The Freshlink 15

<--- USA Today Zoinks. It's the first official pics of Natalie Portman in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. ♥
Journalistic Skepticism Luke reviews the entire 1990s in Best Actress. I'd do this myself if I didn't have 141 other ongoing movie projects to worry about. I'm overscheduled, I am. [Sigh]
The Big Picture M. Night Shyamalan thinks that the cynical view of his career (that his movies are getting worse and worse) will be "eradicated" by history. Even more alarming: he says he would kill himself if he thought his movies were getting worse. Oh M. Night. Self awareness and self critique is necessary to growth as an artist. If you think you're incapable of bad work, you're bound to do bad work.
Some Came Running Ellen Page is an early riser.
Towleroad I'm incredibly disappointed in writer/director Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex, Happy Endings) and his comments on gay actors playing straight "distracting." He wins some points by using straights playing gays as his prime examples of this off-sexuality distraction (I mean, if you're going to be stupid about what acting is, be stupid in both directions! Thanks) but his own words are so hypocritical since he always has gay characters in his movies and always hires straight actors to play them. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies and the gay community is certainly proof of that in the movie business.
Lazy Circle on The Atlantic's piece on celebrity scandal, tougher on women (like Lindsay Lohan) than men (Mel Gibson). I can't get behind any piece (The Atlantic's) that calls Elizabeth Taylor a joke, though. La Liz is legendary. Those who laugh at her have very little understanding of her epic wing in Hollywood's mansion.
I Need My Fix shares a Goop item, a heartfelt piece from Bryce Dallas Howard on post-partum depression
Serious Film Come back Charlie Kauffman


off cinema
I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing on event television and a real life event. A must read.
Playbill Barack Obama's tribute to Broadway. Love the Mel Brooks quote that musicals "blow the dust off your soul."
Backstage|Blogstage Maybe the all things Mad Men fever has finally jumped the shark... or at least driven over someone's foot with a lawnmower. Of of my favorite recurring bit players has posed for Playboy recreating old 60s pinups.
Movie|Line Have you been reading the Emmy Spotlight here? It's fun. I had totally forgotten about that Gossip Girl themed 30 Rock episode. When I die I want to leave something in my will for Jane Krakowski because she's given me so much raucous laughter in my life.

daily Inception freakout
EW's Owen Gleiberman says he doesn't "get" Inception. And then proceeds to describe it in thorough detail indicating that he totally got it but just didn't like it very much. Yet his constant "I didn't get it" apologetic refrains invite everyone -- sometimes literally -- to disregard his points. Who does Owen Gleiberman think he is? A Democratic politician. Find your backbone!
FourFour Rich (who hated the movie) has a conversation with a friend (who loved it). It's all very interesting but even Rich, who is totz brilliant, falls for the "didn't get it" hedging, before saying lots of smart things indicating that he got it.


I still sorta like the movie (I initially gave it a B and this intermittently glowing review) but the things I did dislike about it such as the entire character of Ariadne (Ellen Page), the literal mindedness of a dream movie, and the direction/editing of some of the action sequences keep bothering me and the things I liked about it (the 'man as builder' vertical aesthetic, the team dynamic, the zero gravity bits, the f/x, the Tom Hardy) aren't totally compensating.

My point is this: I'm glad that someone made a movie that is inspiring this much discussion but I will yet be driven mad by the dynamic of weird hyperbole vs. embarassed apologies embedded in seemingly all Inception conversations. I am sending Nolan my next therapy bill.

Finally
Have you tried this "35 Movies in 2 Minutes" short? It's whimsic-hypnotic but I have to admit I didn't even get half of them on the first run through. Try it.

35mm from Pascal Monaco on Vimeo.

Krak Addiction. It Ain't Cheap

One of the great frustrations of living in NYC whilst loving theater and cabaret is that these artforms are really only meant for the rich. They're not populist like the movies. But the heart wants what it wants and we love what we love and some of us love things that are shamefully disproportionate to our socioeconomic status.

One of my favorite performers and yours* Jane Krakowski (3o Rock) is doing a show at Feinsteins at the Regency and OF COURSE I want to go. But despite my Krak addiction, I am hesitant. There's this...


