Randomness: Drew, Deneuve, Emmys

<---- A photo from the premiere of Going the Distance that I saw at I Need My Fix. Is this pose, caught foregrounded against a rainbow subtle "Box Office" halo, some sort of sign from god that this Justin Long / Drew Barrymore romcom is going to be huge? Hmmmm. Drew is so impossible not to love but I'm hoping that one day she gets and nails a movie role as good as her Grey Gardens outing. Her movie roles are always so samey-samey and GG sure let her stretch her wings beautifully. Won't one of our A list directors give her a real big screen opportunity? The Barrymore dynasty hasn't been in the Oscar mix since, what, 1944?

Slant Magazine sizes up the Emmy rosters with should and could wins. Great read, dependably bitchy. But I must say that I think Christina Hendricks deserves the Supporting Actress win over Elisabeth Moss for Mad Men. Moss has such rich material constantly and does a tremendous job. But Hendricks is just constantly elevating the shit out of what, in lesser hands, could be one of the show's most surface characters. P.S. I don't get the hate for 30 Rock... Sure it's increasingly uneven. But it's still goddamn funny in its best moments.
The Wrap Christina Hendrick still models for friends? So cool.
Towleroad The Switch, Fela, celebrity forgiveness chart and more.
MNPP The Fog or The Mist? It's a question of the utmost importance. Condensation forever!
Dark Eye Socket a follow up to that "what do you look for in a movie?" question we were just chatting about.

And reader Patrick sent me this image of Catherine Deneuve from François Ozon's new film Potiche which will play at Venice (god, I wish I was going to the Venice Festival. This AND Black Swan?) with this amusing note "trying to to be the new Sue Sylvester..." ha.


I'd don a track suit to hang with Catherine Deneuve any day any time any where. But especially in Venice. Wouldn't you?

Have you any movie plans this weekend?
*

"i know that we are young and i know that you may link me..."

Stale Popcorn Glenn is a crazy person. Glenn is a crazy person that I love. He's decided to review the Scream trilogy. Every scene of it. Starting with Drew Barrymore's fateful phone call of course. You do know that Michelle Pfeiffer loves this performance don't you? Well she does. So does everyone, right?
Hollywood News Scott Feinberg believes the Academy should have two Best Picture voting rounds
/Film Daniel Radcliffe to star in remake of All Quiet on the Western Front. Uh, good luck measuring up, people. Why?
Coming Soon Matt Damon making a zookeeper movie. I always thought someone should make a cable series about a zoo. One of the many unexplored work places of the world.
Cinema Styles "I Hate All of You" a post for those caught daily in the movie buff blog loop

In Contention sings Mark Ruffalo's praises for The Kids Are All Right. I can't wait for all of you to see it. He's marvelous in the movie.
My New Plaid Pants JA reviews Jonah Hex with its Fox waist, Brolin scars, and three thousand Fassbender teeth.
Cinematical cries uncle about Hollywood's 1984 obsession and offers up a few more remake options. Micki & Maude anyone?
A Socialite's Life Cyndi Lauper is getting her own reality series.
Birth of a Notion look back at the opening sequence of Jaws.
Pixar Blog You can now buy the wonderful new short Day & Night at iTunes

Broadway.com informs that NY theater comic star Jackie Hoffman who you may have seen in the Broadway runs of Hairspray or Xanadu (she's currently playing "Grandma" in The Addams Family) is "OLD LADY GAGA"...lol

Robert and Boorman and Drew! Oh My!

Jose here.

Was Dorothy (Judy Garland) lying to us when she told us there's no place like home in The Wizard of Oz?



Judging from the way movie people are flocking back to Oz, it seems the little girl from Kansas might've missed something in her first trip.

As of today there are six, count them, films in development that have something to do with Frank L. Baum's timeless classic or the Victor Fleming film adaptation and that's not even including the much awaited stage to screen translation of Broadway blockbuster Wicked.

Everyone wants a piece of Oz and projects in development have attracted the attention of people like Drew Barrymore, Sean Astin and even the guy who made Deliverance.
But before we surrender to confusion let's go through each of the projects.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Set for release in 2011, this CGI adaptation of the original book will mark director John Boorman's first foray into animation.
Call me morbid but I'm really dying to see what the man who made The Exorcist II brings to Oz. Boorman has a great eye for set pieces and his interest in fantasy is notable (to a good effect in Excalibur and to WTF in Zardoz, which coincidentally got its title from the wizard) and besides what is Deliverance if not a violent, testosterone driven interpretation of the Oz mythology? Sans flying monkeys of course.

Dark Oz
Based on a comic book the film is set to be directed by Pearry Teo and will star Pras Micheal of The Fugees.
While this one sounds interesting to say the least, I was left more intrigued by one of the comic book tie-ins called Oz Squad which has Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion form a secret organization appropriately named the "Gale Force" created to protect Emerald City.
I'm usually a purist when it comes to things like these but the fact that the comic book outraged Baum scholars and has only now resurfaced as a groundbreaking work makes it sound quite enticing.
My only objection? An element in the plot called the Tik-Tok, which would make a Ke$ha appearance almost inevitable.

