The New Year couldn't come soon enough because I was informed yesterday that this blog had run out of storage space! The renovated site should be up in the next 36 hours to rescue us. I'll let you know.
Today's very special once in a hundred years date reminded me oof Highlander's Christopher Lambert. On account of all the #1s.
"There can be only one!"
I assume this mnemonic moment was brought to me by Claire Denis's White Materialwhich I was just watching the other day (in theaters and on IFC on demand) in which he plays Isabelle Huppert's ex-husband who -- I'm not sure if I got the details right because Denis always makes you work for them -- still lives on the African coffee plantation with her (and his new wife and his two wildly contrasted sons from both marriages).
It's crazy enough to live with your ex. When your ex is Isabelle Huppert (she's always trouble) and you're running a plantation in a region that's slipping into violent chaos and the French military are helicoptering out and dropping you survival kits on their way, you are totally off your gourd. Everyone in this movie is insane. But Huppert is contagious like that.
Lambert's presence is an extremely clever bit of casting since the international star already famously embodied everyone's favorite white-man-rules-Africa imperialist fantasy in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan Lord of the Apes. In White Material there is no fantasy unless you count the delirium one can sometimes experience when faced with Huppert's riveting confrontational opacity. You'd expect, given the plot, that her plantation owner Maria is a stubborn delusional but Huppert tilts her closer to the implacably deterministic. She isn't flaunting a death wish so much as a death expectation. Rebel forces and their child soldiers have had it with this "white material" on their land but Maria is staying put. Disturbing movie.
"Manuel" (Nicholas Duvauchelle). Does he get his death wish from his mother?
I can't say I fully connected but I always love Denis's reliable command of atmosphere and I appreciated what Guy Lodge correctly described as "laudably complicated politics". I'm desperately awaiting Nick's full review because his twitter capsule
Agonized and fearless, eerily sympathetic, formally electric, like the last visions of someone being burned alive
...makes me love the movie more in retrospect than when I was watching it. That happens sometimes with the best of film criticism.
Coco Martin (left) is smiling because his career is going so nicely, thank you very much. He employs the savvy modern move of many a contemporary Hollywood star which is to say he alternates between mainstream projects for the fame/money and indie films for the cred. 'One for audiences, one for me' as it were (see also: Clooney, Moore and dozens of American A-listers). The irony for stars outside of the Bollywood and Hollywood mega-systems though is that the "art" or indie projects are really the only way you get fame/money in the international sphere, since that's the stuff that travels and wins international honors in other countries
Coco is the star of the Pinoy Oscar submission Noy which he also co-wrote and co-produced. If you recognize him at all, it's probably as the frequent muse of The Philippines most internationally recognized director Brillante Dante Mendoza for whom he starred in the violent Cannes lauded/loathed Kinatay, the gay DVD hit The Masseur and in Serbis about a troubled family running a porn theater which had a brief US run.
Mendoza has nothing to do with this film, but I bring it up because Coco's next film, a reunion with Brillante Mendoza, is called Captured and will co-star none other than Isabelle Huppert. Talk about reasons for a young actor to smile.
Coco plus Isabelle for lucky man Mendoza
I'm pretty sure I compile the foreign film charts each year mostly due to my OCD with movies. Sadly, with distribution the way it is and the new Academy Best Picture field expanded to 10, one dream of mine will always be a windmill to tilt at. I've always wanted to cover both races head on, as if it's Best English Language Picture vs. Best Picture in a Language Other Than English for some invisible Best of Best Statue within the same Oscar coverage year. But now, even if all of 15 pictures were released in time, which they never are, it'd be a lopsided head on battle, 10 against 5. The symmetry is all ruined even if the sorry state of foreign film distribution hadn't already done the dream in.
Still... in the fantasy movie land inside my head where there are never any time constraints and watching movies happens in the blink of an eye so you can fit dozens into each day without eye strain, I have always hoped to one day place them head to head, like Best Foreign Film Shortlist 1970 vs. Best Picture Shortlist 1970 = which is better? which is the best of the best? Etcetera. Someday...