So it's $71.86 to hear Jane sing PLUS a $40 food & drink (minimum) PLUS tax and tip on that food and drink minimum -- and if you have an entree and two drinks that's well over $40 -- which means by the end of the night you're out $129.99 and up easy.

I'm tempted to go anyway because this is Jane Krakowski we're talking about. But for that price the TONY winning, Evan Rachel Wood licking, Jude Law servicing, 30 Rock gutbuster better reprise her Nine role (before Penélope Cruz steals it away in the movie).

I'd stay on hold for days for these 'Call(s) from the Vatican'

What I'm saying is that if I'm expected to fork over $129.99, Jane Krakowski better end her set hanging upside down naked over my table performing "Call From the Vatican". That way we can duet on the orgasmic squeal that caps that delicious award-winning number and I'll feel like it's $129.99 well spent.

*I'm just assuming you have good taste

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.
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A Call From the Vatican

I wish my distractions were as delicious as Guido's in the musical Nine... beautiful actresses on every side, serenading me.

Jane Krakowski's TONY winning show-stopper "A Call From the Vatican"
Penélope Cruz will be interpreting this for the movie version

Oh wait! Those are my distractions. The nuts and bolts of tabulating all the submissions for this Actress Psychic Contest are keeping me quite busy. I know my own Oscar predictions for 2009 are due but the delays can't be helped. Other duties call as well. None of them are as welcome as Jane Krakowski (sigh). Posting will be light tomorrow. Collective Prediction and details will be up Thursday night / Friday morning. I'll aim for a big weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Coochie coochie coochie coo...
I've got a plan for what I'm gonna do to you

Seven For Nine

Hot damn!

[img src ~ better quality but smaller image here]

It's Dame Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Marion "Piaf" Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Fergie, the Goddess Kidman and Goldie Hawn's daughter for Rob Marshall's film version of Nine.

If I weren't so excited for another big studio/big budget film musical I'd nitpick that this looks like a lost still from Chicago. But who can express reservation whilst trembling with actressexual fervor*? The best thing about Nine the stage musical (adapted from Federico Fellini's autobiofantastical 8½) is the circus of women surrounding film director Guido and even with Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido Contini, the best thing about the movie will surely be this circle of divas.

Awards history:
Oscar speculation fanatics who aren't familiar with this musical should know that the show-stopping parts from the stage show belong to Cruz as Guido's horny mistress Carla (this was a TONY award winning role in the Broadway revival for the delicious Jane Krakowski) and Dench as legendary showgirl Liliane la Fleur (a TONY award winning role in the original production and a nominated role in the revival). Another reason why Cruz may be the one to watch: Carla gets not one but two of the show's best songs "A Call from the Vatican" and "Simple". Nicole Kidman plays Guido's actress muse Claudia. In a potential pop culture explosion she'll duet with the other Tom Cruise ex on "Simple". Kidman also gets the show's most haunting ballad "A Very Unusual Way". One final note: Oscar's obsession with long-suffering wives in the Supporting Actress category could put Marion Cotillard (Luisa Contini) into play as well. Fellini's 8½ was nominated for 6 Oscars but none for its cast.

Here's Antonio Banderas as Guido @ the Tony Awards and Chita Rivera as Liliane on Broadway. Just reimagine these numbers with Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench


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*Among those who can nitpick are commenters at DListed. One of whom quips

This movie looks like its about a bunch of vampire hookers.

It's not... but let's get that movie made too, mmmkay?
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Whatever Lola Wants...

My Krak(owski) addiction is acting up again since I took in the NY City Center production of Damn Yankees over the holiday weekend. The ridiculously talented Jane Krakowski dares invite comparison to the legendary Gwen Verdon ...and survives.

For those of you too young to know about Gwen Verdon, she was Bob Fosse's chief muse (Leland Palmer plays a version of her in Fosse's auto-biopic All That Jazz, 1979 --click for my retrospective). She created Lola for the stage and transferred her to the screen as well in the 1958 movie musical. Damn Yankees is a comic spin on Faust wherein a crazed baseball fan makes a deal with the devil to help his beloved losing baseball team beat the Yankees. "Lola" is the devil's #1 home-wrecking right hand girl. It's essentially a supporting role but the kind of supporting role that dominates a show. Lola gets the most and the best numbers. Jane Krakowski was working her ass off throughout the new production (running until July 27th), and having a ball with the complicated Fosse choreography.

