Links: Cher, Cheyenne, Celestia, Carey and CQueen

Guardian good piece on Anne Heche, her not totally recovered career post-Celestia, and Hollywood's double standards about men and women with troubled souls.
After Elton first look at Cheyenne Jackson on Glee. He's replacing Idina as the Vocal Adrenaline coach. I guess that means he's off 30 Rock? But this'll be a better fit anyway. Yay for singing stars!
Lazy Circles speaking of Cheyenne...
Natasha VC makes a brilliant observation on the quality of Al Pacino's acting.
Broadway Buzz A Cher bio-pic style Broadway musical is in the works from director Andy Fickman (You Again)


Avengers Assemble have you seen these new YouTube shorts, the superhero team gathers to discuss business/politics. It's such a weird concept that I am forced to enjoy. They need to speed up line delivery a bit but each episode has a few good laughs.
Film Freak Central on Let Me In (I thought this review was interesting. Positive but definitely keeps the original in mind.)
Coming Soon Sacha Baron Cohen to play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in a biopic. Filming starts in 2011. You know what's weird? The internet rumor mill spends so much time talking about pre-production and development that by the time something is official, one could swear it was official 7 or 8 months prior! and that it's totally old news.
PopWrap Carey Mulligan has been making surprise appearances at movie theaters in NYC to introduce Never Let Me Go. How cool.
Pussy Goes Grrr offers up a late "best shot", a minimalist one, from the wonderful Pandora's Box (1929)
/Film Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) writing a new live-action version of Pinnocchio.
37 Posters by Jerod Gibson is a design project using movie quotes in the shape of the movie's iconography for new posters. Fun. The one for The Big Lebowski is probably my favorite.
Movie|Line Andrew Garfield sings "Bed Intruder". Wait, what? I have to post it here. It's just too funny/weird.



HELP. I'm curious as to what you all use for your blog reading? Do you click directly to the sites or do you use a blog reader? In the past I've always used bloglines which is where roughly 2/3rds of my link roundups are pulled from. I have hundreds of subscriptions... some of which I read and some of which... well, there's only so much time. Bloglines is shutting down as of October 1st so I'll have to rebuild elsewhere. I think I'll start from scratch so to as freshen up. Any suggestions?
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Streep Nom #11: One True Thing

We're looking at each Meryl Streep Oscar nod and its competitive field.
Previously: 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88, 90 and 95

Twenty years after her first nomination for The Deer Hunter (1978) Meryl Streep replaced Bette Davis as runner up to Katharine Hepburn's Oscar throne with her cancer victim in One True Thing. For a very short time period (i.e. twelve months) the three legends had a 10-11-12 Oscar nomination spread. Streep would soon leave both Hepburn and Davis in the dust. But we'll get to her #1 status when it rolls around.

1998 the nominees were

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth
• Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station *Nathaniel's vote*
  
• Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love
• Meryl Streep, One True Thing
• Emily Watson, Hilary & Jackie
  

The Blanchett vs. Paltrow contest has arguably been the most discussed in modern Oscar Actress history with the possible exception of Swank vs. Bening (both rounds). People still get hot under their ruffs about this one a full dozen years later.

Other '98 women for context:
Globe nominees that didn't make Oscar's cut were Susan Sarandon (Stepmom), Jane Horrocks (Little Voice), Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary), Meg Ryan (You've Got Mail) and Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex). Elsewhere in Awardsland, Ally Sheedy (High Art) took Best Actress at the Indie Spirits, besting Alfre Woodard (Down in the Delta). Weirdness: Emma Thompson, an awards staple, couldn't get any traction for a mimicry job (Primary Colors).

Anne Heche & Ellen Degeneres still had tongues wagging --- >

1998 was a double dipper year for Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer, Ever After), Sandra Bullock (Practical Magic, Hope Floats) and Anne Heche (Six Days and Seven Nights, Psycho) who was the controversial rage at the time as the first out lesbian* headlining major studio movies.

Major 90s stars like Angela Bassett (How Stella Got Her Groove Back), Holly Hunter (Living Out Loud) and Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight) came on strong. And Oprah Winfrey (Beloved) didn't generate the awards enthusiasm needed.

Finally, this is the year we met Lindsay Lohan, future hot mess -- and like Heche, also a future faux lesbian! -- in her wonderfully able child star debut in The Parent Trap. It was so wonderfully able, in fact, that I fell hard for her. To emphasize why that is unexpected is to admit that the Hayley Mills film was my BEST-MOVIE-EVER until I was about eight years old. Even thinking of it now in 2010 makes me all teary-eyed with nostalgia.