Austria to France. I've just seen France's entry Of Gods and Men and it's a strong tear wringing contender that handily avoids the treacly by going quiet and meditative to look at the last days of a Christian monastery in an increasingly terror-addled Muslim village. I definitely could see it shortlisted but I'm not sure it's a "winner". France has had difficulty with that in the past 30 years. In fact, since their amazing run in the 1970s -- they won four times in just one decade (!) for The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie, Day for Night, Madame Rosa andGet Our Your Handkerchiefs -- they've only won once. That was for 1992's Indochine which also landed Catherine Deneuve her only nomination. I'm still sad they lost when The Class (2008) was up for the naked gold man. What a brilliant film that was.
But speaking of Indochine (pictured left) it's interesting that virtually all distributors, even the ones who are good at pushing foreign films like Sony Pictures Classics, have forgotten how much more momentum you can gather if you open in the actual calender year and get yourself on top ten lists and in other Oscar category races, too.
I recognize there are holes in this theory. It didn't work for Amélie but you know that year had to have been a squeaker with the Bosnian film No Man's Land just edging it out. And it didn't work for The White Ribbonunless you consider that maybe it wouldn't have even been nominated (not exactly their favorite style of film) if it hadn't been able to build such a huge tidal wave of "masterpiece" citations before they had to vote on the nominees plus a last weekend of December release is hardly a "momentum" date.
But still... I'm hoping at least two of the future nominees find a way to play in theaters before the end of the calendar year instead of waiting for February or March and banking on the elusive Oscar spotlight.
Germany to The Netherlands. Greece's Dogtooth and India's Peepli [Live] have had US releases prior to submission announcements. But they're lonely. While many of the submissions have played at either Toronto or Sundance only three (thus far) have seen the insides of regular movie theaters. The other one is Peru's moving gay drama Contracorriente (Undertow).
Norway to Venezuela. I can't imagine Oscar going for Thailand's absolutely bizarre Uncle Boonmee... having now seen it. But I remain pleased that it's in the mix. That said -- and maybe I'm alone in this -- but I think it's more accessible than Apichatpong Weerathesakul's most succesful export thus far, Tropical Malady so I think it could theoretically nab some attention once it's in theaters. How much and when remains to be seen. (More on "Joe's" filmography here in the "Modern Maestros" series.)
I need help. I have been unable to locate movie posters (I have stills already) and official sites for Iran's Farewell Baghdad, Israel's The Human Resources Manager andMacedonia's Mothers if anyone can provide.
Which country are you rooting for thus far? I've seen but three official submissions thus far (Thailand, France and Peru) and all would make worthwhile or at least solid nominees and in roughly that order of preference... More please! * *
Cele|Bitchy shared cel phone bikini pics of Demi Moore. Gawker, where I first saw these photos in a clueless* article on John Travolta, suggests that Demi is starring in her own real life adaptation of Benjamin Button.
But I think what we're looking at is a Countess Elizabeth Bálthory situation.This 47 year old superlebrity is obviously bathing in the blood of virgins.
I still haven't had an opportunity to see Julie Delpy's horror/bio/period film version of this tale, The Countess. None of the confusing and rare reports of the other film version (the one supposedly featuring Tilda Swinton) seem to give me much hope that it's actually not an elaborate internet delusion. But obviously this story should be able to resonate in our youth obsessed age where 50 is the new 40 and 40 is the new 30 and every single pitch meeting on the West Coat involves vampires.
Might I suggest an I'm Not There / Palindromes style interpretation where all of Hollywood's most mysteriously ageless women get a crack at the role? Or maybe they should just make an omnibus film I ♥ Bathory with, say, a dozen filmmakers doing shorts on the evil Hungarian royal that picked up the vampiric baton from Vlad the Impaler back in the day -- the day being the 16th century.