The production isn't without its rough patches [cough* Sean Hayes is horrible. He can't decide whether to do "JUST JACK" or not ] but the ensemble is great. Cheyenne Jackson plays the Hell bound baseball star and his voice is in better shape than ever. Jane, though, was the dazzling bright spot of the show. She's making a habit of that even if she isn't getting the A list fame her entertaining generosity warrants. She was always a treat on Ally McBeal as "Elaine" working innumerable varations and vulnerability into what would have been a one note role. And then there was Nine, (pictured right) in which she brought down the house with her cooing orgasmic rendering of "Call From the Vatican". The movie version (coming next year --more on that very soon) is going strictly A list in casting. Penélope Cruz snagged Jane's TONY winning role. We know Cruz can do sexy but there's no way her singing is as good. And can she make her seduction wickedly funny as well as sizzling hot? She'll need to bring her Volver A game if she hopes to stop the show movie.

Can Penélope Cruz make seduction hilarious?

Anyway, just for fun here's a very old video of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon discussing "Whatever Lola Wants" and performing some of it too.

Whatever Lola wants...
Lola gets
And little man, little Lola wants you!

How about Nathaniel. Can Nathaniel get what he wants? It's simple: an Emmy nomination for Jane Krakowski for 30 Rock.

She's one of the 10 finalists for supporting actress. Nobody on 30 Rock makes me guffaw as loudly and that's saying something since its the funniest show on television.

the 10 finalists
Bold means I'm rooting for them though it's basically a respectable list of ten, don't you think? Kristin Chenoweth, "Pushing Daisies" , Conchata Ferrell, "Two and a Half Men" Jenna Fischer, "The Office" Jane Krakowski, "30 Rock" Judith Light, "Ugly Betty" Elizabeth Perkins, "Weeds" Amy Poehler, "Saturday Night Live" Jean Smart, "Samantha Who?" Holland Taylor, "Two and a Half Men"
and Vanessa Williams, "Ugly Betty"

I'm not naive enough to think Jane is ever going to get a big film career (her current movie part is a dance instructor in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl) but her profile should still be higher for all that she keeps giving in television, on Broadway and very occasionally on the movie screens, too (her last decent film role was Alfie, 2004 though she had a relatively indecent one in Pretty Persuasion, 2005)

May Flowers

Ten TV Shows I'm Watching

Tuesday Top Ten: For the listmaker in me and the listlover in you

The days of Tivo / DVR have finally defeated me and I now find myself regularly watching television... even if I'm not really writing about it yet. No longer dependent on air times, I actually enjoy it --occasionally. Let's not get crazy! These are the (still running) shows I'm into...

10 (ok 12) Shows
I can sometimes be found watching Desperate Housewives.
Not by choice!

12 Top Chef (Bravo)
My hesitation with this show was always: you can't taste the food. That's still a problem. You can hear the singing and watch the dancing and consider the clothing on various other game shows. You can't taste food if it's on your TV. Licking the screen doesn't won't help. That said, I watch it sometimes. Padma Lakshmi's weirdly droning voice doesn't even bother me anymore. Her skirts do. They are so tight I fear they run afoul of safety condition requirements for the kitchen. The sexy rump is sure to distract the chefs and they're working with fire. I've only got to keep one hand on the remote.

11 Make Me a SuperModel (BBC/Bravo)
I was stunned to discover that America actually did this show better than Britain (we usually mess up transfers) not that it isn't still stoopid. That said: pretty people being very pretty (and often naked) is good disposable TV ... with less of the rampant delusion and repetition that ANTM's 209th cycle will bring you. Plus: it's unisex. I'm for that (see also: #1)

10 Moonlight (CBS)
This is my guilty pleasure. Only there's little pleasure and lots of guilt. It's really terrible. It's so terribly written I've considered writing down the names and... um... doing something with the names. Voodoo dolls maybe? Gift baskets full of garlic?

You don't really need sunglasses to watch this show. You need earplugs.

