between two young men who one presumes weren't hired for their thespian skills. Runner up is Reeve Carney in The Tempest. A block of wood could've out-acted him provided someone carved windpipes for it to sing with. But we're willing to give Carney a pass because he was brave enough to follow up the Tempest gig with another scary Julie Taymor project: Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. The winner is Cam Gigandet who has never, one presumes, been hired specifically for acting skill. It's not that he doesn't have any. It's just that his musculature has often been the chief requirement, whether that's role-mandated or expected window-dressing. Inexplicably he must have been hired for his acting in Easy A and we also presume there was no audition. Or the casting director was stoned. May he never ever do comedy again! This story has a happy ending, though. Cam redeemed himself in Burlesque later in the year giving his most charming performance to date.

The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Charisma I've already asked "How do you solve a problem like Christina?" so I shan't go there again. But post After.Life, one hopes that Ms. Ricci resurrects herself with her old sparkle.

Pearls Before Swine (Great performance in a lesser movie): Kirsten Dunst is so aching and intuitive in All Good Things that you desperately hope the movie will jettison all its other myriad parts (way too many parts) and focus on what's working: her. She's even doing the heavy lifting opposite Ryan Gosling who is weirdly undynamic this time, even with a role that begs for scenery-chewing dynamism in a "whoa, this dude is fucked up" kind of way.

Pearls Before Swine (Great scene in lesser movie): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 is, as previously stated, less a movie than a bookmark. But the actual 'Deathly Hallows' scene is an inspired use of storytelling within storytelling and the gorgeously stylized animation haunts. Too bad that scene wasn't released as a stand alone short film to tide you over between Half Blood Prince and a compact two hour Deathly Hallows movie.

Are you Terrible or Great?
Edward Norton acts his ass off in Stone. But w-h-a-t is he doing or should he even be doing it at all?

Tasteless (Tone)
[tie] Red & Kick-Ass. Killing people is HI-LAR-IOUS. And it's especially funny & cool when little kids or old people do it.

Hit Girl and hitwoman. "I kill people, dear."

Tasteless (Look)
Practically everything in Alice in Wonderland. It's as if "more" always always always equalled "not enough."

Edited with a Chainsaw
(3-way tie!) The Tempest triumphs in the "we can't find a rhythm other than 'all' rhythms" division. Stone wins in the "confusingly-artful" category. Finally, Kites wins the "too-eager-to-please but wrongheaded" division. "We're going to cutaway from this dance sequence that just started because we think you might get bored. We've heard Americans don't like that. Here's 17 more dewy close-ups. Oh wait, no, that'll bore you too. How about some action and a few dissolves? Dewy close-ups intermingled? A shoot-out? Flashback? Flashforward? What else you want? You like this movie, right?"

Special Prize for Audacious Randomness in an Opening Scene Secretariat opens by quoting the Biblical story of Job, who famously had it real tough. My favorite film review of the year is probably Andrew O'Hehir's review of Secretariat in Salon which is itself audacious and random but also insightful, provocative and hilarious. This is one of my favorite bits casually referencing that opening monologue.

This long-suffering female Job overcomes such tremendous obstacles as having been born white and Southern and possessed of impressive wealth and property, and who then lucks into owning a genetic freak who turned out to be faster and stronger than any racehorse ever foaled. And guess what? She triumphs anyway!

Worst Opening Never Let Me Go and Shutter Island, both spring from twist novels and strangely both clue you in immediately as to the twists that aren't coming for some time. Never... does this with maudlin voiceover and adult closeups "This will be tragic and sad but very handsomely made starring Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield," it whispers and then starts again as extended prologue with unknown child actors. Shutter Island starts with Leonardo, our hero?, already at sea both literally and emotionally. "Look at him. He's a mess," it warns. "And this is going to be extreme," it adds with a close-up on Leo's extremely wet anguish-face with isolating shots of a tiny ship in the vast seas. In both cases, wouldn't it have been better to let the story and emotional content develop organically and allow us to be undone by the gradual reveals of purpose and identity?

Worst Ending
Two good movies that didn't stick their landings: Salt and The Town. The Angelina Jolie actioner was a fun cartoon but it just ran out of steam and closed awkwardly with the unstoppable diva running through a nondescript landscape. One half expected a "next time on..." preview to play alongside the credits. But this isn't a television series and unless you paid Angie a ton of money in a sequel clause, we're not seeing that one. The Town, an often tense drama ends with a weirdly soft/happy conclusion. What's with the borrowing from The Bourne Identity... or am I remembering that film wrong? Plus there's that magic fruit which doesn't rot and the idea that he's atoning for his crimes... by hanging out in luxury with ample money in a far off location? Tough life! It as if we ended an intense workout and the instructor, fearing those heart-rates he egged on, demands a lengthy cool down period.

Hell's Multiplex: The Worst Films of the Year
Or worst that I personally happened to see. It's very likely you saw different "worsts".

Josh, Woody & Naomi meet a long red carpet.

10. YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER
Woody warns you away from his movie straight away by quoting Shakespeare. It's the 'told by an idiot. full of sound and fury, signifying nothing' bit. These new characters do mostly behave like idiots but the sound and fury aren't particularly fulsome. Here is only the ambient noise of second rate Allen dialogue and unshaped less-than-cathartic misanthropy. This is not the first Woody Allen movie to feature an important subplot about an unpublished manuscript but this may be the first Woody Allen movie to feel like an unfinished manuscript come to life; it wobbles around on two paper legs, poorly bound, unedited, a thin approximation of the humanity it observes with its ink eyes.