Surrender Dorothy
The lovely Drew Barrymore (left in all her emerald colored glory from Whip It) is set to direct this sequel from a screenplay by Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction). In the story, Dorothy's great great granddaughter must learn to use the ruby slippers to prevent the Wicked Witch of the West from taking over Oz.
Originally Drew was set to play Dorothy but with the screenplay in development limbo for almost a decade, the now obviously older actress might just want to stick to behind the camera duties.

Dorothy of Oz
Another CGI version, this one is based on a book by Baum's great grandson Roger S. Baum and is directed by Dan St. Pierre (who served as art director for Disney's Tarzan).
In the plot Dorothy (rumored to be voiced by Lea Michele) is sent back to Oz right after her first trip where she meets a man made out of marshmallows and a china doll.
This one is also set for release in 2011.


The Witches of Oz
The official synopsis reads:
The Witches of Oz follows the exploits of the grown Dorothy Gale, now a successful children's book author, as she moves from Kansas to present day New York City. Dorothy quickly learns that her popular books are based on repressed childhood memories, and that the wonders of Oz are very, very real. When the Wicked Witch of the West shows up in Times Square, Dorothy must find the inner courage to stop her.

Sean Astin, Ethan Embry and Lance Henriksen star.
For clips, photo source and more information about this film click here.

The Great Powerful
If you've just had enough of Dorothy, this might be the film for you.
Instead of focusing on the heroine this one is more interested in the man behind the curtain.
This film will tell the tale of the wizard's life and how he ended in Oz. Robert Downey Jr. is set to play him and when you read sources describing the wiz as a man "leading a life of charlatanry" who sounds more appropriate to play the part?
The film might be directed by Adam Shankman (hmmm) or Sam Mendes (yay and hmmm).

And yes, no news on a big screen adaptation of Wicked yet (other than the one already being filmed inside my head with Anne Hathaway and Reese Witherspoon in the lead roles).

So what's your take on all this? Are you faithful to Judy Garland or are you willing to see other Dorothys? Do you think there's something as too much Oz or is this making you salivate?

Curio: Drew Takes Her Throne

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here to wish a happy birthday to that queen of positivity Drew Barrymore. She's 35 today, but seems perennially 25. With her Golden Globe win, it's been a great year for her so far. Here's hoping that she is encouraged to direct more films after the fabulous Whip It, despite the fact that it underperformed to Hollywood standards (sigh). Love this portrait of her by the whimsical Fee Harding:

Fee shows Drew on a cushy flower throne, oh so sweet. Interesting how the throne appears to have dog legs; I assume these are faux, given what a dog-lover Drew is!

Fee sells her Drew print here for only $15!

Beloved Turkey: Poison Ivy

Adam of Club Silencio here with a dose of good cheer and a dollop of bad taste.

Thanksgiving is about family and turkey, and giving thanks when they're ironically combined into a turkey movie about family. One of my favorites, Poison Ivy, is like a cornucopia of crass. Cheap in titillation and sentiment, it speaks of what it takes to be a family, for better or much, much (much) worse.


Whether you already have a family that loves you or you're planning on seducing a new one, Poison Ivy reminds us ALL to give thanks for Cinemax-style softcore. Take this story of a Lolita-like Drew Barrymore seeking a family to embrace her. Mock her methods of matricide or making it with Tom Skerritt, but Ivy's devotion to starting a family is met with a gung-ho kind of grace. She befriends a lonely outcast named Sylvie (Sara Gilbert), whose father is experiencing a late-life crisis and whose mother is more likely to hug her oxygen tank than her own daughter. It begins tenderly as many friendships do, at the local tire swing. Soon it progresses to underage tattoos, bisexual taboos and doing the dirty with the downtrodden Dad while he's checking in on his unconscious wife. Thanksgiving is also about family dysfunction and turkey, and Poison Ivy will make almost anyone's family drama seem relatively low key.
*

Katey and Nathaniel Don't Have Funny Skating Names

So, it turns out Katey has actually been to the Roller Derby so she knows of what she speaks when it comes to Drew Barrymore's Whip It. Katey is so cool.

Now I've already reviewed Whip It but Katey and I hadn't seen each other in way too long (long boring offline story) so we laced up and skated from Brooklyn (Katey) and Harlem (Nathaniel) and met in the middle. That last part isn't strictly true but you can pretend that is is since we wore protective gear.



Whip It ! Y'all were so suspiciously quiet when the review hit. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for?

Whip It Real Good

Whip It is based on a novel about a young girl who joins the roller derby.
Whip It is not based on the classic Devo tune. But still...♫ "Whip It good!"

