Angela Lansbury and Other Oscar Record Holders

Slow and steady tortoises may win races but sometimes we have to stop to celebrate the hares that sprint. In the case of Angela Lansbury, who celebrates her 85th birthday today, we can do both.

<--- Angela in her Tony nominated role from A Little Night Music last season on Broadway. She's won 6 Golden Globes and 5 Tony Awards. Emmy (18 nominations) and Oscar (3 nominations) have eluded her. 


Slow and Steady. She's been acting for 66 years and her longterm success is such that she means different things to different generations and may even mean different things to you at different times in your life. For example, when I was a wee lad I thought exclusively of Bedknobs and Broomsticks and as an adult, say "Lansbury" to me and it's like a switch has been flipped and I'll start talking about how great she is as Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate. Other people will think of Murder She Wrote or her stage work or something else entirely.

Sprint. Lansbury wasn't always 85 and she was no late bloomer either. She actually holds the acting record of Youngest Actor (either sex) to become a Two-Time Oscar nominee. To make that record yet more impressive and an example of "sprinting" she had achieved that within her first three movies!

 Gaslight (1944) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

We've been in a trivia / statistical mood for days now so here's some more "got there first!" Oscar sprinters. We're limiting it to the Actresses today. But more stat posts are coming. Wheeeee

OSCAR RECORDS
"Youngest" Actress to Become...

• a winner: Tatum O'Neal for Paper Moon when she was 10.
  runner up: Anna Paquin, The Piano at 11.
• a 2 time Oscar winner: OOPS. I said it was Jodie Foster who won her second for Silence of the Lambs at 29. But Luise Rainer actually still holds this record. She won her two Oscars back to back at the ages of 27 (The Great Ziegfeld) and 28 (The Good Earth). Jodie, then, is runner up.
  
• a 3 time Oscar winner: Ingrid Bergman won her third for Murder on the Orient Express at 60.
  runner up: Katharine Hepburn won her third for Lion in Winter at 61.
• a 4 time Oscar winner: Katherine Hepburn won her last for On Golden Pond at 74.
  runner up: aint no such thing.
  
  

youngest winner & the second youngest double winner

• a nominee: Tatum O'Neal for Paper Moon by the time she was 10.
  runner up: Mary Badham for To Kill a Mockingbird was also 10 but a month older.
• a 2 time nominee: Angela Lansbury for Gaslight and The Picture of Dorian Gray by 20.
  runner up: Kate Winslet for Sense & Sensibility and Titanic by 22.
• a 3 time nominee: Teresa Wright for Little Foxes, Pride of Yankees and Mrs Miniver by 24. runner up: Natalie Wood for Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass and Love with the Proper Stranger by 25. Neither Teresa nor Natalie were ever nominated again. Too much too soon?
• a 4 time nominee: Jennifer Jones hit #4 with Duel in the Sun by 27.
  runner up: Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8 when she was just turning 29. (Kate Winslet also won her 4th nomination at 29)
  
• a 5 time nominee: Kate Winslet for Little Children at 31.
  runner up: Olivia DeHavilland for The Heiress at 33.
• a 6 time nominee: Kate Winslet for The Reader at 33.
  runner up: Meryl Streep for Out of Africa at 36
  
  from this number on...
  It's all about Oscar's three all-time favorite women. There are a few other women with 7 nods or more but aside from Streep only Jane Fonda is still with us.
  
  
  
• a 7 time nominee: Bette Davis for Mrs Skeffington at 36.
  runner up: Meryl Streep for Ironweed at 38.
• a 8 time nominee: Meryl Streep for A Cry in the Dark at 39.
  runner up: Bette Davis for All About Eve at 42.
• a 9 time nominee: Meryl Streep for Postcards from the Edge at 41.
  runner up: Bette Davis for The Star at 44.
• a 10 time nominee: Meryl Streep for The Bridges of Madison County at 46.
  runner up: Bette Davis for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? at 54. This Letter to Daddy was the last she wrote with Oscar.
• an 11 time nominee: Meryl Streep for One True Thing at 49
  runner up: Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter at  61.
• a 12 time nominee: Meryl Streep for Music of the Heart at 50
  runner up: Katharine Hepburn for On Golden Pond at 74.
• a 13,14,15 and then 16 time nominee?
  It's only MERYL STREEP from there on out.

<--- Saoirse Ronan is 16. She's already been nominated once for Atonement. She'll need a second nomination by January 2014 to beat Angela's record. Can she do it?

All of this is a long way of saying... Winslet better get back to feature work if she wants to truly challenge Meryl Streep. And Saoirse Ronan, Dakota Fanning and the other teen drama queens of Hollywood had better work fast if they want to steal Angela Lansbury's "fastest to two noms!" crown away from her. She's held that record for an incredible 65 years.

So, um, happy birthday Angela Lansbury!?
I get distracted, I do.

