Link Reactor

Salon "Superheroes Suck" a great piece on the problematic popular genre by Matt Zoller Seitz
Atlantic "3 Things Glee Does Wrong" an excellent take on the chinks in Glee's delightful armor. Are you listening show runners? This is spot on
i09 The villain of Iron Man 2 is Tony Stark. Discuss
The Hollywood Reporter a porn biopic for Lindsay Lohan. This could either be the comeback of "yes I can act" or a very very bad move. Hard to tell


Film Freak Central "the perils of Dirk the Daring" wow. i was just thinking about this 80s cartoon videogame the other day.
The Playlist first pic of Chloe Moretz as the vampire in the misbegotten remake Let Me In
Deadline NY Kristen Wiig options Clown Girl. Sounds intriguing
fourfour 'old people getting high' a gif wall from It's Complicated
i09 production art and casting demands for John Carter of Mars

Finally, you really should read this heinous homophobic article on Newsweek about the inability of gay actors to sell straight roles. Yeah, I guess Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift and god knows how many others never gave any performances that were worth a damn. The article is mostly about today's out actors and it does them a terrible disservice. Where's the respect? Make sure to read the comments section though. The ever wonderful Kristen Chenoweth shows up to tell Newsweek what's what about her gay co-stars and gay actors in general.

She and Him. The Cuteness of Zjoooey

It occurs to me that The Cute Hierarchy must be adjusted yet again to honor the most adorable screen couple of 2009: Zjoooey. I hereby dedicate this week of blogging to them!

"Why do you let me stay here?"

The summer gem (500) Days of Summer wasn't quite enough to unsettle the top tiers of cute. But once combined with the force of their dance moves in the She and Him video (above), small animals with ginormous eyes everywhere were quaking in fear in 2009. So Much Cuteness. Who can compete?

The other big shakeup: After decades in the top ten, chipmunks finally fall off the list altogether, their plump cheeked reputation forever tarnished by Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel [shudder]

1. baby kittens
holding down the top position since 1938 when Shirley Temple was vanquished
2. dolphins (+8)
they're all the rage again

3. puppies
4. baby seals
5. babies
6. otters (-4)
7. cupcakes
8. bunnies
9. WALL•E's Hello Dolly obsession (+5)
10. Hugh Dancy (new entry)

11. dimples
12. baby ducks in a line following their mama (-3)
13. Zjooey
14. unexpected gifts from loved ones
15. Australian accents
16. rainbows
17. Carey Mulligan (especially in the rain) (+6)
18. "The Lonely Goatherd" (+12)
what? Sound of Music was on the tube the other day



19. Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street (+30 ...typical holiday spike)
20. screwball comedy
21. pomeranians
22. bunny slippers
23. Meryl Streep and Steve Martin smoking weed (new entry)

24. Amy Adams (-11)
25. ice cream cones

What Did You See Over Christmas?

Spent the weekend with food, friends and a stack of DVDs. At the movie theater I tried to see Avatar a second time but failed (I'm holding out for the IMAX experience but it's eternally sold out... at least for people like me who don't plan things weeks in advance). We went to Sherlock Holmes since you have to see a movie with friends and family on Christmas day. It's tradition. And judging on the box office results (biggest Christmas weekend ever) I assume that's tradition for just about everyone.

1. Avatar $75 (for a $212 total)
   It's already earned over $600 million worldwide so it looks like they won't lose their shirts, even with that unthinkably monstrous budget. The world's most important question [cough] right now is this: Will James Cameron make us wait 12 more years for his 9th film? And will it be a sequel to this one? He does like the number 2s. If I were him I'd be figuring out a way to speed up. You don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. How about mixing it up with one for the fans and one for yourself? His gap between films used to be only three years. Unsolicited advice for Cameron: Have dinner with Soderbergh, Allen and Eastwood and ask for tips on how to start filming your next movie before you've finished post on your current one while also writing the next next one.
   
2. Sherlock Holmes $65.3
   I had a gay old time. But something was missing... just can't quite figure out what. It wasn't the chemistry between Jude & RDJ which was very much present. The score was also top notch, the best from Hans Zimmer in quite some time, yes?


3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel $50.2


4. It's Complicated $22.1
   People aren't talking about this since the top two are hogging the attention but this is Meryl Streep's third best headliner opening ever. (After Mamma Mia and The Devil Wears Prada, her two biggest hits if you don't adjust for inflation). There's just no stopping her.
   
   
   I have this theory that you can tell how well a star is loved by how little they're defaced in the subways. Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts etcetera... their faces never last long without "cosmetic adjustments" from sharpie carrying haters. Meryl Streep on the other hand often goes untouched. Respect! I was surprised to see this billboard scribbled on but the jokesters are just dissing Alec Baldwin and making reference to his various wife/daughter troubles over the years. Doesn't it seem like a million years ago when people hated Alec Baldwin for being a jerk? 30 Rock sure changed public perceptions. The charming lived charmed lives, don't you think?
   
5. Up in the Air $11.7 (for a $24.5 total)
   
6. The Blind Side $11.7 (for a $184.3 total)
   My god. This film lost over 600 screens and it was still up 17% in its sixth week. Sandra is totally going to take this past $200 million. Unbelievable. Why on earth is this such a sensation?
   