09. AFTER.LIFE [previous post]

08. LOVE RANCH
You'd think a movie about Helen Mirren running a whorehouse while sexing up a virile younger boxer and bossing Gina Gershon and Bai Ling around while Joe Pesci swears at everyone would have to be entertaining and frisky and shocking and dangerous, exciting to look upon, superbly-acted and alive. You'd be wrong. You'd be so wrong.

07. THE ROMANTICS [review]

06. REPO MEN
Needlessly sadistic, grimy-looking and strangely insufficient if not entirely devoid in the chemistry department despite the good actors milling about. P.S. If you're going to plagiarize another movie, like say Oldboy (2003), try not to be so obvious about it or at least, only sample it. Don't lift an entire scene!

05. THE WOLF MAN [review]

04. PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
Feels constructed on an assembly line, with no one ever thinking (or daring?) too put a personal stamp on the material, or even a loving idiosyncratic flourish on any scene. Tell us humans had a hand in making this, please. Footsteps vanish in the sand, and this movie blows away, too. Can you recall any detail?

03. STONE
I'd be happy to read a defense of this because, I'll be totally honest, I have no idea what this movie was on about. (I loved John Curran's last picture The Painted Veil so would like to extend the benefit of the doubt.)

02. THE TEMPEST
Having twenty-four visual ideas is not the same thing as a possessing strong visual storytelling skill. Assembling a group of famous actors is not the same thing as directing them. Attention grabbing gender-blind casting is not the same thing as saying something about character or gender. And so on.

run away... run away... from The Tempest

01. TIM BURTON'S ALICE IN WONDERLAND
I've literally seen all of Tim Burton's work (there's not a ton of prolific auteurs who I can say that about unfortunately). I've seen the shorts, the films, the gallery showings. I've taken to obnoxiously referring to this movie as Eyesore in Wonderland but I could safely call this Tim Burton's Nadir because I've seen it all. That isn't as catchy a title and it's also hella depressing. I'd rather watch Planet of the Apes on loop than ever go near this one again. [Long-winded hatred for this movie here.]

Which movies made you desperate for the closing credits this year? And which moments in good movies were surprisingly bad?

YEAR END "BESTS"

Seasons Greetings!

2010-12-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

[Thx to Jeffery for this fun image]

Happy Holidays.
Be back tomorrow!

Movie Thingamajigs. Put That In Your Stocking

2010-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

year in review - part 4 of several

Are you ever stumped as to what to put in your loved ones Christmas stockings? Here are some ideas culled from this year's movies. Gadgets, random junk or magical objects that lingered after the credits rolled. (If you don't have time to use these ideas for Christmas, there's always birthdays.)

Let them inspire gift giving!

Tiny things are wonderful. How about some Tiny Furniture? You can easily slip a miniature chair, bed or bookshelf into a stocking and it's weird, funny, and could even be significant if it recalls some memory with that loved one.

Remember at the beginning of 127 Hours when he reaches for his fancy swiss army knife thingie in the cupboard and can't reach it? That's important later in the movie but it's not as important as they make it out to be; even with a good pocketknife, he'd still have to cut off his arm! But everyone needs a good pocket knife, don't they? Or so you hear when you're young. I haven't really needed one yet but maybe if I fell into a cave I would.

If you need a practical cheap gift, everyone needs razors. But please leave them in their packaging and don't try to deliver by hand or mouth.

A Prophet

Speaking of sharp unpleasantries... if one of your friends is obsessed with Black Swan (it happens) slip a file sharpener or a tube of lipstick into their stocking with a note. "Sorry I stole your things!". Better yet find a broken ballerina figurine.

Alexa already beat me to those Inception totems but you know some movie geek is going to be thrilled to find that in the stocking.

Remember that hilarious dinner sequence in Please Give when the teenage daughter Abby (Sarah Steele) refuses to show her face because of a pimple? Gift certificates for facials are a luxury that some people would never buy for themselves. A pre-paid spa treatment doesn't necessarily imply that your loved one has terrible skin. But don't go for the acid peel though because ouch that red blistery face did not look good on her.

If all of these gifts sound too extreme, I'm sure there's a ton of "minion" merchandise from Despicable Me -- though they seem overpriced to me for something only 6" high-- or any of the new toys from Toy Story 3 that would be so cute in a stocking. My favorite new toy was Dolly. Despite Ken's protestations, there's no shame in girl toys.

One gift I would advise against giving is an unpublished manuscript. If you've seen You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger or The Ghost Writer or even Rabbit Hole you'll understand; they cause so much trouble.

But speaking of Rabbit Hole, how about a homemade comic book? That's where the movie Rabbit Hole gets its name and as Nicole Kidman turns its pages, you get the sense that she's never read one before and that it's opening up whole new world(s) to her. Homemade items are awesome to receive for Christmas, birthdays, or for no obvious reason at all...