Tony Nominations Or, Hollywood on Stage

There are so many movie and television faces nominated for the Tony Award this year that one begins to worry about how any stateside stage actor can earn a living. The answer, appears to be get famous in another medium in order to get plum stage roles.

Jude Law (Hamlet) is equally at home on screen or stage

This can work against the audience, this self destructive drive to only see the familiar, if it robs them of great stage trained actors in meaty roles. But thankfully this isn't a problem with actors who are adept at changing their "scale" for any medium. Take The Lovely Laura Linney, for instance, who no one would dare accuse of being out of her element whether she's on the silver screen, the living room telly or treading the boards on Broadway.

Lead Actor in a Play
Jude Law, Hamlet
Alfred Molina, Red
Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge
Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane
Denzel Washington, Fences

There's 9 Oscar nominations and 3 wins between these nominees and even the Tony contenders from this shortlist that haven't contributed to that movie-centric total (Liev & Alfred are both still waiting for Oscar's approval) are familiar screen actors. Who would you root for, sight unseen for this Tony race? Or if you're lucky enough to have seen any, who did you find deserving?

Lead Actress in a Play
<-- Viola Davis, Fences
Valerie Harper, Looped
Linda Lavin, Collected Stories
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family

Viola Davis made her name on stage some time ago so this lead role isn't as 'Look what Doubt did for her!' specific as you may suspect. But it's still great that her career is going so well. Valerie Harper carried Looped on her glamourous shoulders and made it sing with her filthy mouth. I'd say I was rooting for her but hers is the only one I've seen AND it's also movie-related (it's all about Tallulah Bankhead's final looping session) so that's perhaps unfair.

And we're always rooting for Laura Linney in one way or another. And another. And another.

Lead Actor in a Musical
Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles
Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises
Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!

I'm kind of horrified that Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) is nominated but maybe pickings were slim? When I last saw him on stage in Damn Yankees it was like a textbook case of how unfortunate it is that tv stars get Broadway parts over stage stars. Stage acting requires different skills or at least a different discern about how to deply the shared skills. He was basically just doing "Just Jack" only in longshot as opposed to closeup. Didn't work for me at all.

I assume it doesn't matter since one of the La Cage boys will probably win. I keep hearing that this revival is wondrous... but it's revived so often that I'm still struggling to generate any excitement about seeing it.

Lead Actress in a Musical
Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
<--- Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music

The immediate noticeable snub is Bebe Neuwirth in Addams Family though people weren't really expecting that nomination to happen given the critical reception. The sad snub is arguably Broadway darling turned TV star Kristin Chenoweth in Promises Promises. People say she's miscast but that you still can't take your eyes off her. (What else is new? I mean the 'can't take your eyes off her' part is always the case) Since I haven't seen any of these shows -- I hate being poor! -- I'm rooting for Sherie Rene Scott, one of my all time favorite Broadway babies, in her personal memoir show. Finally, I was always hoping that CZJ would get another musical post Chicago. I guess I just didn't expect it would be on stage and that I wouldn't be able to afford to see it.

Here she is singing one of musical theater's most iconic numbers...



Featured Actor in a Play
David Alan Grier, Race
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences
Jon Michael Hill, Superior Donuts
Stephen Kunken, Enron
Eddie Redmayne, Red

Superior Donuts is the latest play from August: Osage County genius Tracy Letts. It didn't get the "instant masterpiece" status of that epic play but at least it won this acting notice. Elsewhere in the category Film Experience readers will recognize Eddie Redmayne as Julianne Moore's gay son/incestuous plaything in Savage Grace.

Featured Actress in a Play
Maria Dizzia, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Rosemary Harris, The Royal Family
Jessica Hecht, A View from the Bridge
Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor

Who could have ever imagined that Scarlett Johansson, with that movie face, would get Tony nominated before she was Oscar nom'ed. Strangeness.

Featured Actor in a Musical
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow
Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime

If you're curious, Chamberlin plays Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, De Jesus plays La Cage's always scene-stealing housekeeper (Hank Azaria in The Birdcage is the reference point if you've never seen the stage musical) and Bobby Steger played the younger brother in Ragtime (if you've seen the film version -- which is not a musical, pity -- this role is played by Brad Dourif, it's not the same supporting role that was Oscar nominated from that movie back in the day)

Featured Actress in a Musical
Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away
Lillias White, Fela!

If Lansbury wins this one she becomes the #1 most Tony winning actor of all time. Right now she's merely tied for that honor. But she has stiff competition from Katie Finneran who, according to all reports, steals Promises Promises from its stars. When acting with Cheno that has to be regarded as a miracle. This might also well go to Barbara Cook, one of those most revered of all Sondheim interpreters.

