Patty Clarkson's 2010 Triple: Cairo Time, Easy A and Shutter Island

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Patty and the NYC premiere
this summer

Earlier this month I met with Patricia Clarkson to discuss another fine year in one of the most pleasurable of modern character actor filmographies. Hers. I was waiting for the right opportunity to share it with you, and since Cairo Time is out on DVD, Academy voters are busy weighing the various Best Actress options, and today is Patty's 51st birthday, it was high time.

Through an unfortunate scheduling snafu I was less prepared when I met her than I am accustomed to being. I apologized with a wee warning that I'd be winging it. I bring this up because, as many of will remember, I have closely clocked her career. She came in at #2 in my 2005 countdown "Actresses of the Aughts" (yes we should revisit that list now that the decade has wrapped) and because I just want to share the unedited transcript. She was just so delightful to talk to. The punctuations and descriptions are my own of course to convey the flavor of the conversation. Happily, she's as vivacious and fun to interview as she is to watch onscreen.

Our conversation started by chatting about the NYC premiere of Cairo Time this past summer.

Nathaniel: Really enjoyed the movie. We didn't get a chance to talk afterwards at the banquet but you seemed very buoyant and happy that evening.

Patty: Yes. It was very nice night and it had been a long journey with the film. So... just up until then my mother and sister were in town. It was just a wonderful night to share it with my friends and my family [pause] ...and strangers.

[Laughter]

Nathaniel: Strangers like me sitting at the corner table. But it was wonderful to see you carry a whole movie for change.

Patty: It's a nice thing. It's rare. You know, I've been the female lead in a few things but it's rare to really kind of carry a film -- especially for me but it's even rare for women in general. We're always sharing top billing with somebody, you know what I mean? Or we're often the supporting people. It's beautiful that Ruba [Ruba Nadda the writer/director] wrote a film with a woman, almost 50, in the lead. That's how she wanted it. I'm very thankful to her for that always.

Patricia as Juliette.

Nathaniel: This character ["Juliette" in Cairo Time] has a really slow burn. I mean the character arc is very gradual.

Patty: Very! So gradual. It's really truly one of the most deceptively difficult parts I've ever played in my career. Not only because you're in every frame and you're shooting every day all day. But emotionally, oddly, it was... [her voice trails off thinking of the work]. It's a very, very quarter-inch by quarter-inch slow burn progression.

Nathaniel: In a situation like that do you have to have a lot of trust that the editing, for example, would bear you out since there's not that one scene? If you compare it to something like Far From Heaven where you can play a hairpin turn in the character that's just so devastating.

Patty: Right. Well that's also such a more forward character. This is... she [Ruba] wrote a very passive protagonist -- I found it very beautiful -- a very setback reluctant, for lack of a better world, woman at times. Antithetical to me and often to many characters I've played which are very forward and very gregarious and very present. This is a woman who is reserved, truly reserved. But I still think lovely and approachable in her own way.

Nathaniel: One thing I loved about the movie was the costume design.

Patty: Beautiful dresses, yes.

Nathaniel: They went along with the gradual arc so well. And the resolution of the movie -- those final scenes are just beautifully played.

Patty: Oh, thank you. It's the courage that Ruba had to really trust that those scenes would work, that they'd stay with the film and take this very, very subtle intimate --no bells and whistles! -- film and be around for the end and have the payoff. Most of the people I've seen have gotten it. They took the journey and were moved and transported. So...

Patricia & Alexander Siddig in the final scenes of Cairo Time

Nathaniel: Would you reteam with Alexander Siddig when you could let 'er rip more?

Patty: IN ANYTHING! There will be a sequel to Cairo Time. And it's just me and Alexander on a train. I've already written it. Ruba doesn't know about it but I've written it. And neither does Alexander.

[Much laughter]




Nathaniel: Speaking of actors who you don't get to get to see do leads enough...

Patty: He's such a beautiful stunning man. Ruba's next two projects are with Alexander and me. He's the lead in Ruba's next movie in Jordan, a beautiful story of a man whose daughter goes missing. And Ruba has another film for me that we'll shoot next January, a year from now. It's very exciting.

We're going to keep going with Ruba. [Laughter]

Whatever Patty Works... is magic

Nathaniel: Speaking of writer/directors... you've done two films with Woody Allen.

Patty: Yes, yes. I have high hopes for him; lovely unknown man.

Nathaniel: [laughter]

Patty: You know, it's an actor's dream to work with him and he doesn't disappoint. It was wonderful and I loved those parts that I got to play. Vicky Cristina Barcelona wasn't a large part but what was there was lovely and then Whatever Works was such a delicious divine part.

Nathaniel: You were the highlight.

Patty: Well... (giving credit away) Marietta! It's kind of a part I dreamed of playing, you know, just a big broad great southern lady.