True story: One Christmas I made my nephews and niece a comic book starring them as superheroes. It was a crude quickly drawn thing (I made it in 2 days, racing against the clock) but it was personal, with lines of dialogue inspired by the way they talked and powers that reflected their own kid personalities and interests at the time. It was messily assembled and crazy but somehow to them it was pure magic. They read it incessantly for months.

If you're handy on the sewing machine or with a needle and thread you could gift your sluttiest friend their very own Easy A patch to accessorize their school uniform looks. [Emma Stone's charisma not included. Sold separately by way of movie ticket or DVD purchase.]

Or an eyepatch ala True Grit.

I was about to make a joke about Never Let Me Go but decided it was in extremely poor taste. So, let's go serious instead: The best gift you can give a complete stranger is to register as an organ donor. Trust that you won't need those vital organs when you're dead. But plenty of living suffering people sure need them.

Hmmm.

Let's end with two less practical gifts that we gazed glassy-eyed at in the movie theaters. One of them is even small enough to be a stocking stuffer. Both are difficult to procure but their rewards are great.

If you were to receive the "Sands of Time", encased in a lovely ornate dagger, what would you use it for? I would probably go far back enough in time to pick a different movie to see that day. And if you gave it to Jake Gyllenhaal, wouldn't he probably steal back some of those months of hard in the gym since they only gave him like 8-10 seconds of shirtlessness in the movie? What would you use it for? It seems like a handy priceless gift and more mobile than a Hot Tub Time Machine.

Finally, there's the "Sword of Self Respect" from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. But that one you have to earn; it's a gift you give yourself.

Which items from the movies did you dream of after the movies were gone?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all Film Experience readers
drive safe, be merry, enjoy your wee break from the daily grind.

Make Room For Pearce

2010-12-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

Michael C. here from Serious Film to file a complaint.

If I were to name the biggest problem currently facing the nation today that problem would be category fraud. Okay, maybe not, but it still irks the hell out of me. Not because, like some political press release, this Oscar-grubbing is treated completely legit despite everyone knowing it's total bull. That's no biggie. No, what bugs me is the way this screws over the guys and girls this category is there to honor in the first place: the supporting players who show up for two or three scenes and absolutely kill it. Not only are the leads hogging the precious few slots, but they're overshadowing the real supporting players from their own films. Look no further than this year's The King's Speech to see this problem in action.

If it was called The King's Therapist would this even be an issue?

By pushing Rush as supporting they're sidelining the real standout supporting turn in the film, Guy Pearce as King Edward. With just a few well-chosen strokes Pearce deftly suggests his rebellious, feckless character. The audience's immediate reaction is, "Jesus, don't put that guy on the throne." The performance supports the movie perfectly, setting the stage for the main conflict. Yet Pearce can't get any oxygen because Rush is sucking it all up. What's the point of having a supporting category if major screen time is practically a requirement? The same thing happened when Jamie Foxx was laughably crammed into the supporting category for Collateral despite being in literally every scene in the movie. Barry Shabaka Henley's unforgettable seven minutes as the jazz club owner with regrets and secrets never had a chance.

Spot the supporting actor. Hint: It's not the guy in 99% of the film.

I don't see how anyone could classify Geoffrey Rush as supporting and keep a straight face since the whole movie is a two-hander between him and Firth. Listen closely, Academy: Just because one character is royalty and the other is a commoner doesn't mean the actor playing the king is somehow more important. I feel like this should be a simple concept to grasp.

Year in Review: Best LGBT Characters

2010-12-23T21:38:00.000-08:00

year in review part 3 of several

With 2010 about to wrap, let's do a top ten list albeit a very specific one. Let's make like Barbara Walters and choose The Most Fascinating (Fictional, LGBT) People. Barbara obviously uses a different criteria than "fascinating" in her annual roundup. Hers seems closer to "constantly in the news /has overworked publicist" and our choices are also debatable. The ranking is somewhat arbitrary. It's a glorified excuse to talk about people, in this case the LGBT characters who were on movie screens in 2010. So let's get to it.

The Invisible Man
This following list is dedicated to the openly gay "Chris Hughes" in THE SOCIAL NETWORK, portrayed by Patrick Mapel (pictured left with Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in the movie). Because this excellent movie chooses to focus so tightly on its intellectual property lawsuits, fraternity "punch" lust, and that central squabbling sextet of Ivy League straight boys (Zuckerberg, Saverin, Narendra, Parker, and "the Winklevii"), it apparently didn't have much room for diversity; the women and the gays involved in the Facebook story don't get much attention.

Read the list of the year's best gay characters at my weekly column @ Towleroad featuring The Kids Are All Right, I Love You Phillip Morris, La Mission and more.

*

Distant Relatives: Metropolis and District 9

2010-12-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

Upstairs/Downstairs

They tell bird owners to avoid putting your new pet in one of those high hanging Tweety-bird cages. See, if the bird spends most of his time positioned above you, he'll develop a sense of superiority and will be impossible to teach and train. Just in case the overworld/underworld concept started to seem like a common and cliched metaphor, it doesn't hurt to remember that it's a fact of nature. Those who are above see themselves as greater than those who are below. And if it transcends animal species here on Earth then why not throughout the universe? Which is why it makes so much sense that the aliens of District 9 couldn't be allowed to live in their space ship towering high in the sky but had to be moved onto the ground and given the nickname "prawn" after an animal that mucks about far below us humans. Metropolis classically uses the conceit and creates a reality where the workers live below the ground while the aristocracy lives in skyscrapers high above, and extends it to Biblical dimension, with workers being gobbled up in fantasy by the demon Moloch, rich people cavorting around overworld places called the "Eternal Gardens" and the central skyscraper the "New Tower of Babel."