Best Play

In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play (Sarah Ruhl)

Next Fall (Geoffrey Nauffts)

Red (John Logan)

Time Stands Still (Donald Margulies)

I keep hearing great things about Next Fall which is a gay relationship drama between an evangelical and an atheist. Here's an audio piece on the movie which makes it sound like the kind of thing I should see, having had my own religious upbringing drama before coming out as a gay man. Time Stands Still already closed. When I heard Linney speak at that Linneyganza a month back I definitely regretting skipping it. But -- good news -- it's coming back to Broadway in the fall thanks in part to these nominations.

Best Musical

American Idiot

Fela!

Memphis

Million Dollar Quartet

Best Book of a Musical

Everyday Rapture (Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott)

Fela! (Jim Lewis & Bill T. Jones)

Memphis (Joe DiPietro)

Million Dollar Quartet (Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux)

Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

The Addams Family (Music & Lyrics: Andrew Lippa)

Enron (Music: Adam Cork Lyrics: Lucy Prebble)

Fences (Music: Branford Marsalis)

Memphis (Music: David Bryan Lyrics: Joe DiPietro, David Bryan)

This was a controversial category this year because few thought that Addams Family was deserving but there weren't a lot of eligible shows available since many of the acclaimed musicals were using previously written material. Two of the nominees here aren't even musicals. Not that plays can't have worthy music. I suspect Memphis will win this.

Revival of a Play
Fences
Lend Me a Tenor
The Royal Family
A View from the Bridge

We'll let Scarjo and Liev describe their Arthur Miller redo for ya...



Revival of a Musical
Finian's Rainbow
La Cage aux Folles
A Little Night Music
Ragtime

La Cage will win this easily since it's a) still open and b) winning rave 'you must see it' praise.

Have you seen any of the shows? Do you watch the Tonys each June?

Rachel Maddow's Favorite Movie

MSNBC's superstar, the smart funny and enlightening Rachel Maddow, is obsessed with all things political... so maybe it's no surprise that she loves The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Politics is not just Maddow's job but her passion. You can see that in her work, just like you can tell which critics and bloggers actually love the cinema and not just the Oscars or the box office tallies or the sound of their own voice. (Not that there's anything wrong with loving those things too -- I recommend two of the three! -- but the cinema must come first)

I already love Rachel but tonight she won my heart anew by having good taste in movies. After playing a clip from The Manchurian Candidate...

That was fictional senator Johnny Iselin doing his best Joe McCarthy act in the film The Manchurian Candidate, the original one, my favorite movie of all time.

This week four Congressional Republicans did their own best senator Johnny Iselin impressions, accusing the Council on American Islamic Relations of trying to infiltrate congressional offices with secret spy interns...

You can see her show here or read more about that particular cuckoo story.

Or you can just mouth off in the comments. Share your love of The Manchurian Candidate or your anger that Angela Lansbury didn't win the Oscar for it ...that complaint never gets old.

Please note: If you have seen the remake but not the original, you're only hurting yourself. Make amends.
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TONY Awards Round Up: Harden, Lansbury, Hathaway, Langella, Neil Patrick Harris

And now a pre-show moment with Martha Plimpton...

That's right. I was conceived because of the musical Hair. I wouldn't exist without it.

That's Plimpton sandwiched inbetween Broadway's Hair boys: my fellow BYU alum Will Swenson, who we've been drooling on for awhile and Gavin Creel (Love the... tie? scarf? tarf?). Plimpton was actually speaking the truth to the reporter. Her parents Keith Carradine (yes, the star and composer of one of the greatest song scenes in all of cinematic history, "I'm Easy" from Robert Altman's Nashville) and Sheila Plimpton met while performing Hair on stage in the late 60s.

I bring up this pre-show red carpet moment because Martha Plimpton is a handy human symbol of how much the mainstream media, and by extension the public, misses out on because they ignore theater and great actors who work in it. To the general public Ms. Plimpton isn't recognizable or, if she is, it's in a vague... hey, she looks like that 80s actress from The Goonies! The sad thing about the movies giving up on her is that she's not just a fine actress but a terrific celebrity. She is easy with the laughter and quick witted with reporters. My favorite Plimpton interview quip came last year when asked to describe what she does for a living, saying something like 'i put on a wig and shout at strangers for two hours'

Martha lost her category at the TONY Awards last night ...that's three consecutive losses, poor thing. But a lot of good people lost. That's nothing new.

Who won? Billy Elliott, Stephen Daldry's adaptation of his own 2000 movie, won nearly everything it was nominated for including Best Musical. Next to Normal, its only real competition, beat Elton John's Original Score and tied Elliott for orchestrations. The Norman Conquests and Hair were chosen as the best revivals and God of Carnage was named Best Play.