Three recent film interpretations: Stay Alive (2006), The Countess (2009) and Bathory (2008) starring Anna Friel
But which filmmakers could do that fascinating story justice in short film form? I'm going with Martin Scorsese because he's always a bit more unpredictable when he skews girlie (see Age of Innocence or Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore); Jonathan Glazer because he needs to work more and Birth proves that he knows from eery and disorienting psychology; Lynne Ramsay because some of those shots in Morvern Callar were downright spooky and hallucinatory while still seeming so grounded in mundane realities; Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!) because there are five operas about Báthory and one musical, and I'd love to see how he'd respond to the constraints of a short film.
Obviously I wantthis supposed 2011 version starring Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Huppert but it sounds way too good to be true. I mean, Tilda and Isabelle?! Simultaneously!??? Get real. You don't even need sets or costumes or other actors. You just need a camera since both of those faces just emanate Unknowable Unfathomable Unboring Psychology.
But play my little game anyway. Which director would you like to see making a short film about the 16th century female alleged serial killer / vampire ? Sound off in the comments. Don't even say Tim Burton. I'm warning you!
*Trust me, if this is truly the "worst kept secret" for decades now, Kelly Preston knows. I love that people pretend otherwise. It's so cute and reverse sexist, Hollywood wives as wide eyed innocents. Hee. ♪Money... ♪Money changes everything.
The Awl "10 Reasons Why You Should Give Me One More Chance This Weekend" by that bucket of charm "Russell Crowe". (teehee) Go Fug Yourself theorizes that Cate Blanchett stole a White House carpet Go Fug Yourself... and welcomes Cannes crazy with open arms Catalogue of Curiousities "floating heads of doom!" Buzz Sugar the trailer for True Blood Season 3 Mister Hipp "He can take it." I love this illustration of Wolverine. So fun
Towleroad Elton John covering Madonna hits with scandily clad go go boys. What the hell? Towleroad my weekly column The Portland Mercury hilarious movie marquee. Poor Terrence Howard A Socialite's Life Christina Ricci to join Laura Linney on Broadway in September. Interesting Playbill Antonio Banderas returning to Broadway for Kander & Ebb's Zorba Empire strangest bedfellows ever: Charlie Kaufman + Kung Fu Panda /Film yes I've heard about the duleing Monroe biopics: Naomi Watts vs. Michelle Williams. Just haven't mentioned them yet since they kinda deserve a whole big post. Later. Have patience.
Finally, PopEater says goodbye to Law & Order (just cancelled) with a opening credits mashup of all casts from the franchise. I know people are sad that the original flagship series is going bye-bye. But puhleze. It lives on in 3 spinoffs and endless syndication like some unholy hydra beast. I will never be able to escape it. You've won, television my nemesis, you've won! I thank the original L&O for keeping my Broadway babies fed and in rent payments... but otherwise I kick it to the curb. See, I don't think I can take one more Linus Roache or Dianne Wiest situation wherein some gargantuan talent hides their magnificence under that particular bushel. The next great that the series plans to taint is... Isabelle Huppert. Je pleure.
My general rule of thumb is that I don't talk about television on this cinema blog unless...
a) I can't help myself (Glee, Buffy) b) it is connected to cinematic interests (Mad Men, Sex & The City) or... c) it involves major film actresses
For today's small screen detour, we're talking "c". I watch Damages semi-religiously but I don't love it -- I curse you DVR! you made tv too easy for me -- and I think I've finally pinpointed why. The show is completely intimidated by its Star Actress.
Not that "two-time Oscar winning Gle"-- sorry, uh, "five-time Oscar NOMINATED Glenn Close" is not an intimidating force. She absolutely is. Have you seen what she can do to bunnies, dogs, and pfeiffers?
But Damages creative team seem to live in mortal fear of crossing her path. Every scene and plot development seems to tiptoe up to some big risky "in-your-face-Patty!" throwdown before it scampers away frightened. The way they construct both its rogues gallery and its elaborate plots boils down to the often non-riveting fact that Patty Hewes is an indestructable all-knowing amoral demi-god and everyone else is mere mortal.