But you're aware of my soft spot for the vampiric. And bad acting aside, I like both leads for some reason. I even hate the bad '80s inspired set design. Why am I watching this? What's wrong with me???

09 Step it Up & Dance (Bravo)
As a big fan of Showgirls, dance heavy musicals and "body flight" (thanks Strictly Ballroom), this was a natural fit for me. However... I'm considering dropping it from my DVR. For a show on Bravo it sure does feel homophobic. Every f'ing week the judges bitch that certain male dancers are too feminine and praise the"masculine" ones for just that even as they acknowledge their bad technique. We get it. You're the type of fags who write "straight acting" in their 'what are you looking for?' dating profiles. Issues!!! Please keep those between you and your therapists, judges. Please and thanks.

08 Big Love (HBO)
I don't have HBO so I have to wait for the DVDs but I think it's a strong show and definitely a unique one. I'm especially fond of Jeanne Tripplehorne's work (who'd have thunk it back in the Basic Instinct bad-acting days?) It's disappointing that she's not nominated for Best Actress @ the Emmys. But then Emmys and disappointment go hand in hand. It's the law.

07 Weeds (Showtime)
Mary Louise Parker forever! Billy Crudup's life choices confuse me.

06 Torchwood (BBC)
It appeals to the same geek pieces of me that Buffy bulls-eyed, only its not as strong thematically or as consistent in its quality. That said, it's fun, weird, genre-loving and unapologetically queer... a thrilling combo that nothing else on TV can claim.

The team (sniffle) as it was. Two of them died in the season finale.

05 Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
All of its weaknesses are still present (hysterical drama and overdone comedy even at times it should pull back, so many characters that not all of them get interesting stories, boring business deals, Calista Flockhart's story lines if not Calista Flockhart) but the most important selling point of any scripted show is characters the audience falls in love & comfort with and wants to spend time with every week. And on that count it's grade "A"

04 Project Runway (Bravo)
This used to be the best thing on television but there were times during this past season that I just wanted to scream. Couldn't they have just one episode where they just make pretty dresses instead of fulfilling some random stupid gimmicky corporate-sponsored "challenge" So maybe it's jumped the shark. I'm definitely worried about the move to Lifetime. We'll see. It's "on notice"

03 30 Rock (NBC)
The only show on television that makes me laugh so hard that I have to hit pause once or twice to recover. I am a Krak addict. They don't use Ms. Jane Krakowski enough... but the rest of the show is hilarious enough to compensate.

02 Pushing Daisies (ABC)
When is this coming back on? I'm dying here. I need its whimsy and its anti-depressent pies in my tiny unmusical life.

01 Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
One of the greatest shows of all time. Why? Oh I don't know... endlessly fascinating characters, brilliant rug-pull plotting, intellectual and emotional rigor. Take your pick. Even when it errs or tries too hard you can always be sure that it's trying. More movies and TV shows should. Not for this show any coasting. It wants to be great. It often is.

If you're still not watching, I may never be able to convince you. Your loss. Do you happen to vote on the Emmys? You'll start with the miniseries on DVD if you're finally ready to be sucked into its intergalactic maelstrom.

And you?

Do you watch any of these shows? Would you like to see a weekly television column here? Which shows are you faithful to week in and week out? And which are you running out of patience with? I'm full of questions.
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Krak Addict

I once saw a snarky magazine report about eternally C List celebrities (perhaps it was Details?) --my beloved Jane Krakowski was on it, curse their snark! I've never been one too shy away from expressing love for performers who deserve it, be they A list or Z list: who cares. So I must reiterate: Jane Krakowski rocks.

From her memorable supporting work on Ally McBeal, to that deserved TONY win for her erotic phone call to Antonio Banderas in Broadway's Nine (Penélope Cruz is in talks to take over that role in the film version) to her hilarious work in 30 Rock --this gifted comedienne deserves more mass love. In the last episode of 30 Rock she sold a pitch perfect Broadway baby self parody in Mystic Pizza the Musical as well as unselfconscious fatsuit gags and dumb blonde optical illusion demonstrations. She kraks me up.

30 Rock won the Emmy last month but where was the love for Jane? Not even a nomination. Even when the Emmys get something right they make it wrong. argh

UPDATED TO ADD: Happy 39th Birthday Jane!