Nathaniel's List?
He's not so sure. Oscar's roster is Classic Bait: terminal illness, mental disorders, Shakespeare, royalty porn, older person opening their heart to a child (Yes, they have a thing for that, too). How could any of these performances not have been nominated even if they weren't as good as they are? Originally in the now mythic war for the statue between Paltrow & Blanchett I favored Blanchett but my opinion of Paltrow's star making turn has grown considerably over the years. Still, I'm not sure either would make my list. I'm not sure who would make my list. Strangely, given the topic at hand, I barely remember Streep's cancer mom.

Apologies to Watson but she'd probably be the first to go to make room for one of the worst snubs of the decade. I'm talking about Ally Sheedy's devastating photographer/junkie in High Art. I was madly in love with both Hunter and Ricci's smart sexy comic work in '98 so maybe I'd dump a couple more of the Oscar women for them. Who knows? Revisits are in order. But to make a long story short, the LAFCA got it exactly right with their tie; Ally Sheedy and Fernanda Montenegro tower over 1998's actress field.

*Anne "Celestia" Heche's lesbianism was short lived of course. But still. People were all "Oh My God!" -- OMG! wasn't in the vernacular yet -- "They're letting an out lesbian play romantic straight leads in movies! The world is going to end."
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"Fuhgeddaboudit"

You know what I really miss? Johnny Depp as recognizably human characters.

I feel this pang every time I see a commercial for Alice in Wonderland with that orange fright wig. I fell for Johnny as Crybaby and Edward Scissorhands and I was thrilled when the whole planet fell hard for him (finally!) when Captain Jack Sparrow arrived on a sinking ship. But over the years Cartoon Johnny has become the brand. Seeing Johnny work his dramatic muscles? Fuhgeddaboudit. I thought we'd go there last year with Public Enemies but something didn't quite take.

It's not that I don't love the stylized cartoons. Nobody does that better... but I think some grounded stretching might be artistically rejuvenating. Lately my mind keeps drifting back to Donnie Brasco (1997) one of his best and least discussed performances. I'd love to see him do something like that soon.


It'd be especially thrilling if he was paired with an actress as fiercely individualistic as himself again. Anne Heche is absolutely special in that movie. The multitude of beats and backstory grudges and thorny specificity and sexual attraction she works into that performed relationship is quite a feat. She so deserved an Oscar nomination that year. And deserved more from Hollywood in general.

Where was I? Heche stole the movie from everyone and now she's stealing this post from Johnny! I would have nominated them both that year. My lists woulda looked like so...

1997 Best Actor
Russell Crowe, LA Confidential
Johnny Depp, Donnie Brasco
Christopher Guest, Waiting For Guffman*
Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter
and I'll leave one spot open since I somehow have still never seen Robert Duvall in The Apostle

1997 Best Supporting Actress
Kim Basinger, LA Confidential
Anne Heche, Donnie Brasco
Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights
Parker Posey, Waiting For Guffman
Christina Ricci, The Ice Storm

Are you looking forward to Mad Hatter Johnny or do you want something less Mad sometime real soon?

*Yes, that's a 1997 movie. IMDb confuses people. It was released in 1997

Sophie's Link

Meryl Streep brings endless funny. Have you read "name one masterpiece of cinema that I've starred in"? Hat tip to reader Cal for alerting me. Since this article appears in The Onion, it's Meryl Streep or "Meryl Streep" but both are equally awesome. One can certainly imagine the real Streep taking these shots at her self. She's always been fond of the self-deprecating zingers that somehow pretzel themselves until they're self-aggrandazing.

Of course, next Sophie's Choice comes up. Sure. Absolutely. That makes complete sense. But have you actually watched Sophie's Choice lately? Boy, talk about a movie that has not aged well. My performance is very good. No question. Oscar-worthy even...

So now is when you have to start really digging into my filmography because you're starting to think, "Can it be true that one of this generation's greatest actresses, maybe even the greatest—a national treasure, you might say—has never been in a film as good as Network, which isn't even Faye Dunaway's best movie?"

Ha. That's so true. Faye had quite the run. But... is it true? Does Meryl really not have her very own classic? P.S. The line about The Devil Wears Prada is killer.


More Linkage
Cinema Blend Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen as bloodsuckers. I still weep that something as boring as The Twilight Saga will be "entertaining" us for years to come, but at least they're recruiting decent actors now that they won the lottery
Stareast Asia Zhang Ziyi engulfed in shoulder pads. Have you accepted that Ziyi is now more of a model than an actress. Maybe that's always how you've thought of her? You're smart
Topless Robot is Green Lantern doomed? I love Topless Robot. They're so self aware. This line from the highly speculative post is a beaut. It's a line which would never be typed on other genre loving fanboy sites but which belongs on all of them

But if I don't make wild, unfounded accusations about things I know nothing about, I feel like I'm not doing my job.

babblebook contemplates the catharsis of Inglourious Basterds. Great post
Cinephilia imagines Pitt & Jolie receiving the Inglourious call. The punchline to the scene is pretty great
Socialite's Life George Clooney breaks his hand. Damn, that man is fragile
PopCrunch Liz Taylor loves RuPaul?