For all of Damage's timidity in giving Hewes a true antagonist. -- Rose Byrne's "Ellen" has her moments but doesn't totally work when positioned this way -- you'd think the show would be more terrified to stare directly at Close's Medusa gaze. To make the show as riveting as it thinks it is, they need to focus on this fact: for all the staring matches, they have not yet turned to stone. Glenn Close will not destroy them if they fuck with her a little.
Last week's Close's strongest scene backs up my assertion. The actress nearly found a new note to play when confronted with a disturbing fact (involving her son) that her character was unaware of. Patty, you see, is never The Last To Know. The gap between what Patty always projects (absolute power and relentless determination toward End Goal) and Patty deciding what to project and how to get there without either of those fallbacks was delicious. The show needs a lot more of these gaps in its personality constructs.
Glenn Close is not going to be ignored... but neither, I don't think, would she mind a worthy acting opponent. I hoped, when I first heard that Lily Tomlin would play the Tobin matriarch that they'd make her Patty's arch-enemy. Instead the role, to this point, has been merely an above average take on a teary entitled widow.
I've included an entirely unrelated photo of Lily with Meryl just to make sure you're still reading. Aren't they cute?
I don't think Glenn Close has an equal in the intimidating factor -- unless they really thought outside the box and recruited someone foreign / frosty like a Isabelle Huppert type -- but drama doesn't need its protagonist and antagonist to be total mirrors. That's just one way to do it. Season 2 nearly found the right formula. The blithe carnality of Marcia Gay Harden (see previous post) was a smart, intriguing and non-reflective match for Close's blunt dominance. How, after all, would Patty stare down an opponent that wasn't staring back but checking her hair and talking in hushed sensual tones to everyone but Patty? Strangely though, the show decided not to truly pit the opposing councils against each other. Such a shame.
Should Glenn get another crack at Damages (a 4th season is up in the air), who should take a crack at her gorgon lawyer? Do you share my concerns about the show's imbalance... or do you merely despair that so many great actresses bolt the large screen for the small? *
The Classics NY Times Douglas McGrath demands a special Oscar for Doris Day. Time to give her her due Film Art "Tell, Don't Show" David Bordwell examines a great scene with Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson in Persona to illustrate the power of extended monologues Gawker Susan Sarandon shtupping the ping pong kid? The Independent Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds is still the top celebrity scent. Talk about staying power. La Liz has been raking in the dough from that single career move for almost 20 years now. How many diamonds has she bought with the haul? I Need My Fix "Cher (!) Films Burlesque"... though be warned. 'Fix' gets the headline all fucked up and adds several letters inbetween "Ch" and "r"... confusing the true story here: CHER ! Making a movie again. Style List Catherine Deneuve's 60's era magnificence is still inspiring fashionistas
The Now contact music Toni Collette to be honored by Nicole Kidman at a special Aussie Expat event in LA on Golden Globe weekend LA Times Julianne Moore, still hoping for Oscar nom #5, says you should never take employment for granted Huffington Post I avoid the People's Choice Awards like the Bubonic plauge but Nicole Kidman looked so good. What ever possessed her to stay blonde for so long? So glad the red is hangin on Pop MattersBig Love returns. It's Amanda Seyfried's last season. Sissy Spacek is guest starring
The Stage London Travel Julie Andrews is doing a one-off show this summer Theater Mania and Isabelle Huppert is doing Streetcar in Paris in the spring. I expect a full report from one of you French readers. Comprenez-vous?