Girl Fight! Don't worry. Drew even uses herself as comic punching bag

For her fictional novel turned movie, writer Shauna Cross drew from her own experiences as derby girl "Maggie Mayhem" and imagined what it would have been like to discover this alternative grrrl world as a young woman. So Whip It introduces us to Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), a sad eyed highschooler who is eager to get out of BoDeen Texas and into the big city. In this particular case that's Austin, Texas, which just happens to be the spot where roller derby resurrected itself a decade ago. Bliss doesn't share her mom's (Marcia Gay Harden) tenacious dream of beauty pageants. She doesn't even exactly share her best friend's (Alia Shawkat) college plans. Bliss is basically a dreamer without a dream, until a serendipitous sighting of derby girls passing out homemade competition flyers sparks a fire inside of her.

Bliss hungrily learns everything about this new world of self-made skating "stars" like Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore) and undefeated derby champ Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis). With their oversized personalities and theatrical names, it's rather easy to view all of this as an elaborate drag competition on skates...

Read the rest of my review at Towleroad
*

Juliette Lewis IS "Iron Maven"

Below is my fav shot from the Whip It trailer below. Ellen Page is all serious and ready to go. She's willing to sweat for her leading lady status. But it's Juliette Lewis who's hogging the attention, sticking her tongue out, coarsely flirting with the camera. The girl can't help it.

Juliette Lewis "Iron Maven" and Ellen Page "Babe Ruthless"

When I first saw the trailer, I got all tingly thinking about seeing the elusive 90s star again but resigned myself to what was sure to be a short raucuous and welcome cameo. The film has a ton of characters and surely Ellen Page (star) and Drew Barrymore (director/producer/co-star) would eat up the running time!

I am elated to report that I was wrong. Juliette has plenty of screen time as the tough chick star of the Texas derby, "Iron Maven". The actress even won considerable applause during the end credits from the appreciative mixed crowd last night (some critics, some civilians, some roller derby types).

Turns out "Iron Maven" is Juliette's best role in years. It's speaking her language baby! She knows it and, god bless Drew Barrymore, the director knows it, too. Judging from the trailer and marketing, she'll be the movie's secret weapon... until Friday at least.

I'd scream "Welcome Back Juliette!" from the rooftops but I'm a little scared of Iron Maven, and as you'll see on Friday, she doesn't like suck ups.

Whip It opens Friday, my review is coming soon.

For old time's sake...


Damn, I love that woman.
*

*

TIFF 09 Coverage Concludes: Whip It, Mother and Child, Up in the Air

As promised here's the final installment of this year's Toronto Film Festival coverage. My anonymous friend (txt critic) saw 26 movies in half a week (I know!) and agreed to rank them all upon his return.

Here's his last few capsules and rankings

1. A Serious Man A+ (previous post)
2. Precious A (previous post)

3. Up in the Air A
The recipient of the most ejaculatory pre festival hype, I think Jason Reitman’s film’s low-key aspirations, and the small-scale story it tells, will perhaps not benefit from being oversold by everyone and their mother (most random Torontonians I waited on line with over the course of the week told me they thought it was “very good, not great”). So, while adding to the hype is to the movie’s detriment, I have to report that I completely swooned for the movie. I can already see the backlash coming, as the movie’s conventional story arc (man-as-an-island bachelor starts to see the value in having other people in his life) will be easy to bemoan. What really sells it all is that it avoids sentimentality and seems to come from a sincere place of honest emotion. It's also extremely funny, never losing its designation as a comedy, even as the resonance starts to approach around the midway point. What’s perhaps most impressive about Reitman’s direction is the handling of this shift and balance of tone: there aren’t “serious” beats, and the film doesn’t jarringly turn into a drama halfway through. It grows subtly more weighty as it goes along, until you're misty-eyed. George Clooney gives one of his best performances, while still staying in his comfort zone. There will be much bigger, showier performances than this, but the film wouldn’t work without his deft handling of the character’s arc. This isn’t a blow you away emotional movie or Juno-esque crowd-pleaser -- the two prevalent adjectives in my mind are “quiet” and “bittersweet” -- but it’s the sort of thing that’s going to entertain and touch a lot of people, and for once, actually earn the feelings it arouses. Oscar nominations for picture, director, actor and adapted screenplay all seem assured.

4. Mother and Child A
Following up Nine Lives and Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her with yet another female-driven ensemble film that happens to be his best yet, Rodrigo García’s latest is an openly emotional, fascinating, complex tale of three different women whose lives may or may not cross but, at the least, run parallel. All three (played by Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington), have had their lives impacted by adoption -- Bening gave birth at 14 and put the girl up for adoption, Watts is her grown-up daughter who’s never met her mother, and Washington is infertile, trying to adopt with her husband. While you emerge from the theater extremely satisfied, no easy answers are found and the film acknowledges the messiness of the emotions / situations entailed in such situations.

Rodrigo García directs The Bening

Watts, Washington and Samuel L. Jackson (in a very small, understated role) are terrific, but the powerhouse performance here belongs to Bening. Starting the film out as an (seemingly) impenetrable bitch, Bening slowly makes us understand the character, and the decisions and emotions that have informed her life. By the time the film ends, you understand why this character ends up in the emotional place that she does. It never feels unrealistic or like a cheat. I don’t know if the film will get distribution before the end of the year but if it does, Bening will unquestionably be one of the five nominees for Best Actress.