Like much science fiction that comments on social justice issues, we're presented in both films with evil corporatedom. In Metropolis, Joh Frederson is the founder and autocratic force behind the city. In District 9 the wonderfully generically named Multinational United is the military company tasked with relocating the slum based aliens (because surely no government wants to do it). In both cases, someone from deep within this corporate atmosphere will penetrate the "underworld" and come to an understanding, and in both cases it's a privileged son (or son-in-law). At the front, Freder and Wikus van de Merwe seem like they couldn't be more different. Frederson is a playboy and van de Merwe is a schlub (who hasn't even the decency to have been born into his luck) but both men are fated to bridge the gap between two very different worlds. It's no surprise given their strength or weakness of personality that Freder ventures down into the unknown because of passion and cunning. Van der Merwe goes because he's told.

Hero/Villain

Both District 9 and Metropolis are burdened with heroes that we, the audience, aren't likely to want to identify with. Metropolis gets around this by making its protagonist display the heroism and moral fortitude that we'd all like to believe we'd have given his situation. He acts out of love and then out of common decency. Van der Merwe is a stooge and when he grows a conscience it's only in the most extreme of situations, when he is forced to literally live in the skin of the "prawns" and witness the inhumanity toward them. Perhaps because in modern times we simply can't believe a man of business would become a moral champion without being dragged into it kicking or screaming. Perhaps it's because audiences no longer identify with unapologetic heroes (even superheros these days are painted with serious amounts of pathos and self-doubt). However, no one wants to identify with a racist. District 9 director Blomkamp cleverly provides us with a tough road to tolerance, making his aliens disgusting, unsettling, and violent creatures. Van der Merwe does eventually capture our sympathies because we see in him, not immediate heroism, but the capacity to learn and change. Our standards for heroism have changed in eighty years, or just gotten more realistic. And eventually, Van der Merwe too acts out of love.

The original bio-technology

It's interesting that while both men are eventually compelled by the injustices they see, there is always that underlying compulsion to attain or re-attain the woman they love. Whether that's selfishness or not - well neither film is exactly a lesson in Ayn Rand Objectivisim. Then again, the lesson of Metropolis isn't exactly "Comrades Unite!" either, though the juxtaposition of the workers and aristocrats isn't far from the Soviet revolution silents of that same period. Instead the message is "The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart," a somewhat muddled and sentimental cry toward empathy all around. Not so for District 9. While our "good guy" situation may be murky, there are certainly bad guys and they must be defeated, through destruction if necessary. In Metropolis the only villain set for destruction is the evil scientist Rotwang. Even Frederson gets inexplicably redeemed. In the time between the two films, one-dimensional heroes have made way for one-dimensional villains. This makes it easier when the good guys win, if they win. Unfortunately in that same amount of time, that conclusion has gotten much less inevitable.

Hope/Uncertainty

Metropolis ends on a pretty high note. Foes are vanquished. Love is founds. Mutual respects are earned. Societal breakdown is avoided. At the end of District 9, what we're left with is hope. We're presented with the possibility of an eventual happy ending. When you think of the characters of District 9 in five or ten years, do you see a happy ending? Chances are you haven't filled one in yet, and are hesitant to doing so. This is because the filmmakers have us exactly where they want us. For a movie influenced so strongly and apparently by the recent history of Apartheid in South Africa, it could never in good conscience end by the hands and the head meeting with the heart. All is well. Intolerance is defeated. It has to present the struggle for equality as one with no end, just ongoing hope. Curiously in this particularly pessimistic fable, the only real solution is the permanent separation of the human and alien class. Metropolis certainly wasn't errant to suggest peaceful protest, but nearly a century later after war, corruption, holocaust and unending civil rights struggle, the idea may not play as well at the multiplex. Even Fritz Lang eventually said "You cannot make a social-conscious picture in which you say that the intermediary between the hand and the brain is the heart. I mean, that's a fairy tale."

Metropolis is indeed a fairy tale. That's one of the major differences between the two films and indicative of how the science fiction genre has evolved. Metropolis is a big intentionally artificial stylized production with expressionist sets, wild dream sequences and eventually the Whore of Babylon running about. It's not set in our reality but is a parable. District 9 is presented in a semi-documentary style, heavy on realism, going to lengths to redefine our history in a way we'll accept. It thrives on its believability. It's worth noting that the high-concept of District 9 propelled it to surprise independent film success, although the backing Peter Jackson didn't hurt, nor did the action movie finale (which is why one must wonder if the film promotes just revolution as a social philosophy or a reason to get some explosions into the picture). Metropolis's high concept on the other hand lead to political and critical controversy (enjoy this take down by dissenter H.G. Welles), highly edited, nearly incoherent versions. Therein perhaps lies the main lesson in the comparison of these two films. Anyone looking to stir up controversy today should tackle a subject other than the eternal, unresolvable struggle between the haves and have-nots. Which may not necessarily be such a good sign of progress. Because while we almost all now agree with the triumphantness of the statement, we've also accepted the inevitability of the premise.