Nathaniel: With Woody, you hear all sorts of contradictory things about him on the set. Some actors say he never speaks to them.

Patty: He's easy going but he's not chatty. This is why I really adore him. It's a very indulgent business; we are coddled and pampered so much. Woody just doesn't do that. It's all about the work. He doesn't care about your personal life. You show up. He wants you to be professional, know your lines, know what you're doing. Do your homework. He shows up and starts shooting at 9 AM, ready to go. He doesn't want drama. He doesn't want any of that. It's all about the work. I love that. I love that way of working.

Nathaniel: When you have to do a part that's heavily exposition as some supporting parts are, like in Shutter Island.

Patty: Yeah?

Nathaniel: How much of a challenge is that? It seems to me, from an outside perspective as I'm not an actor, that that would be both less rewarding and more difficult.

Patty: Well, Yes. At times it can be. But, remember, here I am. I'm working with Martin Scorsese who is divine and Leo... the two of them. They're a match made in heaven and they really make the best of an expositional circumstances. And it actually turned out to be, like, a real ride I had to take with that character and with Leo. And the cave. And my really ugly schmatte dress! And my wig!

[Much laughter]

You know it's like 'AAAAAHHH TROLL LADY!'

"People tell the world you're crazy and all your protests to the
contrary just confirm what they're saying."

It was -- it ended up being surprisingly difficult in good ways. It did challenge me. Leo is a deeply committed and passionate actor. And so is Marty. Both of them are like powerhouses coming at you. There's nothing laid back and cool and simple and easy. It's like [makes whooshing noise]... it's a conducive environment to do good and hopefully great work. It is about about the work also. With great directors, it always is.

Nathaniel:  High Art.

Patty: Great director.

Nathaniel: Lisa Cholodenko is having such a good year.

Patty: Beautiful year, yeah. I just saw her the other night at the Gothams.

Nathaniel: Her first couple movies, like High Art, were heavy and this one is really light and funny.

Patty: Although it's incredibly moving.

Nathaniel: Did you know she had that in her?

Patty: Yes, of course. She's just gifted. Great directors can just do anything. She has a marvelous sense of humor. She's very intelligent and I think she can -- because even in The Kids Are All Right there's pathos. I mean, there is. It's nuanced and hysterically funny but there is, you know,  still depth of emotion that will always be in her work.

Nathaniel: You yourself have a real gift for comedy. One of the things I would love to see you do, if they even made them anymore, is a rapid fire screwball comedy.

Patty: OHMYGOD. I  dream of that. You know,  I dream of standing in a room in a smart sexy suit or sitting on a couch with my legs crossed chatting with George Clooney... rapid fire. Yes! [laughter]

Nathaniel: You get to do little hints of that but I would love a big screwball.

Patty:  I do but I haven't done a kind of great balls-out real romantic comedy.

Tucci & Clarkson with Liza (!) at a Cairo Time event two weeks ago.

Nathaniel: You were a highlight of Easy A this year.
Patty: We had so much fun, Stanley and I.

Nathaniel: You have great chemistry.

Patty: We do. Stanley and I have known each other for so long. We're very close in a really great way. We just have a cool friendship, we do. And we're able to modify it slightly and bring it on as, like, a  married couple or whatever. We can take our friendship and mold it into what we need it to be whether that's for Blind Date or Easy A.

Nathaniel: I find in a lot of movies, a lot of times, the parent/child thing... you can't always see how the child would come from those parents.

Patty: Yes.

Nathaniel: And in that movie. You and Stanley were just -- it's like you genetically gifted all of your humor to her.

Patty: [Laughter]

Easy Mother and Grade A Daughter

Nathaniel: Because she had that same sort of lively...

Patty: Well, she is -- Emma Stone is sublime. You know, I hate this expression but she is a star. She is in the best sense. She's so beautiful and so multi-talented. She can do drama, comedy, action -- she's doing Spider-Man now. She's just really on her way and she should be. She should be. She's one of those new fabulous girls and she deserves to be.

Nathaniel: In terms of your public persona... do you get recognized a lot?

Patty: It depends on the city. If I'm in New York, oh god yes. If I'm in New Orleans oh god yes. In LA , yes. If I'm in Omaha, no. [Laughter]

Nathaniel: You've played such a wide range of roles. What do you think the perception of you is, generally?

Patty: I think it's shifted somewhat. [Reconsidering...] You know, I don't know.

Nathaniel: You don't think they come to you with any preconceived notions?

Patty: No. I think... Like in New York. It's like "oh, we love you. You're a New York actor." It's lovely. They claim me. 'Claim away, honey! As long as I keep working.'

I think people just think of me as, you know, just an actor. They're very flattering and complimentary most of the time. I'm trying to think -- I  don't think anybody has ever come up to me and said "I don't like you" but there's always tomorrow.