5. Micmacs A-
6. The Road A-
7. The Informant! A- (previous post)
8. Harry Brown B+

9. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans B+
One of the best midnight movies I’ve ever seen (a cult following is already assured), this Nicolas Cage vehicle from Werner Herzog -- using the title and pretty much nothing else from the Abel Ferrara-Harvey Keitel film -- has a warped, nutso energy running through it that had me frazzled when I wasn’t busy laughing. Cage’s off-the-wall performance as a cop addicted to pussy, coke, and back-pain pills is a live-wire tour de force, that for once, utilizes the actor’s over the top inclinations for a character they actually work for. The film’s truly a blast. You alternately gasp and laugh in disbelief, waiting to see what Cage (and Herzog) will do next. My personal favorite moment is a TWO-MINUTE-LONG shot of iguanas Cage is looking at, made all the more brilliant when it’s revealed by another character that said iguanas aren’t even there. This won’t play with Cage’s National Treasure fans, but this is an audience movie if there ever was one.

10. Antichrist B+ (previous post)

11. Whip It B+
Drew Barrymore’s roller-derby directorial debut is perhaps most surprising for the fact that it’s more than “fun,” it’s actually “good.” Showing an assured hand on her first go-round, Barrymore more than capably handles every aspect of the story without short-shrifting any of them: the sports elements work (the derby scenes, violence and all, are insanely fun and well-shot), the coming of age story and love story never feel like bullshit, and the family relationship drama actually proves touching.


Whip It never lets Marcia Gay Harden’s overbearing mother become a caricature or a shrill harridan and allows Daniel Stern, of all people, to be the film’s warm, fuzzy heart. Ellen Page is strong in the central role that can't have been well defined on the page, and the supporting cast is aces, most notably Kristin Wiig in her first screen role (besides, maybe, Ghost Town) that allows her to be as funny as she can be.

12. Perrier’s Bounty B+ (previous post)
13. The Trotsky B (previous post)
14. Daybreakers B
15. Chloe B (previous post)
16. Jennifer’s Body B (previous post)
17. Ondine B-
18. Leaves of Grass B- (previous post)
19. Good Hair B-

20. The Hole C+ (previous post)
21. Solitary Man C
22. George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead C (previous post)
23. The Joneses C (previous post)
24. Creation C- (previous post)
25. Get Low C-
26. Capitalism: A Love Story D+ (previous post)

Would you all join me in a rousing chorus of "Release Mother and Child!" I need The Bening back in my life. It's torture that festivals dangle these goodies and the distributors look around like "who, me?"

I hope you've enjoyed this year's TIFF coverage and please join me in thanking txt critic, MattCanada and Lev for sharing their thoughts! Maybe next year I'll even make it there myself.

Emmy Live Blogging: Swine Flu Fever Edition (Pt 2)

part one
refresh screen regularly

9:03 I recently flew home to visit my parents who were moving out of my childhood home. One of my brother's friends was living in their basement. Killing time one night, I watched How I Met Your Mother on the ancient TV system. It only seemed to carry the broadcast networks. It's like the TV had absorbed my parents refusal to join the modern world. Anyway... while watching the show, my brother's friend comes in the room and says "this is a funny show but you know what the funniest show is? Two and a Half Men. I LOVE that show."

This is why people like Jeff Probst win "Best Host of a Reality TV Program"

9:07 Gilles Marini is thrusting so often on that clip from Dancing With the Stars I feel like he should be punished on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

9:14 Shohreh Agdashloo wins Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie blocking Marcia Gay Harden's attempts at the triple crown. If Shohreh Agdashloo worked a sex phone line I would go bankrupt calling it. That voice!

Too much information I know. I'm sick. You're required to put up with me.

9:15 We're over an hour in and we've only had two Kanye West jokes. This is a surprising development.

9:28 It's hard to tell what is my fever and what is Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Love Hewitt standing before me. It's a chicken and an egg situation, surely. The cold sweats have set in.


Sadly, I'm not joking.

9:34 I just realized that both Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange can't win for Grey Gardens because they rightly considered them both leads. No category fraud here. It's Jessica Lange. I'm happy for her but quite honestly I thought Drew deserved it. Didn't you?

9:46 I'm dying here. Little Dorrit keeps winning things and I could have sworn that was an Oscar movie in the 80s. I'm starting to hallucinate. The Year in Variety. Like varieties of flus? HA? Avian? H9N2? I could have sworn I just saw a cross dissolve wherein Will Swenson from Broadway's Hair lept at me with his legs spread until he was Barack Obama.

9:57 If you have any antibiotics I could borrow, please convert them into comment form so I can absorb them before it's too late.

10:02 They have a Original Music category at the Emmys? Hugh Jackman's number from the Oscars wins. I love that the Emmys are always giving awards to other awards shows. Hollywood Inbreeding. It stops only for Hollywood Back Patting! Inbreeding is the theme of the weekend (see also: previous post).