Anticipation... The Year in Film Promotion

2010-12-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Year in Review

NATHANIEL: Hey kids. So some time ago I was introduced to Mark Blankenship who writes The Critical Condition. I've been reading that blog ever since. Mark writes about everything pop culture -- I love his music posts especially -- and he's now officially a "talking head" having done a couple of Joy Behar Show gigs. We decided to have a little year in review convo. Part one is here at The Film Experience and tomorrow Critical Condition will run Part two. Got it?

MARK: Hi Nathaniel!

NATHANIEL: Hey you.

MARK: With Hurricane Award Season upon us and year-end lists popping up everywhere, I thought it would be fun to look back at the year in movie promotion. In 2010, which trailers, posters, and campaigns were the best? Which ones were the worst?

In the category of Worst Promotion of a Good Movie, I'll nominate Despicable Me. I mean... seriously. I've seen a billion previews for that film, and I still don't know what it's about. Yellow tic-tacs in overalls? Steve Carell learning a life lesson from the Orphaned Triplets of Belleville? Who can say? Apparently, though, Despicable Me is really good. It certainly connected with ticket buyers, and New York's David Edelstein put it in his year-end top ten. Yet because of my weeks-long irritation with the previews, I'm still dubious.

On the other hand, the promotion for Sofia Coppola's Somewhere gets my vote for Worst Promotion of a Good Movie. Because, really... Somewhere is a dense, rewarding experience that's being marketed as a pretentious suck-a-thon about a rich dude's problems. Coppola's previous film, Marie Antoinette, was so boring it actually made me angry, yet it got a sexy, energetic campaign. Why couldn't someone do the same for a movie that actually has some sexiness and energy?

Alright... that's my opening salvo. Which campaigns are you thinking about?

Minions! (a.k.a. "Millions" ...in merchandising)

NATHANIEL: How can I even get to the campaigns that I might be thinking about when you have already given me so much to lob back at you?

I can one up you on Despicable Me; I've SEEN the movie and I still couldn't tell you what it was about. It's fun to watch and it's funny but it evaporates in your head within a week's time. The only thing I do remember now is the ad campaign. I think we have to consider this a strange case where a bewildering ad campaign actually does truth tell. As I recall, the movie is disjointed and slapsticky and it does feature plenty of scenes involving yellow tic-tacs. I suppose the main narrative thrust is Steve Carell learning life lessons. Which lessons those were I can't recall but I remember there was much cuteness. And not just by way of yellow breath fresheners.

As for the Coppola Now: Redux... I shall refrain from answering until you tell me what your position is on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1. (speaking of suck-a-thons about rich dude's problems)

MARK: It's interesting you should ask about HP7: The Hallownator. I promised my family that I'd wait to see it until I went home for the holidays, so for the time being, my opinion is entirely based on the promotional campaign. And as someone who hasn't really liked any of these movies---I've found them all to be ploddingly literal adaptations of exquisitely imaginative books---I've found a couple of reasons to hope. For one, I was heartened by the story that the movie wouldn't be released in 3-D. To me, it suggested that quality was being chosen over extra revenue. Also, the trailer (and especially the music in the trailer) has a grandness that matches the weight of the story.

That said, the posters I've seen plastered all over New York are just... zzzz. The dimly list cast photos may tell me the movie is coming out, but they don't tell me anything about it. Really, though, I don't guess that matters, because it's not like this movie needs that much help to get butts in the seats.

NATHANIEL: EVERYONE's opinion of Harry Potter is entirely based on the promotional campaign, not just yours! You've stated the truth of it. In fact, you have already seen the movie if you've read the books or seen the commercials or plan to see the final movie next year. Nothing happens. Or, rather, if something happens it's the same thing that's already happened. It used to be the same film every year with minor changes in window dressing. Now, they're not even bothering to make a film anymore. Warner Bros has made the world's first 145 minute bookmark/commercial and they're making hundreds of millions for their evil con job. They've robbed the public blind and the public loves it.

Marketing is the new Stockholm Syndrome.

I love Sofia Coppola's movies (even and especially Marie Antoinette -- so there!) but they're their own repetitive franchise. Sofia is a better wizard because mise en scene trumps CGI every time.

Sofia Coppola and the Virgin's Suicide
Sofia Coppola and the Suntory Times Adventure
Sofia Coppola and the Cake-Eating Queen
Sofia Coppola and the Deadly Chateau Doldrums Pt. 1

poor little world famous rich boys

Somewhere and Hallows Pt 1 are essentially the same story: Famous Mopey Rich Boy (wizard Harry Potter / movie star Stephen Dorff) has a big problem (Voldemort/Ennui). Watch him wander aimlessly through foreign places not knowing exactly what he's looking for (Godrick's Hollow /Italy) whenever he's not resting aimlessly in his comfortable quarters (Magic Tent / Celebrity Hotel) with his loved one (Hermione / Elle Fanning). All the while he's worrying about that overarching problem that he really doesn't know how to solve. In the end he sort of decides to move forward towards his goal. Maybe. It's vague.

My longwinded point -- I promise to be much briefer moving forward-- is that I'm going to mentally slap the next Harry Potter fan who calls any "arthouse" movie boring because "nothing happens."