[Laughter]

Nathaniel: One of my favorite parts of yours in Elegy.

Patty: Ohhhh, Isabel Coixet. Look at the extraordinary directors I've worked with! She's a stunning woman. She speaks five languages. She's a genius. She's one of the smartest people I've ever met and I have really smart friends. Like Rich Greenberg who is a genius. But she's one of a kind. I love that film. It's kind of taken on a different life, a new -- well, it doesn't have a cult following exactly but I have had a lot more people talking to me about it now than when it came out.

Nathaniel: It's one of your fullest characters I think. You were just giving us a lot of information about the character's life in a handful of scenes. Are there any other roles you wish would be rediscovered?

Patty:  You know, I wish more people would see Blind Date. I know it's not for everybody but I love that film. I don't know if you've seen it?

Nathaniel: ... that one I haven't so I'm a little embarrassed that that's the one you name-check.[Laughter]

Patty: Noooo. You'll see it at some point. You can rent it. I hope people rediscover that. That's the one I hope for.

Nathaniel: I think the first time I saw you in a lead was [forgetting...] oh god...

Patty: The Dying Gaul.

Nathaniel: The Dying Gaul!

Patty's first top billing

Patty: Beautiful film. [Craig Lucas] is a sublime man. Deeply gifted, beautiful writer, and beautiful eye. He should be writing and directing. It's a wonderful film and that's been discovered in some ways. More people have seen it and say 'I love that movie... it's got that strange title...'

Nathaniel: Yeah, you had to prompt me too.

Patty: Yeah. But oh that white bikini. oh my god. [embarrassed high voice] WHOOOOO!!!

[laughter break]

Nathaniel: What's next for you Patty?

Patty: Not a white bikini !!!

[more laughter]

Nathaniel: Oh come on, you look pretty great in that dress in Cairo Time.

Patty: Beautiful dresses. What's next for me? I just did another movie with the Easy A director. This is a movie starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake [Friends With Benefits]. And a small part in Lone Scherfig's new movie called One Day starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. I play Jim's dying mother. It's me doing British which is very intimidating in front of entire British cast and crew. I thought 'oh my god  I am going to be dying by the end of this character.' 

But it's good to be frightened at 50 and it's good that people keep upsetting the apple cart.

Nathaniel: It was a pleasure to talk to you.  Thanks for bearing with me.

Patty: You didn't seem to be winging it.

Nathaniel: Well I've been watching since High Art.

Patty at the New Yorker Festival in October.

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And with that we said our goodbyes.

Did you see Patty's triple this year? It's actually a quadruple as she had a role in Legendary but that one, alas, slipped by me. Which was your favorite of her recent roles? If you haven't seen Cairo Time, queue it up. But just make sure to turn off your phones. It's one of those movies that requires your full attention, all the better to appreciate Patty's careful modulation of that slow burn arc.

But then, you should always pay close attention to Patty's work. She rewards audiences again and again.
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Easy A Review

Is it better to blend in or stand out?

It's a question everybody must have asked themselves at some point or another, particularly in the (peer) pressure cooker of high school. Easy A is about a good student named Olive (Emma Stone) who blends in. One day, ashamed of a lame weekend she spent alone at home, she lies to her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) and makes up a story. The lie quickly escalates as her bestie grills her. Before you can say "George Glass," Olive has not just invented an imaginary beau but she's also lost her virginity to him.

Word gets out...

Read the rest @ Towleroad

P.S. And in case you missed it earlier, I raved about Emma Stone's star-making moves a couple of days ago for Tribeca Film for my "Best in Show" column.

Flashback: Best of the 90s. (Pt 1)

Remember when I shared those 80s scrapbook pages on "Before Websites Pt 1 and Pt 2"?

Well inbetween scrapbooking two decades back and the total new digital world of the Aughts, there was the long transitional period of the 1990s. Remember when the internet was just text (Anyone? Anyone?). The last two issues of my 90s zine (that pre-website relic mentioned in the Julianne Moore interview) were published in 2000.

<-- "90s character collage" Oil on canvas. I'm confused why I included The Phantom Menace because I hated the movie. I think I wanted something "up to the minute" Ha!

I had just moved to NYC and was in the process of chucking Quark for Dreamweaver. The first version of the site was already up and rapidly taking over my life so I'm not sure why I was trying to do both web & print. It was transitional hedging maybe. Plus html was way confusing at first before apps starting doing all the coding for you. Different era.

Interior "Ten Best" pages --- >

I thought I'd share these ancient lists on "Best of the 90s" for fun. I can't really stand by half the choices now 10 years later but can you stand by all your choices from Spring 2000?

Best Supporting Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. The very first one surprises me like you don't even know but we'll get to that in a minute.]