I wish other blogs would give me awards but patting my back right now might not be a good idea. I can only imagine what I'd cough up.

10:11 I can't go on without more comments. The pillows are singing their siren song. Say something damnit.

10:17 NPH was just standing next to Dianne Wiest and he neither acknowledged her nor fell to his knees in worshipful genuflection. This is the first time I've ever been disappointed in NPH.

10:21 They're speeding things up. Michael Emerson wins Best Supporting Actor for Lost. Cherry Jones wins Best Supporting Actress for 24. WAIT! Where is Sarah Paulson??? First no NPH / Burtka kiss and now I'm denied girl on girl action with my ladies? What the hell... I have a fever. I deserve my televised gay love.

10:27 Sarah McLachlan sings "I Will Remember You" for the in memoriam. There's no way to cover this adequately whilst liveblogging. So I won't say anything other than 2009 has been a real death bummer, no?

10:38 Mad Men wins Best Writing for "Meditations in an Emergency" -- that was the second season finale about the Sterling Cooper merger and Betty's pregnancy

Close of the fierce back and faulty memory

10:40 Best Actress in a Drama Series goes to... Glenn Close Damages. Kyra Sedgwick is bummed. Elisabeth Moss is robbed. Glenn is confused... claiming that Patty Hewes is "maybe... the role of her lifetime". As NoNo smartly says in the comments: "Glenn hasn't seen herself in Fatal Attraction lately". Right? "Or Dangerous Liaisons!", I'd add. Time to pull those DVDs out of storage, Glenn.

10:50 Best Actor in a Drama Series goes to Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad. (I don't even know what that show is about). Best Comedy Series goes to 30Rock.

11:01 I think it's shameful when awards shows that are running over time go to commercials before the final award. I mean, really. Screw the advertising dollars, think of the audience with the flu watching at home.

11:02 SIGWEAVIE! A vision in red. And Mad Men wins best series. Good night. Thanks for watching with me from your homes, through the internet where you can't catch my flu virus. Only other kinds.

Good night, and good luck.

Whip It Kiss It

Drew & Ellen K-I-S-S-I-N-G (from Marie Claire)

Nitflicky calls this the "photo of the day" but I'm more inclined to say "photo of the week" ...month?. For reals. It only makes me love Drew and Ellen more. I'm practically a straight man when it comes to girls kissing. More, please.

That said, the cover of the magazine is the typically boring airbrushed / heavily made up star portraiture. For a split second in this kissing photo (not the cover) I thought Ellen was Keira Knightley. I'll give you a moment to imagine Keira and Drew snogging.

stop it!

I'm not sure what it is exactly but I h-a-t-e seeing Ellen Page done up like any other young actress. I always feel like she wants to be makeup free and wearing pants. Did I read her pants-favoritism in an interview or am I projecting? Not every starlet needs to look the same. If you want to wear pants, wear pants. Think Katharine Hepburn and just go for it. Even on the red carpet. There are worse icons to take notes from. It seems like it's been a long time since we had a young female star who refused the typical red carpet looks.

Break free, Ellen, break free! Next time you're at an awards show, I want slacks! Or even a full suit.

<-- More cuteness from the derby girls

I'm so excited to see Whip It, I have an absurd and possibly fatalistic desire to roller skate to the theater on opening night. I blame this stupid desire on loving Xanadu during my formative years.

Xanadu can be blamed for any number of things.
*

Movie Stars For EMMY

Since the EMMYs have 2,741 categories, we only focus on two things: first, how our favorite shows did and second, which big screen stars other than La Pfeiffer (she's always there with her television kingpin husband) will show up. Which of them got nominated for their small screen sojourns whether longform or more movie-like?

Speaking of which...

Drew Barrymore on the set of Going the Distance

Yes, you, Drew. But you knew she knew (everyone knew) that her affecting work in Grey Gardens as "Little Edie" was going to make the grade. "Big Edie" Jessica Lange also won a nomination for the narrative feature based on -- but also sort of jumping off from and commenting on -- the famous beloved documentary of the same name. I hope to have an interview with their director here soon.

Before we get to the rest of the big screen folks, here's the nominees in the big two categories

Big Love finally gets recognized. Strangely none of the actors do.

outstanding drama series (7 nominees. eep)

• Big Love (HBO)
  
• Breaking Bad (AMC)
  
• Damages (FX)
  
• Dexter (SHOWTIME)
  
• House (FOX)
  
• Lost (ABC)
• Mad Men (AMC)

No Friday Night Lights or Battlestar Galactica (sigh) but we expected as much. Some shows just aren't in the EMMY wheelhouse no matter how strong they are. The surprise here is definitely the exclusion of previous winner "24" which the EMMY's have previously loved in all its torture-approving glory.