In the years I've been documenting Oscar's once largely undocumented foreign film category, we've seen the number of players creep up virtually every year, despite the concurrent dwindling of foreign film distribution in the United States. In 2001 for example when I first began tracking it and sharing the info online, there were 51 official submissions for Best Foreign Language Film. Last year there were 67. For the 2009 Oscar race (the submission deadline has now passed) we've now heard from 62 countries. But that doesn't mean the official list will only be 62 films. In the eight years I've been documenting this race, something always changes between the submission deadline and Oscar's official announcement of the list (coming soon): Films are disqualified, last minute switcheroos happen, countries that didn't make noise when they first submitted are revealed. There will be drama... albeit the mostly invisible kind.
You can see more about these 62 entries (cast, posters, miscellania) on the super comprehensive charts at The Film Experience
We'll have a lot more once things are "official" but here's a few early topics to think about...
Clockwise from top left: Albania's Alive, Luxembourg's Réfractaire, Czech Republic's Protektor, Macedonia's Wingless and Iran's About Elly
World War II Fetish World War II is to "Best Foreign Language Film" what Disabilities are to "Best Actor" and what DeGlam is to "Best Actress" and what Longsuffering Spouse is to "Supporting Actress"; the juiciest of bait for AMPAS taste buds. So we have to suspect that the following five films have a tiny boost in the competition: Norway's Max Manus, Luxembourg's Réfractaire (with Love Songs' breakout young star Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), the Czech Republic's Protektor, Slovakia's Broken Promise and Slovenia's Landscape No. 2 which you can actually already rent from Netflix.
The Stars Having a recognizable face in your movie can sometimes put you on a voter's good side. They are only human and who among us isn't won over (at least initially) by the presence of a familiar well loved face? Switzerland's Home has the great Isabelle Huppert, Italy's Baaria has Raoul Bova, China's operatic biopic Forever Enthralled has Ziyi Zhang, Mexico's Backyard (see previous post) has Jimmy Smits, Argentina's The Secret in Their Eyes AND Spain's The Dancer and the Thief both star Ricardo Darin.
Clockwise from top left:China's Forever Enthralled, Switzerland's Home, Argentina's The Secret in Their Eyes and Romania's Police, Adjective
Critical Darlings Oscar has been rejiggering the rules in this category in a number of ways these past few years to try and curb the animosity that they often engender in the press when they skip extremely well-regarded foreign films like Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Critical raves and festival prizes are no guarantee but contrary to the protestations of disgruntled cinephiles, they do not hurt.
Films that already have an enviable pool of well wishers include Germany's The White Ribbon from Michael Haneke (who was invited to join the Academy two years back), France's Un Prophete, Canada's I Killed My Mother, Australia's Samson and Delilah, Greece's Dogtooth, Korea's Mother and Romania's Police, Adjective.
You can argue that some of these pictures are anti-Bait... but let's be fair: the Academy can and does surprise. Sometimes they go against their grain and embrace the violently confrontational (Mexico's Amores Perros), the unusually risque (Austria's Revanche) or the utterly alien (Finland's The Man Without a Past). Anything can happen even if Anything usually doesn't.
Today is Emmanuelle Béart's 46th birthday. Here she is to your left earlier this summer with another Gallic great Isabelle Huppert. Huppert is still an arthouse draw in the states but it seems like it's been ages since Béart made it to our screens in any significant way. There's been a teensy run here and there (Strayed, The Witnesses) but the last film that won any real attention was 8 Women (2002) also starring Huppert... and Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant and Ludivine Sagnier. Mon dieu, je l'aime!
The last time I remember hearing other Americans talk about Béart was in college in the early to mid90s when Béart had that critically acclaimed run of Un Couer en Hiver (Cesar nom), L'Enfer, A French Woman and Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (Cesar nomination) but international stardom is a tough thing to maintain for anyone, no matter how beautiful or talented. Exceedingly rare are the Hupperts and Deneuves who can hold on to it with a steel grip all their lives.
Béart often gets wet in photoshoots, non?