• Tommy Lee Jones, JFK (1991)
  Tommy back when he was exciting to watch onscreen.
  
• Michael Lerner, Barton Fink (1991)
  The funniest supporting turn of the decade
  
• Leonardo DiCaprio, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
  The breaking point of Hollywood's It Boy.
  
• Ralph Fiennes, Schindlers List (1993)
  Astoundingly frightening American debut.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Gilbert Grape) & Ed Harris (The Truman Show)

• Samuel L Jackson, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  Much celebrated bible quoting hitman. Great.
  
• Martin Landau, Ed Wood (1994)
  Great character actor doing comic justice to a legend.
  
• Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (1995)
  Kevin's much lauded Keyzer Soze role.
  
• William H Macy, Fargo (1996)
  Almost as great as McDormand. High praise.
• Rupert Everett, My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
  Wasn't even nominated. What?!?!
  
• Ed Harris, The Truman Show (1998)
  Terrific work from the ever magnetic actor.

That's what I said then. As you can see I wasn't yet a frothing at the mouth "Category Fraud!" crusader since there's at least two "leads" in there. In fact, for '99 I chose Haley Joel Osment (ru: Jude Law) who is obviously the lead of The Sixth Sense and in my runners up I list Rupert Graves in Where Angels Fear to Tread and how is that anything but the lead role? The weirdest nominee in this best of decade top ten is Tommy Lee Jones. I barely remember that performance -- I think he had white hair and that there was some rabidly anti-gay tone to his scenes? -- and what I do remember I don't like. I'm so confused that it's listed but that's what the pages say. The other thing that sticks out at me is that I was apparently on a first name basis with Kevin Spacey (unhh....) and I excluded Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (very odd).

So yeah, I'm not happy with this list at all. I'd probably only keep half of it. But I'd need to watch a few movies again.

Best Supporting Actress
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed]

Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear) & Patricia Clarkson (High Art)

• Annette Bening, The Grifters (1990)
  As the delicious decadent Myra Langtree she was radiant.
• Uma Thurman, Henry & June (1990)
  Seduced Henry, Anaïs and the world as June Miller.
• Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear (1991)
  At just 18, stole the show from Lange, Nolte and DeNiro.
• Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives (1992)
  Gave Allen's neurosis a whole new energy level.
• Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  The hip film's central female role. Uma nailed it.
• Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
  Dianne is always a treat. Against type, she soared.
• Joan Allen, The Crucible (1996)
  Breathtaking. One of the great screen presences.
• Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights (1997)
  Should've won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Christina Ricci, The Ice Storm (1997)
  Smart sad work. Confirmed her best-of-generation status.
• Patricia Clarkson, High Art (1998)
  How did this marvelous turn go so unnoticed?

That's what I said then. Obviously Catherine Keener would've made the list for Being John Malkovich had I waited a year to compile this. (I'm always so hesistant about brand new movies. A weird tic. And apparently I did the same thing here declaring 1999 movies ineligible for these top tens. Weirdness.) But nothing much surprises me about these supporting actresses. Love them all and the next ten would be almost as wondrous.

Best Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. I've recreated the illustration here just because I thought it was funny and I remember being super angry that Anthony Hopkins started going hammy and/or phoning it in starting about the mid 90s.


I no longer have any strong feelings about him. The quality dropoff was so severe that even know 15 years later I see his name in casting items and I feel nothing more than "Why'd they go with him? Laziness in thinking about their options?". Like, what was he doing in The Wolf Man? I feel like you give that same part to some hungry actor his age who never got inundated with huge offers and they're going to reward you with something special even if the movie bites. I don't mean to sound cruel about Sir Hopkins and I did name him Best Lead Actor of the Decade and that's saying something. He'll always have 1991-1993 when every performance was an event!]

• Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  Perhaps overcelebrated but it's a juicy star turn.
• River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho (1991)
  A transformation that made him an icon.
• Denzel Washington, Malcolm X (1992)
  Should have easily bagged him the Oscar.
• Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father (1993)
  Does anyone else miss this guy? Great actor.
• Anthony Hopkins, Remains of the Day (1993)
  Unquestionably fine. Does repression like no one else.
• Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  His last great performance before big budgets beckoned.
• Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking (1995)
  Completely believeable difficult turn as a repentant killer.
• Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
  A performance as complex as the film. That's high praise.
• Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters (1998)
  Should have won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Edward Norton, American History X (1998)
  Fierce work that confirmed his best-of-generation status.