Interesting note: Mad Men hogged 80% of the writing nominations with only Lost able to slip in there for the fifth slot. BOO! Rose Byrne's category fraud for Damages (she's competing in supporting) probably caused the snubbing of Marcia Gay Harden for that same show. Byrne is *not* a supporting actress on that show. Hello, it's a two-hander. I actually bet she has more screen time than Glenn Close not to mention that the story is usually told through her perspective.

outstanding comedy series (also 7 nominees)

• 30Rock
• Entourage
• Family Guy
• Flight of the Conchords
• How I Met Your Mother
• The Office
  
• Weeds

Two and a Half Men's reign of terror ends at last. Rejoice. BOO: No Pushing Daisies again. TV did not do right by their wonderful "gone too soon" series. YES: Especially good news here for the other Krak addicts out there: Jane Krakowski wins her first EMMY nomination after multiple merciless snubbings. Interesting note: 3 time consecutive supporting actor winner Jeremy Piven is not nominated for Entourage. Does this mean Neil Patrick Harris finally gets the gold?

Movie actors for EMMY
The following races mostly lean towards silver screen thespians. This time they're competing for that gold and winged woman trophy rather than the naked guy with the sword.

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie pits Oscar winner Kevin Kline (Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS) against Kevin Bacon (Taking Chance on HBO), frequent supporting MVP Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm on HBO) and Oscar nominees Sir Ian McKellen (King Lear) and Kenneth Branagh (Taking Chance) are all competing for . Hey, no fair: Kiefer Sutherland's TV character Jack Bauer from "24" somehow slipped into this category, spoiling its silver screen style.

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie features the Grey Gardens girls alongside screen divas Sigourney Weaver (Prayers for Bobby) and Shirley Maclaine (Coco Chanel). EMMY & TV regular Chandra Wilson (Accidental Friendship) rounds out that category.


Lead Actress in a Drama Series usually contains a few movie stars who have migrated to the small screen once Hollywood stopped offering them amazing lead roles. That's the big screen's loss, obviously. Holly Hunter (Saving Grace), Glenn Close (Damages) and Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters) are competing once again with TV stars like Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men). Moss's character Peggy Olson is wonderful but she really should be competing in the supporting category where everyone but Jon Hamm belongs since the cast is so huge and screen time is limited. The other fine Mad Men women, January Jones and Christina Hendricks, were once again snubbed. This category is often frustrating. The brilliant layered work of Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) goes unnoticed again and Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) four season snubbing for her work as President Laura Roslyn will surely have to go down in television history as one of the worst 10 offenses that EMMY ever committed.

Miscellania Oscar winners Ernest Borgnine (ER), Ellen Burstyn (Law & Order), Dianne Wiest (In Treatment) and Oscar nominees Brenda Blethyn (Law & Order) and Gena Rowlands (Monk) are all competing in Guest or Supporting acting categories.

Bonus. What's the best category this year?
My vote for the strongest category this year goes to either Lead or Supporting Actress in a Comedy both of which have really strong lineups with no bad apples spoiling the bunch by snubbing far superior work. The nominees are...

Toni Toni Toni and Toni. Do you think she'll win?

Lead Actress in a Comedy

• Julia Louis Dreyfuss, The New Adventures of Old Christine
• Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
• Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Show
• Tina Fey, 30Rock
• Toni Collette, The United States of Tara
• Mary Louise Parker, Weeds

Supporting Actress in a Comedy

• Kristin Chenowith, Pushing Daisies
• Amy Poehler, SNL
• Kristin Wigg, SNL
• Jane Krakowski, 30Rock
• Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
• Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds

What say ye? How well did EMMY do this year?

P.S. You can download a complete list of nominees here but be warned, it's 40 pages long.
*

WHIP IT! Trailer

Yet another example of how I don't understand movie marketing at all.



I lurve this concept for a movie but the trailer feels too generic. Like a lukewarm "find yourself!" comedy. Even if it is lukewarm (it might be), you're supposed to disguise that. The way they disguise everything and sell the wrong movie constantly. Like that trailer for The Road (which is 100% ridiculous since big action setpieces and thrills is not the tone of the movie whatsoever. People will be so angry when they're watching it.)

And why the missed opportunity to have like character freeze frames and make it look raucously entertaining / funny like "Drew Barrymore is 'Smashley Simpson!'" etcetera. For the millionth time I find myself perplexed that movies spend so much money on reasonably famous people (rather than unknowns for scale) and then never mention that they're in the movie?! Eve? Juliette Lewis? Kristen Wiig? Marcia Gay Harden? You don't wanna mention their names? Weirdness.

But I still can't wait to see it.

Forbes 100: On Actresses and "Power"

As you may know, the annual Forbes 100 is out. This 'Celebrity 100' list is also referred to as "World's Most Powerful Celebrities". Which... well, I wonder. The list ranks the celebrities based on their media visibility and earning power. Media + income = power. All lists are subjective but it seems strange to assume that visibility equals power. It can but I doubt it automatically does. Is Lindsay Lohan a powerful person because the paparazzi follow her around? If so, what does she hold sway over... legging trends? Can she get movies greenlit? She didn't make the list but it's just an example.