She's not French but look at the career of Franka Potente? How the hell did she not stay as famous as she was in the late 90s after Run Lola Run? She was just as riveting to watch in The Princess and the Warrior even if the film wasn't as good and she more than held her own in The Bourne Identity. Makes you wonder what will become of Gael Garcia Bernal, Audrey Tatou, Marion Cotillard in ten years time. Hasn't Zhang Ziyi essentially disappeared already?
<--- The star with her husband, french actor Michael Cohen.
Béart first won my heart as skinny dipping Manon, the youthful goddess of Manon of the Spring. That movie made me bawl. I remember being greatly confused that Jean de Florette (the preface) and Manon (the conclusion) weren't nominated at the Oscars. That epic two-parter had to make due with Globe and BAFTA attention -- though I knew nothing of the other awards back then so the honors were lost on me. I was so obsessed with Jean/Manon that I even bought the soundtrack and used to sing along with the theme song phonetically. What was I singing about? I didn't know but assuming it was a hymn to Béart was good enough for me.
Here is the original trailer to Manon and a recent French cel phone commercial (creepy or funny?) starring the famous beauty.
Where would you rank Béart in the pantheon of French goddesses? And which young French actress are you obsessed with? I mean, besides Ludivine Sagnier who I'll assume you love? If not, don't tell me otherwise!
[If you aren't familiar with Béart or maybe just beginning to fall in love with French cinema, Netflix has 21 of Béart's movies. Lots to choose from.]
S'appelle Rosengje. She's a regular commenter and sometime contributor -- she covered ShoWest for us -- and she's in the South of France for Cannes and has graciously agreed to share her thoughts.
She relays quickly that Cannes is overwhelming and crazy (so we have absorbed though we have never been....sniffle) but here are her notes from the premiere. More to follow
I had the pleasure of seeing the Cannes opening ceremony and the premiere of Up in the Grand Theatre Lumiere. After watching Tilda Swinton dominate the red carpet and Isabelle Huppert give a delightful introduction (in French!) as jury president, the film started. I had previously seen, and loved, the first 47 minutes at ShoWest. The rest of the film did not disappoint.
The highlight of Up remains the poignant, largely silent, opening montage that chronicles main character Carl Fredrickson's life with his wife Ellie. Carl and Ellie dreamed of being explorers and filling books with their adventures, but the daily struggles of life inevitably got in the way.
After her death, Carl becomes determined to fulfill his promise to Ellie and embarks on an unlikely adventure with a young boy named Russell. Despite offering a poignant, whimsical film experience, Up ultimately does not measure up to the lofty standards set by WALL•E.
That was always going to be a tough act to follow, yes. Will Rosengje's opinion be the consensus? If so, that's a very similar reaction to the last Pixar picture ('the first 40 minutes are the best!'). Some minor spoilers in this next bit so skip ahead if you don't want to know anything.
This can be attributed to the film's determination to combine elements of both art-house fare and mainstream family-friendly releases. This decision makes the film accessible and immediately funny, but provokes some awkward juxtapositions. Carl and Russell are supported by a large animal crew that eventually includes a large bird and a pack of dogs outfitted with collars that allow them to speak. Toward the film's conclusion, director Pete Docter movingly reprises the opening snapshot motif. The result led to quite a few audience members having to lift their nifty 3D glasses to wipe away tears. Unfortunately, the scene is quickly followed by a prolonged action sequence that while visually stunning relies on several animal cliches. The dogs are frequently distracted by squirrels and treats in a manner that is sweetly amusing but tonally contradicts the preceding emotional material.
end spoilers
I loved the movie and am confident it will be a huge success at home and abroad. I do believe, however, that the disparity between Pixar's visual sophistication and the expectations of family films will prove increasingly problematic in understanding and assessing their releases.
Up also represents the first film that has truly impressed me with the use of 3D. Docter deployed 3D to strategically create connections with the material rather than to create mere shock value. The images will alternately flatten and expand to heighten emotional tension. The film demonstrates that the technology need not be a gimmick when used effectively, a trend James Cameron will hopefully confirm later this year with Avatar.