That's what I said then. And said rather repetitively, too. I used some of those exact same lines for Best Supporting Actress. Where was my editor? Oh, yeah. That was me. Elsewhere in the magazine I proclaim Kevin Spacey in American Beauty Best Actor of 1999 and now I would definitely rewrite history to pretend that I chose Jim Broadbent in Topsy Turvy (who I at least nominated. Yay, me). I had also forgotten that DDL made so few movies in the 90s (only 5) despite becoming a big star with the first of those (The Last of the Mohicans). And then he made even less in the Aughts (4) ! Does this mean we can only expect 3 movies from him from 2010-2019? And if so, does one of them really have to be a Sherlock Holmes sequel since he works so infrequently?

I'm also a bit surprised that I didn't give the top prize to River Phoenix as I was quite obsessed with My Own Private Idaho in the 90s. River Phoenix would've turned 40 last week. One has to wonder what would be different in the movies had he lived. Which star would never have risen up instead. Which roles we're familiar with would he have ended up playing?

I'm disappointed looking back that I didn't list Christopher Guest whose "Corky St. Clair" in Waiting for Guffman is arguably the finest comedic character creation of the 1990s. He should've made the list.

River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho) & Christopher Guest (Waiting For Guffman)

You know what to do in the comments. Your lists please... and how have they changed over the past ten years. What did you love or hate then that you've changed your mind about now? And let's say you were born in the late 80s or in the 1990s. Which of these movies have you always meant to see but just haven't got around to yet?

p.s. If you're new to the blog and want to see more recent "best ofs" you can check out Best of the Aughts or my awards for 2009.
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7 Word Reviews: Animal Kingdom, Cairo Time, Get Low

The adults are coming. Warning: all three of these new movies do not contain super powers. Unless you count acting as a super power. In which case, SHAZAM!


Animal Kingdom
Dir: David Michôd | With: Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver
Gripping, weirdly frightening performances. Fine script, too. A- [interview]

Cairo Time
Dir: Ruba Nadda | With: Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddiq
Delicately observed but limited. Gorgeous finale / Patty. B

Get Low
Dir: Aaron Schneider | With: Robert Duvall and Bill Murray
Grumpy hermit is legendary... but why? Unconvincing. C [more than 7 words]

More on Animal Kingdom and Cairo Time coming after they open. Stay tuned.
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Red Carpet Lineup: Tribeca Blowout

red carpet lineup. random celebs who've been out and about this week...

With Tribeca handing out their awards last tonight and me coming back to life (things have been crazy) I thought we'd talk about some people attending New York's glitzy festival. I'm asking a comment question in red for each of them because I'm "reader discussion guide" annoying like that. Maybe I should have been a T.A.? Tribeca doesn't have the same prestige or art-driven mentality as the far older New York Film Festival (always in the fall) but it does pack theaters all over town, offer up a diverse 'something for everyone' slate and bring out the celebrities in droves. To hawk their films. Though I did see Ben Stiller and Denis Leary as audience members at the religious satire The Infidel.

from left to right

• Ellen Barkin plays a sullen drug addict in The Chameleon and she'll start her Shit Year at Cannes next month in the Directors' Fortnight lineup. Is her career revving back up or is this another Oceans 13 false alarm. Do you care?
• Mark Ruffalo seems to be letting himself go. Maybe it's just a 'between projects' kind of thing. Though, when is he between projects? Always working. I'm already stealing myself for disappointment if he doesn't get the credit he deserves for sly great work in The Kids Are All Right. Will he ever be Oscar nominated?
  
• Kirsten Dunst is on the comeback trail despite being only 28. Today is her birthday! She was at Tribeca because she directed the short film Bastard. Are you rooting for her comeback?
  
• Melissa Leo can't say no. That's my theory because she's made 15+ movies since Frozen River (2008) -- no joke -- and she's in two miniseries this year too (including Todd Haynes' Mildred Pierce). Should she be saying yes to everything? Riding that Frozen River momentum til it stops paying dividends.
  

from left to right

• Andy Serkis came to town with his BAFTA nominated star turn in the rock bio sex & drugs & rock & roll. I wondered a few times if he could get any Oscar traction for it. Pro: there's the disability factor AND the biopic factor. Con: It's probably an unfamiliar rock story to most AMPAS voters and they like familiar. I admit I didn't know the story either. Do you know Ian Dury and The Blockheads?
  
• she who must not be named was in NYC for My Own Love Song. You know how I felt about the trailer but believe me I don't want to be this frightened to go near her work. In all honesty I was really hoping to get back on board but then came that trailer. I even tried to give her a new nickname Zeéeeee which is vowel-accurate and friendly-like. Are you rooting for her comeback?
• Christy Turlington is my favorite model of all time. But I realized sitting in the audience of her new documentary that it's weird to have a favorite model of all time. Because what can you do other than look at them? With favorite actors there's all sorts of imagination connection, storytelling, catharsis, etcetera. There I sat thinking "she's pretty" and my thoughts pretty much ended there. Unlike many of her supermodel peers from the 90s, she didn't try acting. But after marrying Ed Burns she is trying filmmaking. For a good cause though! Visit the website every mother counts. Have you a favorite model of all time ever?
  