Random wrap up thoughts from the evening:

• <-- Harold and Kumar 2's add campaign asked "What Would Neil Patrick Harris Do?" In the case of the TONY Awards he would wear some sort of pleather (?) tux and be an amiable, funny but low key host. Some of his quips seemed to go unnoticed in the cacophony of the show (god, it was a mess). The structure of the ceremony didn't showcase his musical chops until the credits were rolling. What a waste. But give him another go at it, please.
• Lots of tech problems. Why can't they get this together? Broadway is in the business of live events. Why is live television such a hurdle for them?
• Geoffrey Rush's win for Exit the King makes him the the first new Triple Crowner since Al Pacino won his Emmy in 2004 for Angels in America. Rush now has the Oscar (Shine), Emmy (Peter Sellers) and TONY (Exit the King). He also gave an awesome acceptance speech which made me more fond of him that I'd ever been (which is to say I've never been)
• Marcia Gay Harden was also prepared, funny and articulate. Why can't more actors be like that when they win prizes? Marcia needs only the Emmy to become a triple crowner and the Emmy is the easiest prize to win. She could even get it for Damages in September. If she gets nominated that is... loved her on that show. As I announced on a Twitter, Marcia and I are to be married as soon as she is thrice crowned.
  
• If you got as confused as I did when they showed Oscar nominee Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) and you thought "my god, what happened to her?!?" you're forgiven. They just had the name wrong names typed up under the wrong faces. McTeer has not entered a witness protection program nor has she had a face transplant. She looks pretty much like she did in 1999.
• Shrek looked single handedly bad enough to destroy my faith in musical theater forever. It looked like something that belonged on the stage for free at a theme park. You know those hour long shows were you rest your feet and get some air conditioning before hitting the rides again? It should not be a high price Broadway show! Naturally, it's a box office hit.

• Sutton Foster and other unfortunates are wasting their talents to act-along with the Shrek movie onstage. Shouldn't this be left to children in the nation's living rooms with their worn DVDs? Still, Christopher Sieber's "Lord Farquad" got one of the biggest laughs of the evening... albeit from the mouth of Neil Patrick Harris hours later

  Chris Sieber, please. Dancing on your knees? That only works to win Golden Globes!

  No, NPH didn't shy away from ribbing his fellow gays.

• <---Angela Lansbury is now to the TONYS what Katharine Hepburn is to the Oscars (though she shares that distinction with Julie Harris and Hepburn doesn't share). She's now won 5 competitive acting TONYS. Lansbury was definitely feeling the love in the room and gracious enough to admit to her fellow nominees that it wasn't a fair contest. Her last trophy was in the 70s for creating Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd! (oh and we wish she'd let her hair go gray or white. Go the Judi Dench / Helen Mirren route, Angela)
• When I see Liza Minnelli in the same black sequined pant suit she's been wearing for years in front of a tacky set sign that says "BROADWAY' my heart leaps and I have to supress squeals of delight. It's true. "I am what I am".
  
• You know how I know I'm a musical theater geek? Whenever I see Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) I start singing Side Show's siamese twin ballad "I Will Never Leave You" at the top of my lungs. Every time. When is Glee coming back on?

• Anne Hathaway is rapidly becoming my favorite young movie star. She always seems so happy to be in showbiz... like 'these are my people' happy. There's none of that obnoxious: 'I'm too cool for this' attitude that plagues some members of Young Hollywood -- you know who I'm talking about. Translation: Hathaway isn't just in it for the fame and fortune and she's most definitely in for the long haul. You'll be hearing her name until you're dead, mark my words.
• Alice Ripley's best actress speech was... um, unhinged. Was she channeling her unraveling Next to Normal mom? She prompted my room of friends to start quoting Sandra Bernhard's classic routine "...don't you just love theatahhhhh people!"
• Frank Langella was hilarious whilst making fun of himself, his Oscar loss, and his TONY snub. Why can't more stars have a sense of humor about the whole awards show / campaigning / losing thing? This reminded me of reviews of his charisma during the Oscar campaigning for Frost/Nixon. Dracula still can work a room. I imagine if he's ever up for an Oscar again post Nixon he's going to nab it.
  
• I haven't seen Billy Elliott on stage and don't really have a desire to (the movie is great but that came out in 2000. It isn't even dust covered yet) but while I was watching the performances I was thinking how difficult that show must have been to cast. You have to find not one but three young boys who can act, sing and dance a very demanding lead role. Jamie Bell only had to do two of those three things. But he nailed them, so...
  
• Susan Sarandon is still a sex on a stick.
  
• Yes, the revival of Hair is as awesome as it looks. Go see it.
  

Okay, enough theater. Back to the movies!


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Hounds of Link

"If I only could, I'd make a deal with God. And get him to link our places...."

This Woman's Link
fourfour has a thang for Kate Bush. So many memories are embedded in this post I felt like my heart was going to burst whilst my mind was blown. I l-o-v-e Kate Bush. That is all. Where's her biopic? And who on earth would be gorgeous enough but suitably bonkers to play her?