Readers, how anxious are you to take that balloon ride with Carl Fredrickson and do you even care if Up falls just short of WALL•E -- maybe you considered that a ridiculously high altitude to worry about. Are you still waiting to be impressed by 3D or are you already there? *
Cannes knows how to pick them. Isabelle Huppert will head the 2009 Cannes Jury. Last year's estimable panel, headed by Sean Penn, contained two actresses, two actor/directors and three directors. If the collection is similar this year, who will have the honor of sitting beside her? Will they be frightened for their very souls?
Now, one never knows which actors are expert at judging the craft of acting and filmmaking (criticism being an entirely different skill than creation ... one only has to look at SAG's often horrible taste in "best" to see this dichotomy) but Huppert has an undeniably rare gift and such a thrilling distinct persona that it's amazing just to fantasize about her all godless, gorgeous and cerebral ... peering stone-faced down her freckled nose at the shivering anxious movies. Isabelle the destroyer. But what will she love? [src] oh yes, the links... Self Styled Siren a fine piece on Douglas Sirk and... Revolutionary Road? Film Ick Hugh Jackman, no stranger to stage musicals, is still not transferring it to screen. He won't be starring in Soderbergh's 3D rock musical Cleo after all. Brendon thinks this is a mistake. Dave Kehr with the list on the 25 movies added to the National Film Registry for 2008. The list doesn't magistically preserve the titles for all postery (shame) but it's an honor suggesting that they merit preservation. Titles include In Cold Blood (see Nick's guest review), Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar and five silent goodies including Foolish Wives... Lazy Eye Theater "Robert Rodriguez, you son of a bitch" Cinephiliac pulls its own plug (just moved to GreenCine) with the top 30 of 2008 MTV John Travolta's teenage son has died. How very sad. Our hearts go out to the family. Valley Dreamin' says finis to the "Endings Blog-a-Thon" with 22 articles wrapping things up. THE END. *
Let's venture where few actors dare to go... or stay, rather. Many thespians go to strange places onscreen but few remain in those outer regions for several films in a row or radiate that quite naturally as a celebrity. This list is dedicated to Angelina Jolie who used to be magnetically weird despite her beauty but is now a classy world-famous humanitarian and earth mother. Shame.
Top Ten Weirdo Actors
This list does not include Tom Cruise because.... too easy.
10 Rossy DePalma -She's not the only bizarre looking person on the list but she's the only one who is here because of how strange the mug is. And yet it's made for the screen, too, don't you think? So pleased that Almodovar has cast her for the sixth time (She'll be in his 2009 feature Broken Hugs. I like to think of this director/muse pair as the modern Spanish counterpart to 70s era Shelley Duvall & Robert Altman. Would Rossy be too much to handle in a lead role? Try Pedro, try.
P.S. Has anyone sniffed her perfume? What ever does it smell like?
09Johnny Depp -I almost didn't include him because of the familiarity. His weirdness is Disney marketable now: cute, safe, beloved. But then again it doesn't feel artificial, or like a costume he puts on for show the way Norma Jean could famously flip her switch to access Marilyn Monroe. One only has to consider how quickly it came to him --his first Burton film (Edward Scissorhands) and the way the delicious 'beautiful people' years with Winona Ryder always had a gothic undercurrent and sense of humor "Wino Forever" -- and that it never left again. Defecting to France, Captain Jack Sparrow, and that sartorial sense that seems to be composed of equal parts 70s pimp, 90s grunge rocker and Batman's The Joker, all of it just underlines the genuine strangeness.
08Isabelle Huppert -She's either the greatest actress who ever lived or she's insane, possibly both. I came to this conclusion after watching The Piano Teacher and 8 Women in short succession. Ma Mére only confirmed it. Please don't leave me alone in a room with her.
07Daniel Day-Lewis-If there is a God and that whole favorite Christian saying 'don't hide your light under a bushel' applies to life in general than God is very mad at DDL for working so infrequently. But he's on this list because he makes his own shoes and because we suspect God is actually more Daniel-Fearing than the other way 'round.