• Patricia Clarkson starred in a travel drama called Cairo Time in which she misplaces her husband in Egypt. Somehow I missed it even though I love my Patty and also enjoy her co-star Alexander Siddig. Bad planning me. Why do people go to the desert on vacations?
  

from left to right

• Amanda Seyfried was starting her Letters To Juliet tour. Dominic Cooper walked her down the aisle -- I mean the red carpet -- for the premiere. Do you like them as a couple or do they give you painful flashbacks to Mamma Mia?
  
• Guy Pearce should maybe be hired for Christian Bale's health scare roles. I'm just sayin'. He was in town for a special screening and discussion of Memento. Do you love Memento?
  
• Sissy Spacek was promoting Get Low. I didn't like the movie -- which I saw before the festival and which most people do like for Oscar noms -- but it sure was nice to see her again in a substantial role. Still waiting for another In the Bedroom, though. What's your favorite Sissy? Other than Carrie I mean.
• <---Brian Geraghty was the unofficial poster boy of the 9th annual Tribeca Film Festival. He was a home invader in the erotic thriller Open House, a muscley redneck brother-in-law in The Chameleon and he also appeared in Kiki's short Bastard. It's like Melissa Leo's Frozen River longtail... only with The Hurt Locker. Thoughts?
  

Finis.
* Renée Zellweger

RCL: Dancers (Glee), Assassins (and Kick-Ass) and More

Red Carpet Lineup. Once weekly, we check in with random celebs who've been out and about, displaying their beautiful selves.


from left to right: Gillian Anderson is still so beautiful. Just saying. She attended a premiere wearing whatreminded me of a Project Runway gown. As in, I sense a theme. But which one? Uma Thurman, seen her crazythin in black at a benefit dinner has been taking too much flak lately for the box office failure of Motherhood. Her career has always been peaks and valleys; Flops can't kill it. I do wonder why she keeps trying her hand at comedy, though. Either her agent or the goddess herself must like her doing them. I think every auteur that has benefited from her screen presence (Kaufman, Frears, Nair, Niccol, Tarantino) really ought to offer her a good role soon to remind us of her inimitable razzle dazzle. After Kill Bill's assassin Bride you'd think she'd get more action offers at least. I regret to inform that Parker Posey did not become my BFF after we danced together at Sundance ;) She wore a leopard print to the Tribeca Ball. I was going to make a cougar reference but the term doesn't fit her as she seems ageless. I know that Parker had a great run in the 90s and don't wanna be greedy fan but I'd love to see her get another great comedic lead role.

Finally, Chloe Moretz went for the pink baby doll look for another Kick-Ass premiere. This is more girlie-girl than she ever gets in the film. I'm so pleased to report that Roger Ebert hates it. I don't normally worship Ebert the way 97.3% of online critics do but he's so widely read and respected it that I love it when he speaks something eloquently that needs to be spoken if you know what I mean. There's a lot to recommend in Kick-Ass but it's also another depressing reminder of how soulless, proudly violent (just listen to today's politicans) and gleefully sadistic the world is becoming. I hope all things are cyclical and we have another flower power generation around the bend. But I guess it would take catastrophic reality to end this particular en vogue fantasy of blood blood blood so...uh... be careful what you wish for. er... moving on. Anyway, I wrote a little bit about for Towleroad.


from left to right: Patricia Clarkson attended the premiere of the Mary Zimmerman (Metamorphosis) production of the opera Armida and really sells the black and white. I like it so much more than several Oscar dresses this year. Zoe Saldana always seems exuberantly happy, yes? Even when promoting a movie called Death at a Funeral. Was she this smiley before starring in two gargantuan hits back to back last year? Every time I see Ginnifer Goodwin I flash back to Win a Date With Tad Hamilton and Walk the Line. I'm not sure why. I like her on Big Love but since she became ultra thin she reads more generic to me. Are you fond of Ginny? This look seems very casual for the Opera but I'm no expert. I've only been thrice.

We end with Glee's adorable Harry Shum Jr. at one of their promotional events. This is the most obsessed I've been with a mute dancer since Cloud lept around in Madonna's Confessions era videos. Can they please give Harry as "Mike Chang" a storyline already! Spread the wealth. The highlight of Tuesday's return-from-hiatus episode was undoubtedly the new characters. Jonathan Groff and Idina Menzel? Our Broadway cup runneth over with this show and we lick up the spills.