7. The Princess and the Frog $8.6 (for a $63.3 total)


8. Nine $5.5 (for a $5.9 total)
   This film cost $80 million to make. I fear for the musical genre. Hollywood forgives action flops and flops from big male stars all the time. But I'm not sure they'll forgive this any more than they forgive flops from female stars. They like to draw immediate unpleasant and untrue conclusions in those instances so I imagine we'll hear a round of "no one likes musicals! we're not making any more musicals!" panic. I still adamantly believe that this would have made more money opening for Thanksgiving as originally intended when the competition wasn't so insane and the buzz was still fresh. But it's also a "problem" musical in terms of the difficulty of transferring it from stage to screen.
   
9. Did You Hear About the Morgans? $5 (for a $15.5 total)
   
10. Invictus $4.3 (for a $23.3 total)
    More on this one tomorrow.

What did you see?

Nine (my review)? Avatar (previous posts)? Morgan Freeman giving good speech in Invictus? Meryl getting high in It's Complicated? Or Jude & Robert flirtatiously bickering in Sherlock Holmes? If you saw the thing with the chipmunks instead of any of these, just lie about it in the comments. No one will ever now... it's the internet!
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A Brief Conversation About AVATAR

Joe Reid: "Only a biased and out of touch voting body would ignore this film." Take it down a notch, Awards Daily, damn. I'm not going to be able to endure the Avatar aftermath, am I?


Nick Davis: The antidote is to drink pure champagne for 2 hours, which is what it's like to watch Meryl Streep in It's Complicated. Yay!

The other antidote will be if Avatar is actually as good as people are suddenly saying.

Joe: My fear is, after these reviews, anything can be as good as they're saying.

Nick: Off to that movie where Matt Damon takes off his rugby shirt, and thereby heals a nation.

Katey Rich: I am about to see Avatar. I will give you the only opinion you need on whether or not this movie is good. OBEY ME.

Joe: Godspeed! I'm sorry your eyeballs will never be the same!

Katey: It's not just my eyeballs. CINEMA will never be the same!

Joe: That's right! In that case, have fun at the Avaglomb!

[3 hours later]

Nathaniel R: My eyeballs are DEFINITELY not the same. But I suspect that has a little more to do with the fact that I chased a Darphin Facial with a 3hour 3D movie than the quality of said movie. My eyes have been red, puffy and runny ever since. I think some errant oils and oxygenating serums entered them.

As for the movie: Wha...Uhhhhaa-oooh! whahuhOOHHHhhhAAARGHhhh WHOO ai'yi'yi' Yeehaw (heh) SNIFFLEaAAAHHHhhhhHHTa-da!

Yes, that was my review.

Katey: Can my review just be one of those Na'vi "ai yi yi!" battle cries? I loved it. Cameron and his warrior women forever.


Joe: Wow. Well that did it. My expectations have officially been raised. God help me.

Katey: Oscar has to go for it, right?

Nathaniel: I am going to say a tentative "yes" on Oscar going for it. And now my dream of an ex-husband / ex-wife faceoff for the first time in any category can see the light of day!

Katey: I am SO excited about Bigelow vs. Cameron. Maybe I'm secretly an Us Weekly editor?

Joe: There could NOT be a better time for me to pitch my Linda Hamilton/Suzy Amis remake of "Thelma & Louise"!

Nick: Y'all are crazy. I did get my Avatar ticket for next Friday this morning, before spending four hours with Matt, Morgan, a princess, and a frog. My eyeballs are definitely still the same.
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Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to Host the Oscars

Well, that drama was shortlived. I rather like the idea of two very funny men, who've already worked together, hosting the Oscars. It does set up a rather unusual circumstance for the big night, though. It's not often that the the movie industry's biggest night feels like one movie is sponsoring the show in which they aren't allowed to advertise. But this year one movie essentially will.


Meryl Streep has to choose between Steve and Alec in It's Complicated. But Oscar doesn't have to choose. He'll take both men. And Meryl too, possibly... if it would like to renew those vows it made back in 1982.
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The First Movie Named After a Facebook Status?

For months we called Streep's Christmas release "The Untitled Nancy Meyers Film". That's not as catchy as the final title It's Complicated but it was infinitely more descriptive.



With the trailer's music choices, subdued beige palette, familiar typecast faces (hi, Rita Wilson), and smiley/laughy (but not particularly funny) vibe this appears to be a grade G generic romantic comedy. We'll see. As previously noted, Meryl Streep can carry rather unfortunate films on her shoulders without breaking a sweat and still give the audience a good time. This trailer makes me nostalgic for Something's Gotta Give. That earlier Meyers movie won much favor and critical leeway upon its release by simply reminding people how much they loved a particular star (Diane Keaton). It was in the air and nobody else had given it voice. No such kindly revelation is possible this time. Streep is as ubiquitous a face as possible -- no one has forgotten how they feel about her, one way or the other -- so I doubt the numbers will be quite as big.

"Turns out, I'm a bit of a slut"
-Jane (Meryl Streep) in It's Complicated

If Streep-Mania continues at a full clip through the end of the year, expect to see her end the year with two more big hits under her belt but only one awards horse (Julia & Julia, my review) . Since both of her 2009 films are comedies, she won't be able to swing a second consecutive double Globe nomination after the Mamma Mia! and Doubt twinner for 2008. Not that Streep is exactly lacking in the Globe department. With 23 nominations and six wins she's the all time Globe champ.

Do you think she's got a seventh win coming in January?
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