06Tilda Swinton-Subversive. Brilliant. Iconoclastic. Odd in all of the most inspiring enviable ways. Plus the filmography is to die for ...any artistically bent actor should be green with envy.
05Vincent Gallo. Maybe the people who agree to (ahem) co-star with him are even crazier.
04John Malkovich. Charlie Kauffman, screenwriter extraordinaire, has made many perceptive and bizarrely witty choices in his oeuvre. None are greater than putting a portal inside this actor's head for Being John Malkovich. Sure, you could have creative fun for hours imagining variations of this film with a different name following the Being... [it becomes a whole 'nother film --try it], but no actor could have possibly fit better into the inimitably odd demands of this head trip.
"Malkovich! Malkovitch! Malkovitch!"
03Crispin Glover. Perhaps an obvious choice but even when he goes entirely mainstream (Charlie's Angels or Back to the Future f'rinstance) he's decidedly off. Couldn't quite call myself a "fan" but I do at least cherish all three "Groovin' Larry/Gary"s in The Beaver Trilogy. I seriously do. Have any of you seen it? You won't soon forget it.
02Juliette Lewis. Many actors dream of being rock stars (and vice versa) but Juliette is one of the only ones who does both convincingly. She was a freak from the get go: an emancipated minor at 14, shacking up with Brad Pitt at 17, Bo Derek braids to the Oscars after salaciously sucking Robert DeNiro's thumb in Cape Fear. She's given so many fine and disturbed performances. Her greatest is in Natural Born Killers in which she's both scarier and funnier than Woody Harrelson with her possessed mood switches and jumping bean mayhem. But the rosetta stone to her public persona onscreen is "Faith" in Strange Days (1995), in which she gives half of a great performance, seems a little wasted and is also possessed by rock n roll dreaming while she's channeling PJ Harvey on stage.
She's one of a kind. Why is Hollywood so scared to use her properly? She's only 34 but she hasn't had a decent movie role since 2000. Get with it casting directors. Time is a wastin'.
01Christopher Walken. Whether he's imagining deadly car crashes with numb conviction (Annie Hall), playing Russian roulette (The Deer Hunter), dancing in an empty hotel in one of the best music videos ever made (Weapon of Choice), sexing up John Travolta (Hairspray), or badly in need of dental hygiene (Sleepy Hollow) he's always defiantly joyfully weird. Well done.
Would love to hear your lists. Obviously oddity is in the eye of the beholder. There were many others I almost included instead like Sharon Stone [check this out. tee hee] or any proselytizing Scientologists. There's a whole other list to be made of faux-weird ...people we suspect may be deeply and utterly suburban despite outward appearances to the contrary.
if you're here for the first time and you read blogs through a service, please consider subscribing. More weirdness to come. Not so directly mind you... But this blog sells its own crazy
Don't you think that all screen kisses involving Isabelle Huppert should begin with both actors getting utterly filthy?
Then again, perhaps they already do...
"human drama is inevitable. suffering cannot be diminished." "existence is a cruel joke that entices in a form of desire." "there are unique moments when two people share the deep sorrow of existence." "do not defile it with cliché. it is unnameable." -Caterine Vaubanisms
[* please note: The Boyfriend is from that rare anomalous breed of humans who refuse to name their favorites or make hierarchal lists of any sort. Freakish, right? These two actors are thus selected from frequency of random comments made and likelihood of his desire to see a movie in which either one of them appear. Only Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Huppert appear to be rivals of any sort to their top draw status. -the editor]
[* please note: The Boyfriend is from that rare anomalous breed of humans who refuse to name their favorites or make hierarchal lists of any sort. Freakish, right? These two actors are thus selected from frequency of random comments made and likelihood of his desire to see a movie in which either one of them appear. Only Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Huppert appear to be rivals of any sort to their top draw status. -the editor]