Oh, Anne...
My nearly beloved Anne Heche (if only she'd get the good roles...) is back in, uh, form. Did you see her on Letterman? Now I think it's a terrible terrible terrible thing for a celebrity to diss a civilian on national television --manners, Celestia, manners!-- But that said, I like my Anne crazy, so I loved this.



Against my better judgment.

Finally
It's been ages since I've been to the popular flash site Homestar Runner for a Strong Bad e-mail but I clicked over this morning to watch a short comic bit on "indie film" vs. independent film. Back in the day --when? don't remember-- I wrote Strong Bad an e-mail asking something or other about movies but quickly realized it was a mistake and my e-mail would never be used to animate an episode because the world of Homestar Runner tends not to really deal with reality as we know it in. There's very little in the way of dated pop culture references / jokes. But, I guess Strong Bad is closer to planet Earth now that he's dissing art films and Hollywood poseurs and getting little visual digs in at Juno among other things.

New Releases + Hitchcock

I'm talking about Alfred Hitchcock's birthday and this week's new releases in my column at Towleroad. The obvious highlights from the newbies are Ponyo (sight unseen but it's Miyazaki so we're fine) and District 9, which I have seen. Katey and I will have a vodcast up soon to discuss the very bloody but very exciting alien action flick. But for now, the column

There's quite a variety of new product at the multiplexes. Let's start with the romantic drama, The Time Traveler's Wife in which Eric Bana keeps disappearing and reappearing in Rachel McAdams life. Wait, is he playing Ryan Gosling?!? This vanishing / reappearing act is probably a great metaphor of some sort for romance, though I haven't read the bestseller so I've no idea if the concept is executed well. The faithful are angry that they've changed it to something sunnier. Hollywood is so terrified of sad endings, even in tearjerkers which are supposed to make you cry.

read the rest at Towleroad

Performance Art or Just Another Hollywood Implosion?

Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman last night, ostensibly to push his "last film" Two Lovers upon us.



If the homeless beard and the 'i'm quitting acting for hip hop' announcements weren't odd enough these past few months, his behavior here is. It's painful to watch though the ever quick Letterman makes the most of it. Is the continual crowd chuckling merely uncomfortable reflex or do they find the larger performance joke that Phoenix is having on all of us amusing?

Here's my question: If Phoenix's ruined career is the complicated hoax many believe it to be, shouldn't it be funny? I can't think of a delicate way to put this but if you're the brother of one of the saddest drug-related tragedies in modern Hollywood history, should you really be acting out in this particular psychotic break kind of way? Celebrity meltdowns can be funny (Tom Cruise) and some permanent crazy train ticket holders are greatly amusing or in on the joke (Bai Ling, Anne Heche) but it's all in the context.

Advice to Casting Directors: Two Undervalued Blondes

Lookie here! Two sensational actresses are FREE --well not as in monetarily, but free as in their television series have been cancelled or have expired.


Anne Heche (Men in Trees) is not a generic interchangeable actor. She's a presence. She was an surprising, tempestuous and undervalued big screen actress (Donnie Brasco, Wag the Dog, Psycho, Birth) and then she went a little crazy and became an overvalued celebrity (for the wrong reasons --not that I didn't enjoy the "Celestia" years!) then she did a couple of spins on Broadway (where she was valued if not enough) before she was an undervalued TV star (Men in Trees). Someone treasure her gifts quickly, challenge her. Time is a wasting. Sure, she's a bit of a troubled handful but you get results.

Katee Sackhoff is a terrific actress. I won't lie and claim that she's undervalued on her breakout show (Battlestar Galactica)... they've leaned on her heavily and she's crafted an indomitable fan-favorite character who has evolved considerably from her first bold sketches four years back. Then, and seemingly without dropping a bead of sweat, Katee gave Bionic Woman the only fire it had as its rogue bionic. A bonfire to be more accurate. It was night and day on that show between her scenes and every one else's. Both of those shows have expired or are about to. She's a bonafide super star, if Hollywood would merely point bright lights her way to reflect. Give her a lead role and watch the magic happen.

Wil Yun Lee & Katee on Bionic Woman: the only interesting relationship/subplot.
Come to think of it, let's give him more work too.