MARK: I think you've cracked the Da Vinci Code with your Harry Potter/Somewhere comparison. Some addendums: Famous Mopey Rich Boy relies on souped-up transportation (Firebolt Broomstick/sports car) and has a dopey friend whose relationship with a young woman provides a convenient dramaturgical contrast to his relationship with her (Ron/Chris Pontius.) Also, a set of twins tries to amuse Rich Boy with tricks that only end up distracting him from his quest (those Weasley boys with the magic shop/those strippers with the portable pole.)

Strippers with port-a-poles. Best scene in Somewhere!

Meanwhile, I can tell you that I'm seethingly jealous about your recent interaction with Barbara Hershey. (But also happy for you!) What did you think about the lead up to Black Swan: Revenge of the Back Feather?

NATHANIEL: Ah, Black Swan. The topic of the month. This is a rare case where I'd believe that the marketing campaign was directed by the filmmaker (I'm sure it wasn't) because the commercials are of the same exact tenor of the product: outre, mysterious, sick, sexy, highbrow clothing but lowbrow soul (note how thrilled the trailer is by its big campy gotcha moment (that feather yanked from Natalie's back!). The commercials are so cinematic you can taste popcorn. In short: ticket sold!

Even the posters are using truth in advertising. The first one, with Natalie's Black Swan ballet makeup is full frontal confrontrational as introduction. That art deco/Erte-ish series that followed are true enough about the movie's love of artifice and theatrical design. The ugly one with Natalie's badly photoshopped red arm reveals real commercial instincts - it's not exactly a subtle movie. Finally, the latest one with Natalie's cracked face, is yet again underlining that this girl is beautiful but cracked.

...She bonkers!

Black Swan's Truth in Advertising.

Part 2 of this convo ~
Now Playing at The Critical Condition

...for more on favorite promotions and movie posters. Read it.

More Critics: Oklahoma, Austin, Women Film Critics...

2010-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to discuss the latest round of critics awards, have at it.

Three more groups have announced and so the usual suspects play the game of musical chairs. The most interesting note right off the bat is that the Women Film Critics Circle have bestowed an award on Black Swan that isn't a flattering one. They've given it "Worst Female Images in a Movie".

I understand the impulse behind this sort of "tsk-tsk"ing having been burned over the years with the often problematic depiction of gay characters but I think it's wrong-headed to a degree.

Black Swan is about a very specific drumtight world and a very specific tightly strung character completely encased in that world. In other words, this is not a portrait of Woman in the broader sense. What's more one can even argue that just about every person in the film is presented in an unreliable way, the whole picture being influenced by Nina's own psyche. Furthermore, the film screws around with genres (horror and psychological thrillers) which could easily be undone by positive portrayals. Nina is no positive role model (for ballerinas, for artists, for bisexual or gay women, for anyone); she has a lot of issues. But this "award" seems to miss the point of what the movie is.

Identity politics isn't always the best way to judge art. I've made the same mistake myself but if you're too focused on it the dark side is that you're in danger of promoting vanilla-flavored art or pedantic work that's better suited to generic uplift or sermonizing than deeper artistic merit. Even so I'm always interested in what they have to say and some different films get prizes here. Yes!

Mother Bening (and random Child)

Women Film Critics Circle
Best Movie About Women Mother & Child
Best Movie By A Woman Debra Granik's Winter's Bone
Best Woman Storyteller [Screenplay] Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Best Actor Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Actress Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Best Young Actress Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone
Best Comedic Actress Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Best Foreign Film by or About Women (tie) Mother (South Korea) and Women Without Men (Iran)
Best Female Images in a Movie Conviction
Worst Female Images in a Movie Black Swan
Best Male Images in a Movie (tie) Another Year and The King's Speech
Worst Male Images in a Movie Jackass 3D
Best Theatrically Undistributed Movie Temple Grandin
Best Equality of the Sexes (tie) Another Year and Fair Game
Best Animated Females Despicable Me
Best Family Film Toy Story 3
Lifetime Achievement Helen Mirren
Acting & Activism Award Lena Horne
Adrienne Shelley Award (Films Opposing Violence Against Women) Winter's Bone
Josephine Baker Award (Women of Color Experience Award) For Colored Girls
Karen Morley Award (Women's History) Fair Game
Courage in Acting Helen Mirren in The Tempest
Invisible Woman Award (Ignored Performance) Q'Orianka Kilcher in The Princess Kaluhani
Best Documentary by a Woman A Film Unfinished
Best Ensemble Mother & Child
Best Screen Couple Tom & Gerri (Jim Broadbent & Ruth Sheen)

It's nice to see Another Year (to which that does not apply) get some kudos... and though I have a couple of very minor concerns about the movie I do love the central portrait of Tom & Gerri quite a whole lot. They're a wonderful happily married screen couple and you sure don't see many portraits of that on screen.
A lot of love for Winter's Bone here. It seems safe for a Best Picture nod given how well it's done in the precursors... but we've still got the problem of 11 or 12 films doing well and only 10 slots.
Can someone explain to me how Helen Mirren is being courageous by starring in The Tempest? Is this because Julie Taymor is so dangerous to actors. (Sorry, couldn't help it.)