Can you tell that I'm thrilled that Glee is back? Are you? I don't know why I got so very impatient for its return, though. Shoulda just rewatched the older episodes. Basically, I've come to realize, Glee is from the Golden Girls stable of sitcoms. It's essentially the same exact jokes every episode. The joy of watching is in which new ways they spin the old jokes. In what way will Rachel be deemed annoying? which particular crazy tic of Emma's? How will Sue Sylvester insult Will Schuester's hair? what femme or gay joke will spring from Kurt? etcetera.

Like everyone else I love Jane Lynch as the comic villain Sue Sylvester and I am desperate to see next week's Madonna episode (p.s. Madonna likes it). But I think they missed a few great opportunities here in this Vogue spoof/tribute.



Sue totally shoulda been doing the jogging-like part of the Vogue dance in her tracksuit and the extras doing the open shirt strobe lit dancers shoulda totally been the jock stars Finn and Puck.

Stanley Tucci Rising "Gird Your Loins!"

On the same day I sat in the presence of Tilda Swinton (which I already told you about), I also attended the similarly formatted Stanley Tucci event at the New Yorker festival. You can read my article about the experience over at Tribeca. I love that they festooned it with an old Levi's ad of Tucci's. So weird to see him like that.

As you may have noticed in past conversations, I'm fairly fond of Tucci and I've been happy to see his (supporting) star rising. I knew nothing about him personally so the event was my first reveal of what he was like off stage: serious but funny (and punny as the case may be). He's often referred to as a Character Actor which he dubs a

redundant term. What they mean is you're not a leading man. It's like saying that someone is heavyset or 'she's a handsome woman!'

That perception frees him up since he doesn't have to worry about the parts drying up with age. "It's like I feel very fortunate in a weird way that I lost my hair." he told us joking "I had it all plucked. It was a conscious plucking."

Tucci & Streep as co-workers in The Devil Wears Prada
and spouses in Julie & Julia. Here's to team-up #3. His
comments on Streep are in the article.

When it came to the very standard topic of straight-man-playing-a-gay-man (zzz, why is this still so amazing to people?) as he did in Prada, Tucci was relatively inoffensive although he couldn't resist joking about his (late) wife ribbing him about it "Well, that was pretty easy for you wasn’t it?". He told a great story about the making of the film involving his famous "Gird your loins!" line, which marked the impending arrival of Miranda Priestley.. Maybe this is on the DVD commentary -- I haven't checked -- but each take the director had him utter a different line to keep the cast on their comic toes. One time, Tucci recalls laughing, he even yelled...

'TITS IN!' which doesn't even make any sense!

'Gird your loins' for that Oscar campaign, though. The New Yorker event showed a lengthy clip of Tucci as George Harvey from The Lovely Bones. The clip wasn't exactly what you might call "subtle" -- Peter Jackson not being a demur director -- but it showcased Harvey cleaning up after the murder of Saorsie Ronan and frantically 'straightening up' his place (chillingly not in the way one would normally straighten up, quite the opposite) when the police come knocking.

Do you see Tucci as being in play for Oscar... or are you holding out for the actual film evidence?

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Signatures: Patricia Clarkson

Adam of Club Silencio here with another look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.

Patricia Clarkson is one the best supporting actresses alive. But the truth is, she's not always that supportive. While she's busy outshining whoever's in the lead spotlight, Patricia's characters are playing on the sidelines to their own cinematic agendas. She drifts into the background, glowing of warmth, wit and maturity. Much like a cinematic confidant, Patricia Clarkson's reliably brilliant even in her most minuscule moments. But to rely on Patricia Clarkson is to fall into the same trusting trap as her on-screen counterparts. She builds you up, holds you close and then pulls the rug out from under you.


Take Far From Heaven's vivacious socialite, Eleanor Fine, who teases the conflicted Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) about her reputation for "kindness to negroes." They share plenty of tawdry laughs and idle gossip, but when Cathy finds herself at its center and falling in love with her gardener, Eleanor is the first to show how quickly a warm shoulder goes cold. Patricia works her way into the film as Cathy's one common voice -- a woman seemingly open to progress. As the film progresses, its clear it was all vicious set up for some judgmental glares and the juiciest gossip yet.


Building on that twist is Patricia's turn as Vera in Dogville. Vera's character is the first to admit, "I cry too easily." She comes across as a woman timid and reserved, who's married to a cold lout but who passionately loves her children and isolating small town. She soon warms to the mysterious Grace Mulligan (Nicole Kidman) once she's cared for her children and taught them lessons of Ovid. Soon they're laughing together, sharing favorite prose, and Grace is welcome in Vera's home anytime... for the next hour or so. Just as quickly as rumors of a philandering tryst spread back to Vera, we see this woman once prone to sadness become relentless in her pursuit of pain. She takes Grace's hard-earned collectibles and shatters them one by one, urging Grace's stoicism while begging for her tears. Patricia Clarkson again undermines her own sweet stoicism with a sour mistrust that goes far beyond the film's calculations. She'll smash your spirits and your Hummel figurines.