Free advice. This is just me giving back to Hollywood.
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Day of Rest

Shhhhh! Viggo & Anne are enjoying a lazy post-coital nap. Don't spoil the moment for it's their last together [cue ominous music]

Next @ The Experience: Stardust, Anne Hathaway & Becoming Jane, Michelle Pfeiffer goes 'Inside The Hellmouth Actors Studio', an Oscar list to raise your ire and more... (could we possibly hope for that All That Jazz article? Shut up!)

Bowfinger Knew Best: 'TomKat' & 'Celestia' Premonitions

So we all know Tom Cruise is cuckoo for cocopuffs but last night I was watching this Steve Martin tribute on TV and they showed a clip from Bowfinger, that Hollywood comedy he did with Eddie Murphy in 1999.

The most obvious real life target at the time (to me) was Heather Graham's character. She equalled Celestia herself, Anne Heche. Rumor had it that the breakup with Steve Martin (before the Ellen Degeneres whirlwind and Heche's Celestia crackup) was not at all amicable and he was working it out onscreen. I also recall totally registering that MindHead, the celebrity cult run by Terence Stamp was an obvious stand-in for Scientology. But now it's clearer still: that absolutely paranoid, alien-fearing, bonkers action movie star played by Eddie Murphy? You know who!

The continuing TomKat lunacy is making me want to give Bowfinger another look.

tags: Tom Cruise, Anne Heche, Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin,Bowfinger, movies, celebrities, scientology, gossip

Bowfinger Knew Best: 'TomKat' & 'Celestia' Premonitions

So we all know Tom Cruise is cuckoo for cocopuffs but last night I was watching this Steve Martin tribute on TV and they showed a clip from Bowfinger, that Hollywood comedy he did with Eddie Murphy in 1999.

The most obvious real life target at the time (to me) was Heather Graham's character. She equalled Celestia herself, Anne Heche. Rumor had it that the breakup with Steve Martin (before the Ellen Degeneres whirlwind and Heche's Celestia crackup) was not at all amicable and he was working it out onscreen. I also recall totally registering that MindHead, the celebrity cult run by Terence Stamp was an obvious stand-in for Scientology. But now it's clearer still: that absolutely paranoid, alien-fearing, bonkers action movie star played by Eddie Murphy? You know who!

The continuing TomKat lunacy is making me want to give Bowfinger another look.

tags: Tom Cruise, Anne Heche, Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin,Bowfinger, movies, celebrities, scientology, gossip

"Celestia" Strikes Back

Do you ever wonder if Coley Lafoon sleeps well at night? I mean, presumably, this sometime cameraman and actor sleeps right next to two gorgeous women each night. Get your mind out of the gutter: Both of these women inhabit the same body, don't you know?!

Yes, lying there right next to him in the body of his gorgeously off wife, the actress Anne Heche (Happy Birthday girl!), is another being known only as "Celestia" who hails from the Fourth Dimension.

For those of you who cherish celebrity meltdowns (you know who you are!) Anne Heche's craziest days --roughly 1999 to late 2001-- have to rank in the utmost echelons of top star-fueled vicarious thrills for those of with normal lives. We watched as she plunged heartfirst into the world's most famous lesbian relationship, starred in lots of movies, broke up with her more famous girlfriend, wandered in the California desert unhinged, and did a Barbara Walters special and came out about her alter-ego, Celestia. Finally she documented it all in an autobiography called "Call Me Crazy."

Celestia's desert wanderings in the 2000 as she sought God and spaceships in Fresno (?) after splitting with Ellen DeGeneres are top tier classics of the celebrity meltdown genre. Anne Heche's escapades are way edgier than Angelina Jolie's pull quotes, way crazier than Hugh Grant's indiscretions, way more imaginative than Robert Downey Jr.s equally career-killing drug habit, and somehow less desperate and definitely sexier than Margot Kidder's sad headlining breakdown.

Now that Ellen DeGeneres, Heche's former love, is publicly besotted with another Ally McBeal alum (this time it's Portia deRossi who played "sub-zero Nell", currently on Arrested Development) might jealousy and regrets prompt another Celestia episode? Celeb watchers can only hope. This is not to wish Anne harm or continual employment to her therapist. But, truthfully, can you really ever move on after publishing tell-all biographies and speaking to God in your own invented language? These things probably stick with you.

More Celestia/Heche fun?
Revisit that famous Barbara Walters interview -click here.
For two funnier takes on the same thing, there's always Fame Tracker. Hee. And this.
Could you make it work with a crazy chick like Anne?
Anyone know if this TV pilot got picked up?
I'm not the only one who loved the Celestia episode, don't you know...
All that said. Anne is totally hot --I mean, can you really blame Ellen for putting up with her?
She's also a terrific actress.