Oklahoma Film Critics
Best Picture The Social Network
Top Ten The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan, The Fighter, Winter's Bone, True Grit, The King's Speech, Toy Story 3, The Kids Are All Right and 127 Hours
Best Director David Fincher, The Social Network
First Feature Chris Morris, Four Lions
Obviously Worst Movie Sex & the City 2
Not-So-Obviously Worst Movie Alice in Wonderland
Best Actress Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Actor Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Supporting Actress Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Adapted Screenplay Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay Chris Nolan, Inception
Best Documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop
Best Animated Film Toy Story 3
Best Foreign Film A Prophet

I have nothing to say.

Austin Film Critics Association
Best Picture Black Swan
Top Ten Black Swan, The Social Network, Inception, Toy Story 3, The King's Speech, True Grit, The Fighter, A Prophet, Winter's Bone and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Best Director Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
First Film Gareth Edwards, Monsters
Best Actress Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Actor Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Supporting Actress Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Adapted Screenplay Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay Black Swan
Best Original Score Daft Punk, Tron: Legacy
Best Cinematography Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Breakthrough Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass/Let Me In
Austin Film Award Ben Steinbauer's Winnebago Man
Best Documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop
Best Animated Film Toy Story 3
Best Foreign Film A Prophet
Special Honorary Award Friday Night Lights (for producing excellent, locally made television and contributing to the film community in Austin for the past five years)

You'd think Oklahoma and Austin were Twin Cities proximate given how closely their opinions align. In fact, looking over top ten lists from numerous critics groups and looking at pundit predictions for Oscar's Best Picture's it seems like we're heading for an exact consensus match (or close enough). It's like nobody loves anything other than about 12 movies. Either that or the decimation of critical jobs has resulted in critics organizations full of people who maybe don't have as diverse or adventurous of taste as they used to...? Or are critical taste shifting ever more toward Oscar's middlebrow tastes... Or are Oscar's middlebrow tastes shifting towards critical consensus? ...Or are both moving inexorably towards the center where we'll share one brain. I'm asking this in a silly way but it is a little disturbing. I guess this is why Armond White seems more famous than he used to be. Being a contrarian is no longer a common critical position ;)
I can't resist pushing this button since we'd just had a theme week "Older Actresses get no respect" and I was called "Reverse Ageist". But Austin likes 'em even younger than Chicago. They've never awarded Best Actress to anyone over 29 in their entire existence. And this year's average age (3 girls awarded) is 18 years of age! Hee. Why do I like to push buttons? I do not know.
Super happy to see Friday Night Lights honored. Aren't you?

My Spider Links Are Tingling

2010-12-22T17:05:00.000-08:00

Playbill Julie Andrews and Dolly Parton are both getting special Grammys this year.
Pixar Blog another FYC ad for Toy Story 3 as Titanic. Hmmm. I gotta say, I am not sure about the taste level on this one. What'cha think?
BBC Anne Hathaway discusses that Judy Garland biopic. There's some hesistancy about the singing. Here's a clue. If you can sing as well as Anne Hathaway (very well) star in a musical, not a biopic with one of the most famous voices of all time that you won't be able to replicate. Argh.
Old Hollywood, my favorite tumblr, gives a rooftop view of the filming of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931).
IndieWire The Year of the Actress. 60 Women FYC.

Off Cinema
THR whoa. Broadway stars are on the attack after injuries on that Spider Man set. But wait there's more...
AV Club heated meetings and cancellations follow latest injury.
Wet Asphalt on "slipstream" and the continuum between genre fiction and mainstream fiction. I'm linking up to this because I read my first China Miéville novel earlier this year and am still... uncertain... about it.
Playbill HBO will film Pee-Wee Herman's current Broadway show for broadcast.
BlogStage actress audition alert: wanna be Kathleen Turner's understudy?

Merry Christmahanakwanzukkah. It's an Open Thread.

2010-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

We've hit some roadblocks and posting may be light for the next few days. Or heavy. You never know. It's the holidays. So let this be an open thread. What's on your mind? To you readers who are starting your festive travels today, be safe. If any of you are offline this week have a great time.

thanks for visiting and making this place so festive in the comments, just like it's the holiday season every week of the year. xoxo.
.........-Nathaniel

p.s. Check out these auteur-themed cards starring Martin Scorsese & Mike Leigh. So funny.

p.p.s. In case you didn't see it, AMPAS posted a reminder list of eligible films at their official site.
*

Box Office Blather: Spectacles, Star Vehicles, Subtitles and Easy $

2010-12-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Year in Review Pt 1 of Many
It's time to wrap up 2010. You'll have to have patience since The Film Experience likes to do this piecemeal... and often! Let's do it every day at 10 AM or 10 PM or both when we magically have free time. How about that? We'll start with the US box office.

Box office hits get much coverage in the media so let's just dispense that basic "smash hit" list quick-like and move on to more interesting less covered seat-filler topics. All figures on all lists are up until the December 18th. And please go easy on any errors as I am unskilled at math is not my strong suit.

US Top Dozen

Toy Story 3 $415
Eyesore in Wonderland $334
Iron Man 2 $312
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse $300
Inception $292
The Commercial For Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 $265
Despicable Me $250
Shrek Forever After $238
How to Train Your Dragon $217
The Karate Kid $176
Clash of the Titans $163
Grown-Ups $162

The list proves again - as in every year - that the American moviegoer has an extremely limited palette. There are only four types of films he/she will go to in droves: animated features, sequels/remakes (i.e. "franchises"), action/visual spectacles and broad comedies. It doesn't get more diverse until much further down the list. The only film in the year's top 25 that doesn't fit neatly into one of those four categories is Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. So well done, Marty. That is a true accomplishment.