Wuthering Links
Blog Stage Jane Fonda and Angela Lansbury: "non-divas"
Gawker is Warren Beatty holding up the rights to the Dick Tracy franchise. Did you even remember that this could have been one? Speaking of Dick Tracy...
Boy Culture Madonna as Jeanne Moreau in Bay of Angels. Sorta...
Screengrab inaugurates a new series "Not on DVD" with the bio Patty Hearst (1988) starring Natasha Richardson.
/Film the strange case of the distributorless Jim Carrey/Ewan Macgregor prison love story I Love You Phillip Morris
Victim of the Time the best review of Duplicity ever?
World of Wonder says goodbye to Oscar nominee Betsy Blair (Marty). In the photo with this post she's pictured with Nathaniel's two all time favorite classic male movie stars. How about that?!

The Ninth Link
Nick's Flick Picks on the Best Actresses of 1941

And finally, have to leave you with this pointed bit from Jimmy Kimmel Live. Portia De Rossi apologizing to everyone she hurt by marrying Ellen DeGeneres.



Heh.
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Queen of Diamonds

Link With a Stranger

Empire new character shots from Up (so cute!)
Mike Leigh's Oscar Diary fun stuff. Like this

At one, weird moment, some strange force suddenly convinces you that you're about to win, while you affect to look benign and generous for the camera that's suddenly in your face; then you don't win...

I love him. But I don't think he's ever going to win.
Filmbo's Chick Magnet asks if John Williams is a douche
Twitch First look at Zhao Wei as Mulan.


Socialites Life Katie Holmes films a crying scene. They totally neglect to mention that Paul Dano is her screen partner. Try not to get blown off the screen Katie. He held his own with Daniel Day-Lewis for chrissakes. You're toast!
Towleroad Gay Oscar speeches censored in Asia
NYT Great piece on the always thorny / fascinating Rupert Everett. The reporter follows him apartment hunting in NY

“It’s like a place for orgies,” Everett murmured, being led through it. “Thank you very much, it’s very nice, but I don’t think I could really live in it,” he said. Once in the car, he laughed. “Can you imagine having Angela Lansbury back there? I don’t think so.”

I meant to link that over the weekend. Oops
/Film Denzel Washington still from The Book of Eli. Geez how many post-apocalyptic movies are there going to be in the next few years? Hopefully by the time they all arrive we'll all be so optimistic that we can ignore them and chalk them up to a very negative very sad 8 year downward spiral that is OVER.
Defamer on that horrible idea to remake the NeverEnding Story

Super Tuesday Top Ten

The boyfriend is obsessed with politics. I am not. Frankly, they terrify me. Mostly because the past eight years have made me into a huge pessimist: the theocrats will destroy us all!

Unlike many other people, according to the television at least, I am an atypical person: I don't get all dreamy about candidates who share my views. I'm suspicious of almost anyone who runs for office. I don't mean that in the cliché way of "all politicians are crooks" but in the way that they never fail to disappoint me. They almost always try to convince me that they're not actually politicans (as if anyone is above the fray) and that irks me to no end. You are what you are. Embrace it. Don't try to sell me a dream when I already know about reality. Just explain it to me. If you're trying to glaze my eyes over with misty hope, I'm not impressed. My eyes don't go misty unless there's a cute kitten involved or a particularly good close up of a great actress. Just tell me your plans for the nation.

But that's me. It's politics so your mileage may vary. And I don't even know if I'm making any sense. I'm very sick with the flu. So here's ten movies in no particular order that I love --these are off the top of my head and all are about politics or have political elements.

Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939) -OK James Stewart is allowed to well my eyes up with optimistic tears but nobody in the real world, please. damn con artists.
Wag the Dog (1997) -the film at which I met the boyfriend. No joke
Bulworth (1998) -Warren Beatty is genius
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) -Angela Lansbury is brilliant
Doctor Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Peter Sellers is hilarious
Three Kings (1999) David O'Russell, please stop waiting so many years inbetween films. I know they're "difficult" for you. But do it for the audience. We need your unique voice.
Coming Home (1978) which I've written about here
Election (1999) Pick Flick. I know I do


And though the list wasn't in any order and was totally off the cuff, the number one will always be Nashville (1975) because there is just no movie like it. It meanders with startling precision and pinpoints with fuzzy glee and... and... and I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore (I'm sick with the flu! I think I mentioned this to u) but I just know that when I watch it I feel thrilled in that electric way I only feel when I'm watching a true masterpiece.

You may say that I ain't free.
It don't worry me

Which political movies move you?
(And please don't get sick with the flu)

The Beautiful Decay of Helena Bonham-Carter

It's the premiere of the 4th Season of "Hump Day Hottie" -Every Wednesday @ the Experience

So I was listening to Radio Allegro's very rowdy very funny and very long movie special and not too far into that queer beast, there was what sounded like an unplanned but communal dissing of Helena Bonham-Carter's star turn in Sweeney Todd. Typical of my gemini nature I found myself wanting to both join in and defend her. For you see, I also have issues with the performance but I have deep love for "Miss Lucy Honeychurch" in all phases of her career.