Another funny/strange thing: It only goes to show you that becoming enormously popular at one time in history can keep you on these lists in perpetuity. Witness the staying power of Sandra Bullock and Harrison Ford on lists such as these.

Here are Forbes top movie actresses...

01 Angelina Jolie
There's no disputing her fame. Would that her influence was as indisputable. Celebrity philanthrophists are often subjects of loathing from many pockets of the media and various segments of the general populace. Why that is I'll leave it up to social theorizing in the comments [A History of... Angelina Jolie]

08 Jennifer Aniston
She was my favorite member of Friends back in the day but I realized as soon as she transferred to the cinema that I was a fan of "Rachel" rather than Jen. Sometimes when thinking of Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and Courtney Cox in tandem it becomes clear that Brad Pitt is to blame for her ubiquity. But then I think of my beloved Juliette Lewis and... well, the world isn't fair.


58 Sarah Jessica Parker
Sometimes Square Pegs only need to ignore the round holes and find a new board on which to play. What a difference HBO and "Carrie Bradshaw" made. [More on Sex & the City]

64 Meryl Streep
Her top earning status as she enters her 60s fills me with utter glee despite the fact that Mamma Mia! was terrible. Once, long ago, (very early 90s to be more precise) the same media that now kisses her feet used to belittle her for speaking out about the inequality in pay between actors and actresses.

71 Reese Witherspoon
Earned $15 million last year. Usurping all of Jake Gyllenhaal's time? Now, that's power.

73 Cameron Diaz
Forbes is pushing the notion that we should have her on our Best Actress Oscar lists for My Sister's Keeper. What say ye?

74 Nicole Kidman
She takes a beating in the American media but she's still an international draw. Plus she's, you know, awesome if you care about the cinema rather than just 'the movies.'

85 Anne Hathaway
She only made $7 million for Get Smart? For some reason I thought she pulled down more than that already.

87 Drew Barrymore
Still a double threat as Producer/Actress. Every time we hear about Drew's next project, the roller derby film Whip It!, it's mentioned in connection to Ellen Page's rising stardom post Juno. But have you checked out the supporting cast and their character names? Drew as "Smashley Simpson", Kristin Wiig as "Malice in Wonderland", Juliette Lewis as "Dinah Might", Eve as "Rosa Sparks". I only hope the movie is half as fun as the milieu and moniker imply.

92 Sandra Bullock
Forbes implies that her return to romcoms justifies her placement. Is she headed for a major comeback this year with The Proposal and All About Steve?



Most random finding on this list: Jennifer Love Hewitt is at #99. Other than her power to stay on television year after year after year after year (Jennifer Love Hewitt in the reboot of Murder She Wrote... coming your way in 2038!) I had no idea that she wielded any, let alone that she was the 5th most powerful TV actress . I didn't know that she was more powerful than three Desperate Housewives and that Gossip Girl... more powerful yet than Eliza Duskhu who is infinitely hotter and shares Hewitt's power to stay on the airwaves.

You know what I'd like to read? A list that seeks to quantify the overall influence of celebrities as opposed to their income or household name status. Who has trickle down power? I always think of that "cerulean" scene in The Devil Wears Prada when I think of cultural influence.

This... 'stuff'? Oh... ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean.

You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.

Wouldn't more specialized celebs like, oh, Parker Posey in the 1990s or Björk or Tilda Swinton make lists that quantify cultural influence? They're famous, referenced, idolized, admired, stolen from, imitated and occasionally worshipped in fashion, music, media, cinema. They're not interchangable with the next up and coming starlet. But, alas, they aren't ... Jennifer Love Hewitt.
*

Drag Me To Link

off-cinema
Getty Drew Barrymore and Emmy Rossum attend the reject Prop 8 rallies. I think this is the most animated I've ever seen Emmy Rossum's face. It can only mean one thing: supporting gay rights makes you a better actress!
Gawker Wikipedia cracks down on Team Scientology
Pretty on the Outside imagines a Playbill for the new Hugh Jackman / Daniel Craig Broadway outing.
World of Wonder and Gawker finally other people besides me are beginning to talk some sense about celeb du jour Adam Lambert's dumb coyness. I seriously have been annoyed at the way the gay community has been kissing his ass for months.
Just Jared Jude Law hones his Hamlet. Oh, I wish I could see it. And I'm totally sick of Hamlet.

cinema
The Rocchi Files Open Letter to Pixar (great stuff)
Lou Romano production art development for UP. Just beautiful
The Celebrity Truth Steven Spielberg's Tintin movie, with Jamie Bell in the lead is now scheduled for Christmas time 2011. Unfortunately it's a motion capture thing. Hopefully Jamie Bell will look more human than Tom Hanks did in that Polar movie
AfterEllen the hottest sporty women in sports movies or some such. Thumbs up on the high rank for "Missy Pantone" in Bring It On. But then I'm always up for Eliza Dushku.
i09 Spider-Man 4 to focus more tightly on Peter Parker
Cinematical fun piece on horror replacement actors to celebrate Alison Lohman's role in Drag Me To Hell which, as you may know, was originally Ellen Page's.