Subtitled Features
(I've included worldwide figures too for the sake of provenance)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo [Sweden] $10 (worldwide: $104)
The Girl Who Played With Fire [Sweden] $7 (worldwide: $66)
The Secret in Their Eyes [Argentina] $6 (worldwide: $33)
I Am Love [Italy] $5 (worldwide: $10)
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest [Sweden] $4 (worldwide: $40)
My Name is Khan [India] $4 (worldwide: $41)
A Prophet [France] $2 (worldwide: $17)
Dabangg [India] $2 (worldwide: $3)
Kites [Miscellania] $1.6 (worldwide: $3)
Raajneeti [India] $1.5 (worldwide: $12)
MicMacs [France] $1.2 (worldwide: $16)
Golmaal 3 [India] $1 (worldwide: $2)

Beyond interest in the Swedish "Millenium" trilogy -- which dropped steadily with each film here and elsewhere in equal percentages -- it was tough going for international fare yet again. It seems like a different world entirely than when we regularly had a couple of substantial breakout hits a year (as recently as the mid Aughts). The only steady market seems to be Bollywood features, which regularly gross about a million with barely any media coverage. Oscar nominees are a far less stable subcategory. Despite more media coverage their grosses tend to be all over the place, ranging anywhere from $10,000 (Peru's Milk of Sorrow) to just over half a million (Israel's Ajami) to the $2 million range (France's A Prophet and 2009 holdover Germany's White Ribbon) to $6 million (the winner, Argentina's The Secret in Their Eyes). In other words it's a bit hard to imagine that the Oscar nomination does all that much more for the films than they could have managed on their own... unless they win. It's tough to quantify so it's aggravating that the studios seem to think that the first quarter is the only time to release the high profile foreign contenders. (It's like how the English language Oscar contenders all have to compete with each other for the same limited seasonal dollars from November through February. It's so weird.)

Next...?
Well, I was going to do a list based purely on original material but the list was so depressing (it was basically original material that could easily be confused for a remake) that I screamed abort! abort! and changed course immediately. Let's try this. Which DRAMAS, i.e. the things audiences mostly only want to see on their TVs now, were hits with moviegoers?

Top 12 Dramas (reality based i.e. no supernatural, genre or primarily action-focused stuff)

Shutter Island $128 [debatable classification - remove it if you will]
The Town $92 [an action movie in a sense but mostly a drama]
The Social Network $91
Eat Pray Love $80
Dear John $80
The Last Song $62
Why Did I Get Married, Too $60
Secretariat $58
Letters to Juliet $53
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps $52
For Colored Girls $37
The American $35

On this list we see that quality matters far less than having a star in your movie; just don't expect big returns on investment since big stars cost $10+ million. Also: Amanda Seyfried and Tyler Perry are good bets for non-gargantuan but sturdy profits. The Social Network, a film without any action sequence, gooey romance or crime-angle, is a true anomaly. It's only here because it's awesome and topical. But being awesome and topical will only get you to around $90-100. It's interesting that The Social Network's box office is so similar to Brokeback Mountain's, another anomaly that had quality as its chief selling point. (GASP. What a crazy thing to bank on!)

Best Return on Investment???
This list is haphazard / insufficient using only production budgets vs. US distribution returns from box office mojo. In other words it's not so accurate (merchandising, foreign markets, DVD sales and the potential windfall of sequels all contribute to insanely costly movies making a lot of money... eventually. While marketing costs subtract from that profit margin all the while.) But I think the following list is interesting as a very blurry snapshot as to what films are profitable even before you factor in these other things.

Paranormal Activity 2 $84 gross = 28 times its budget.
The Last Exorcism $41 gross =22.7 times its budget.
Easy A $58 gross =7.25 times its budget.
Jackass 3-D $116 gross = 5.8 times its budget.
The Kids Are All Right $20 gross = 5 times its budget.
Twilight Saga: Eclipse $300 gross = 4.4 times its budget.
The Karate Kid $176 gross = 4.4 times its budget.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid $64 gross = 4.2 times its budget.
Despicable Me $250 gross = 3.6 times its budget.
Dear John $80 gross = 3.2 times its budget.

Black Swan, budgeted at $13 million may well join this top ten since it's already earned $15 million and it's only just finished its first weekend of wide release and once it wears off its opening week energy, presumably it'll get that Oscar nominee boost to keep it going.

If you include worldwide revenues and franchise potential the numbers would change. How to Train Your Dragon, for example, which cost $165 million to make and grossed $217 million doesn't sound that profitable until you factor in the foreign gross (another $277 million) and the eventual sequels ordered up, which will come into the world market with the most cost efficent marketing tool possible: familiarity. And some movies are far more profitable overseas: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was budgeted at $13 million and has grossed $104 million worldwide, so only 10% of its gross is coming from America. But I was trying to make this as easy on myself as possible hence the US totals.

The year in box office. Crazy numbers. I'd be happy just making a really crappy "per screen average" figure this week. How 'bout you?

Finally..

It would... oh never mind. This post is long enough. What's the last movie you paid to see? Did you get your money's worth?