Mrs. Lovett, one of the musical theater's unquestionably great roles, is more flexible than Sweeney Todd's new naysayers will have you believe. I've only seen three incarnations but in just those three she's been played with the emphasis on outre comic lunacy (Angela Lansbury), a vampy desperation (Patti Lupone) and now she's like a practical reserved vampire (Helena). Whether the new approach works is a matter up to individual interpretation, of course. But rather than debate the merits of the performance here I want to focus on the woman in all her glory.

To quote her suitor in A Room With a View, the film which brought her international fame at the sparkling age of 19 "Beauuuuutttyyyyy"


She's been one of the screen's most striking women ever since. Consider that round impossibly delicate face, the huge haunting brown orbs we'll call eyes and, as Tim Burton and his cameramen are proud to point out, an ample and inviting bosom.

Helena was also the star attraction in not one but two of the greatest sex scenes of the past decade of film (Wings of the Dove and Fight Club) and yet filmmakers, even her real life love Tim Burton, don't often seem to capitalize on her eroticism. At least not in pleasurable ways. It's both fascinating and disturbing to me that so many of her films have taken care to either dismantle or desecrate the beauty. She meets a gruesome uglifying ending in more than one of her features: Frankenstein and Sweeney Todd are birds of a feather in this sick way and both were directed by men she was sleeping with. Hmmm....

Grafting death and decay onto her doll like prettiness have made her into something of a goth icon (Fight Club and the relationship with Tim Burton didn't hurt) but that came as a surprise to this early adopter. Who among us that fell in love with her royal prettiness in Lady Jane or her ornery loveliness in A Room With a View, knew that the darkness would eventually engulf her?

This is now the Helena movie equation...

...is it not?

related: Last season on Hump Day Hottie and my Sweeney Todd Review
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Tuesday Top Ten: Horseplay

In honor of the Indiana Colts (I seriously don't know what the hell I'm talking about but I guess they won some sporting event this weekend ?) ... some equine lovin' on this week's list.

10 Horse-Related Movie/Pop Things You Should Love
Oy, that's an unwieldy list title, forgive. Have you ever ridden a horse? I did once. Just once. It absolutely terrified me, this monstrous thundering beast between my legs. I was completely sore the next day. God, I hated being a Boy Scout.

Anyway, the list...

10. Daniel Radcliffe on stage in Equus. I'm sure you've seen the photos making the rounds. I personally think the uproar is hilarious. He is legal after all (in the UK at least) and you can bet that if it were Hermione in her birthday suit the tongues would still be wagging but for an entirely different reason. Double standards and all.

09. The Last Unicorn. There's a 25th anniversary edition DVD that just came out. The movie is probably a cheesy artifact from the 80s --I haven't seen it since I was a kid sitting in the movie theater so I can't be sure, but I do remember it had an all star voice cast (Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, Jeff Bridges) long before that was required, expected, exorbitantly well paid.

08. Scarlett Johansson. Because she got famous whispering to horses. And because her name is fun for me to type. Shut Up. I'm nerdy like that.

07. The Godfather. Because it's a great movie and because that scene --oh god, that scene --is hella disturbing.

06. "Madonna Rides Again". It's a double jointed entry. Those who hate Madonna can pretend she made the list because she fell off a horse. Those who love Madonna can pretend that she made it due to her famed ability to turn every situation into another success... like that accident becoming a famous equestrian themed photoshoot in W magazine. [cue ancient Madonna song: "I get up again over and over"] It's a totally flexible #6!

05. That scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers where Legolas flips himself backwards up onto the back of a horse. Mmmm, Legolas

04. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a classic. I've sung its praises before. Have you rented it yet? It actually has nothing to do with horses but I refuse to include any sappy horse movies like the one that stars Spider-Man or the one with Dakota Fanning or the one with Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter from White Oleander as Tim McGraw's daughter.

03. Christie, Independent Filmmaker. Does anyone remember this child prodigy and IFC spokeswoman? So funny.

02. National Velvet because Elizabeth Taylor is one of the great movie stars of all time. She was a champ right from the very beginning. And she's still surprising us today.

01. Pegasus. Because horses should be able to fly and not just in bad 80s movies

Previous Tuesday Top Tens:
Christian Bale from Newsies to American Psycho
Oscar Nominations Talking Points
Alexander(s) The Great
Best 2006 Movies from The Departed (sure) to Marie Antoinette (you heard me)
Movies by Three Amigos Best of Cuarón, González Iñárritu & Del Toro

Tags: Daniel Radcliffe, Elizabeth Taylor,movies, Equus, Madonna, horses, cinema, Film, pegasus

Tuesday Top Ten: Horseplay

In honor of the Indiana Colts (I seriously don't know what the hell I'm talking about but I guess they won some sporting event this weekend ?) ... some equine lovin' on this week's list.