And finally, just for fun... here's a sampling of the variety of things people -- complete strangers , I just did a title search -- are tweeting about Drag Me To Hell.

Now Playing: Kristen Bell in Bikini, Chris Evans Fully Clothed

The Oscar films expanded last week (and in some cases -- *cough* Milk ??? -- they're already constricting again. Hope you caught them during those seven days you were allowed to see them!) so it's strictly new releases for February. Links go to trailers...

L I M I T E D
Fanboys Odd that this comedy, about a group of Star Wars fanboys (and fangirl Veronica Mars Kristen Bell, left) storming George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch would come out the day it's target audience is hitting the Comic Con. (Methinks the target audience will be too busy wearing their own Princess Leia costumes or gawking at real live ones to go see Kristen don hers!) Like many a film before it Harvey Weinstein bought this and locked it up tight never to see the light of day until, suddenly, on a whim he decided to dump it in a theater or three.

The Objective One of the directors of The Blair Witch Project tries the 'filming our demise' thing again only with military men in Afghanistan this time.

Chocolate The director of Ong Bak: Thai Warrior returns with another one of his "no wires. no stunt doubles" action films. This one is about a special needs girl who loves chocolate. She has some magical gift for muy thai fighting. I think it's kind of like that superpower on Heroes where if you see an action performed you can duplicate it. I also love chocolate and have special needs. Where's my movie? Alas, I lack that nifty fighting gift and my special needs primarily revolve around Tony Jaa. Where is he?

Chocolate and Coraline. Curious young girls are trouble!

W I D E
Coraline If you suffer from koumpounophobia you should skip this one. If you don't, you should run to the theater because the buzz for this 3D stop motion adventure makes it sound delicious and the source material is superb. If you haven't been reading Neil Gaiman's books, when are you going to start? Try American Gods.

He's Just Not That Into You Looks like the kind of movie you'll l-o-v-e if Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus strikes you as a landmark academic tome. Initially I wanted to see it (Ginnifer Goodwin plus the parade of stars) but early reports from critic friends are grim and the episode of Sex & the City about that catchphrase is unbeatable anyway. Plus, you know how they often put the best jokes from movies in trailers?

_______...those are the best jokes?

Push In which Chris Evans keeps his clothes on (just a hunch -- it's that damn new manager's fault) to play a rogue psychic leading a battle against a secret government agency. Or something. Dakota Fanning (the voice of Coraline. Dakota is a workaholic) and Djimon Hounsou also have clairvoyant powers. My own telepathic abilities tell me you're confused. "Isn't Push the movie about the obese black teenager? Didn't it win the top prize at Sundance last month?" Yes, yes, that's the one. Only it's not this one. The Sundance Push is the one that's winning Mo'Nique raves and Oscar style buzz. But this is the other Push, now playing in thousands of theaters starring Chris Evans and it's not going to get any Oscar nominations.

It would be better if Mo'Nique was in it.



Much better.

Oooh, baby, baby Baby
Yo, yo, yo, yo, Evans, Chris / Yeah, you come here, gimme a kiss /
Better make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed

P.S. I don't know why everyone is surprised that Mo'Nique can act. Duh.

The Pink Panther 2 A non-rhetorical question for the comments: What the hell is Steve Martin doing with his career?

Pillar of Link

Oscars, Globes and Year in Review
The Feinberg Files on Oscar's foreign film shortlist and that Gomorra snub
Wall Street Journal good article on Slumdog's Co-Director and why she isn't getting any awards attention while Danny Boyle is drowning in it. (Thanks to David, for pointing it out)
Everything Oscar Andy shares his own hypothetical ballot
In Contention my favorite annual thing at IC, "top 10 shots" of the year
MNPP "the golden trousers" actresses of 2008 -- way crazier than Oscar ballots
MTV Movies Drew Barrymore's coiffure at the Globes. It's Ferrari's fault!
Pop Matters top 20 female performances of '08


The Biz
Coming Soon Samuel L Jackson might not reprise his Nick Fury role. Did Marvel notice that he's in every franchise and if you want your franchise to stand out... maybe no Sammy? This is along the same lines of if you have a suspicious/slimeball/annoying neighbor/coworker/troublemaker you don't really have to cast Stephen Tobolowsky or Danny Huston every time. Just a thought. Spread the wealth, Hollywood. There are more than 36 actors in the world looking for work.
The Carpetbagger updates us on the SAG negotiations. Will there be a strike?
Variety & MTV Andrew Stanton's (WALL•E) future project John Carter of Mars. Hells, yeah

DVD
Flickers on Derek Jarman's fascinating Sebastiane. God, I haven't seen that movie in forever. Tilda Swinton would be proud if you put it on your rental queue.
Hell on Frisco Bay is doing a cool roundup of top ten lists that are about revivals screened this past year "I only have two eyes 2008" -- some good rental ideas here.