10 Horse-Related Movie/Pop Things You Should Love
Oy, that's an unwieldy list title, forgive. Have you ever ridden a horse? I did once. Just once. It absolutely terrified me, this monstrous thundering beast between my legs. I was completely sore the next day. God, I hated being a Boy Scout.

Anyway, the list...

10. Daniel Radcliffe on stage in Equus. I'm sure you've seen the photos making the rounds. I personally think the uproar is hilarious. He is legal after all (in the UK at least) and you can bet that if it were Hermione in her birthday suit the tongues would still be wagging but for an entirely different reason. Double standards and all.

09. The Last Unicorn. There's a 25th anniversary edition DVD that just came out. The movie is probably a cheesy artifact from the 80s --I haven't seen it since I was a kid sitting in the movie theater so I can't be sure, but I do remember it had an all star voice cast (Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, Jeff Bridges) long before that was required, expected, exorbitantly well paid.

08. Scarlett Johansson. Because she got famous whispering to horses. And because her name is fun for me to type. Shut Up. I'm nerdy like that.

07. The Godfather. Because it's a great movie and because that scene --oh god, that scene --is hella disturbing.

06. "Madonna Rides Again". It's a double jointed entry. Those who hate Madonna can pretend she made the list because she fell off a horse. Those who love Madonna can pretend that she made it due to her famed ability to turn every situation into another success... like that accident becoming a famous equestrian themed photoshoot in W magazine. [cue ancient Madonna song: "I get up again over and over"] It's a totally flexible #6!

05. That scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers where Legolas flips himself backwards up onto the back of a horse. Mmmm, Legolas

04. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a classic. I've sung its praises before. Have you rented it yet? It actually has nothing to do with horses but I refuse to include any sappy horse movies like the one that stars Spider-Man or the one with Dakota Fanning or the one with Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter from White Oleander as Tim McGraw's daughter.

03. Christie, Independent Filmmaker. Does anyone remember this child prodigy and IFC spokeswoman? So funny.

02. National Velvet because Elizabeth Taylor is one of the great movie stars of all time. She was a champ right from the very beginning. And she's still surprising us today.

01. Pegasus. Because horses should be able to fly and not just in bad 80s movies

Previous Tuesday Top Tens:
Christian Bale from Newsies to American Psycho
Oscar Nominations Talking Points
Alexander(s) The Great
Best 2006 Movies from The Departed (sure) to Marie Antoinette (you heard me)
Movies by Three Amigos Best of Cuarón, González Iñárritu & Del Toro

Tags: Daniel Radcliffe, Elizabeth Taylor,movies, Equus, Madonna, horses, cinema, Film, pegasus

Cyndi Lauper to Star in Sweeney Todd?

Breaking Exciting News: Cyndi Lauper let slip on her blog that she recently auditioned for Tim Burton. In her own words

I went in to audition for Tim Burton for a movie which was exciting..,

This bomb is dropped inconspicuously in the middle of run-on paragraphs about performing "Mack the Knife" from Threepenny Opera in her tour, working with a Canadian Idol, and her new hotel room. It's just thrown in there -- detail free.

This can only mean Sweeney Todd! The Tim Burton adaptation will star Johnny Depp as "the demon barber of Fleet Street" and is scheduled to start filming soon. Jim Broadbent has been widely reported as tapped to play the role of Sweeney's nemesis, Judge Turpin. As of this writing, to my knowledge no female cast members have been announced. For those unfamiliar with the mindblowing brilliance of Stephen Sondheim's musical classic, there are three female roles.

• Mrs. Lovett, the gleefully amoral owner of a horrid pie shop in London, Sweeney's willing accomplice and would be lover. It's the female lead. Angela Lansbury was the original Mrs. Lovett and her darkly comic performance is legendary. In the recent production on Broadway, Patti Lupone worked her magic in the classic role and won a Tony nomination.
  
• Johanna, Sweeney's sweet and swooning teenage daughter.
  
• Beggar Woman, a mysterious homeless woman who wanders in and out of the narrative and knows a great deal about the other characters.
  

Given Lauper's low profile as an actor, I assume this means she is in consideration for the Beggar Woman role but I really and truly hope we're talking Mrs. Lovett. This role requires a performer with a funny bone. Check. The role requires an amazing vocal gift. Check. The role requires star charisma. Check. It would be truly inspired and unexpected casting.

It's all well and good to have a huge talented star like Johnny Depp as the title character but it is actually Mrs. Lovett who is most crucial to any successful incarnation of this musical. She has a huge number of songs, she's a catalyst for much of the action, and she's also the comic relief. Before hearing of this tantalizing popstar possibility, I was hoping they'd go with one of two very legit actresses that have the right combo of dramatic range, comedic appeal, and powerhouse vocals: Imelda Staunton who is most famous for Vera Drake but happens to be an acclaimed musical theater star and Meryl Streep who we know can do anything, including sing her ass off.

What about you readers, who is your dream cast for Sweeney?



For lots more info on the musical, check out its Wikipedia page

* Thanks to my bosom buddy in Michigan, KristofferRobin (who you can spot occassionally in the comments on this blog) for making me aware of this.

Tags: movies, theater, Stephen Sondheim, cinema, Cyndi Lauper, Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Tim Burton, film, Broadway, musicals, celebrities

Cyndi Lauper to Star in Sweeney Todd?

Breaking Exciting News: Cyndi Lauper let slip on her blog that she recently auditioned for Tim Burton. In her own words

I went in to audition for Tim Burton for a movie which was exciting..,

This bomb is dropped inconspicuously in the middle of run-on paragraphs about performing "Mack the Knife" from Threepenny Opera in her tour, working with a Canadian Idol, and her new hotel room. It's just thrown in there -- detail free.

This can only mean Sweeney Todd! The Tim Burton adaptation will star Johnny Depp as "the demon barber of Fleet Street" and is scheduled to start filming soon. Jim Broadbent has been widely reported as tapped to play the role of Sweeney's nemesis, Judge Turpin. As of this writing, to my knowledge no female cast members have been announced. For those unfamiliar with the mindblowing brilliance of Stephen Sondheim's musical classic, there are three female roles.

• Mrs. Lovett, the gleefully amoral owner of a horrid pie shop in London, Sweeney's willing accomplice and would be lover. It's the female lead. Angela Lansbury was the original Mrs. Lovett and her darkly comic performance is legendary. In the recent production on Broadway, Patti Lupone worked her magic in the classic role and won a Tony nomination.
  
• Johanna, Sweeney's sweet and swooning teenage daughter.
  
• Beggar Woman, a mysterious homeless woman who wanders in and out of the narrative and knows a great deal about the other characters.
  

Given Lauper's low profile as an actor, I assume this means she is in consideration for the Beggar Woman role but I really and truly hope we're talking Mrs. Lovett. This role requires a performer with a funny bone. Check. The role requires an amazing vocal gift. Check. The role requires star charisma. Check. It would be truly inspired and unexpected casting.

It's all well and good to have a huge talented star like Johnny Depp as the title character but it is actually Mrs. Lovett who is most crucial to any successful incarnation of this musical. She has a huge number of songs, she's a catalyst for much of the action, and she's also the comic relief. Before hearing of this tantalizing popstar possibility, I was hoping they'd go with one of two very legit actresses that have the right combo of dramatic range, comedic appeal, and powerhouse vocals: Imelda Staunton who is most famous for Vera Drake but happens to be an acclaimed musical theater star and Meryl Streep who we know can do anything, including sing her ass off.

What about you readers, who is your dream cast for Sweeney?



For lots more info on the musical, check out its Wikipedia page

* Thanks to my bosom buddy in Michigan, KristofferRobin (who you can spot occassionally in the comments on this blog) for making me aware of this.

Tags: movies, theater, Stephen Sondheim, cinema, Cyndi Lauper, Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Tim Burton, film, Broadway, musicals, celebrities

1962 "Smackdown"

It's that time again. Last Sunday in the month: time for a "Supporting Actress Smackdown" with StinkyLulu and the gang. Last month we watched 1961 films. In an odd fit of accidental chronology we went straight into 1962. Watch this clip...



This was an Oscar war between a deaf and blind girl (bait x 2), a classic literary tomboy, a trapped Southern princess, and two Oedipal manipulative moms. Who would you have voted for?

You can here our thoughts on the nominees and discuss over at StinkyLulu's SMACKDOWN. So come on over --it's more fun when you participate.

tags: Oscars, Academy Awards, celebrities, movies, cinema, films, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Manchurian Candidate, The Miracle Worker, Birdman of Alcatraz, Sweet Bird of Youth, Angela Lansbury

1962 "Smackdown"

It's that time again. Last Sunday in the month: time for a "Supporting Actress Smackdown" with StinkyLulu and the gang. Last month we watched 1961 films. In an odd fit of accidental chronology we went straight into 1962. Watch this clip...



This was an Oscar war between a deaf and blind girl (bait x 2), a classic literary tomboy, a trapped Southern princess, and two Oedipal manipulative moms. Who would you have voted for?

You can here our thoughts on the nominees and discuss over at StinkyLulu's SMACKDOWN. So come on over --it's more fun when you participate.

tags: Oscars, Academy Awards, celebrities, movies, cinema, films, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Manchurian Candidate, The Miracle Worker, Birdman of Alcatraz, Sweet Bird of Youth, Angela Lansbury