Of course Patricia's characters aren't all so savagely constructed. Often enough her characters are genuinely of good will, with reasonable motivations. Take her scant role Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a part that would probably have gone unnoticed in the hands of most actresses. Patricia manages to use her few scenes to work her way right into Vicky's trust and somehow gain pull on her relationships. In mere moments her character, Judy, begrudging of her own vapid vows, pushes Vicky into a radical and unlikely affair. Even when Patricia means well, in the end somebody still winds up getting shot.


Patricia Clarkson's career is High Art. In terms of screentime it probably adds up to so much less than the effect her scenes eventually have. Even if we should never depend on her characters, we can always depend on Patricia's one-of-a-kind radiance and sly "supporting" touch.

So what's your favorite Patricia Clarkson performance? More importantly: which stellar actress should she compliment and undermine next?

Far From Heaven. Still Heavenly

Elle: Cathy? Oh, she's been liberal ever since she played summer stock with all those steamy Jewish boys. Why do you you think they used to call her 'red'?

Cathy: Oh, for heaven's sake. Let's go inside before Joe McCarthy comes driving by.

Seven years ago today, Todd Hayne's Far From Heaven debuted at the Venice Film Festival. It won four prizes there beginning a strong early awards season showing that resulted in four Oscar nominations but two sad snubs: Todd Haynes for Best Director (he won the most precursor prizes that year, believe it or not) and Dennis Quaid for Best Supporting Actor (who ran second only to eventual Oscar winner Chris Cooper for Adaptation in terms in pre-Oscar honors).

It still bursts with auteurial colors, "red" and otherwise...
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He Should Really Write a Movie For Her

Red Carpet: Radioactive Lohan & Gangster Depp

It's that time again, Red Carpet Lineup. Here's a (truly) random sampling of actors at events this past week. Let's check in with...

Ever classy Lindsay Lohan who celebrated her 23rd birthday (it's actually tomorrow) at a Vegas pool wearing that, flashing a peace sign, and sporting bright blue contacts. Unless she's been spending too much time on Nevada's nuclear testing grounds, those are contacts. I should never ever look at Lohan as she's become the avatar of Lost Potential. She found the empty calories of fame more enticing than the rich nutrients of good actressing.


Public Enemies opens today and it should be an interesting test of Johnny Depp's box office pull. The public is generally averse to period dramas but they do like gangster crime films so it's a bit of a toss up, really. It's already on IMDb's Top 250 but that's typical for masculine "cool" movies when they first open. It's early still and the mixed reviews so far are fascinatingly contradictory. You know that old saw "you must have seen a different movie than I did" Who to believe?

Patricia Clarkson is all smiles and why not? Knowing that you're the best thing in your movies must be heartwarming. That's definitely true of Whatever Works. The only thing that makes bad Woody Allen scripts bearable is his ability to get fine actors to vividly color his caricatures. In Whatever Works Patty is forced at penpoint to delineate the conversion from empty-headed bible thumping Southerner to bohemian polyamorous New Yorker. The movie has little flashes of against-all-odds charm but it's mostly annoying in its broad and stale misanthropy. Yes, I'm a Woody apologist to some degree but I'm not going to apologize for this one.

<-- Josh Duhamel's got something in his eye. Dreams of movie stardom outside of Transformers, perhaps?

Kristen Bell sent geek hearts fluttering when she attended the Saturn Awards. She lost but she's a previous winner (this nomination was for her bad girl on Heroes -- people still watch that?!? -- but the previous three and one win were for good girl Veronica Mars). After years of television it looks like Forgetting Sarah Marshall prompted a committed big screen leap. She's got five movies on the way. First up: Romantic comedy When in Rome with Josh Duhamel, Danny DeVito, Anjelica Huston, Will Arnett and my friend Luca Calvani whom I've already congratulated for the gig. Go Luca! It's about time Hollywood bit.

I've placed Mike Doyle in the lineup to keep you and myself guessing about who might be included each week. He's here only because he was a) at the opening of Twelfth Night and b) he's got a role opposite Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole. The play it's based on had only five roles and his character "Craig", unless they've changed the names, was not one of them so there's been some expansion for the screen. I hope he dies in the movie! He's previously worked Off Broadway and played "Leprechaun" in the Hilary Swank vehicle P.S. I Love You (I don't want to know) but he's best known from regular work on both Oz and Law & Order: SVU.

Hey, it's Rosie Perez. "Fight the Power!" She's been on my mind because of the Do The Right Thing anniversary. I miss her absolutely rambunctious screen presence. Good to see her, however briefly, in Pineapple Express. Get it Rosie!

Patricia Clarkson Tells It Like It Is

In addition to being a world class actor, Patty Clarkson continues to be an irrepressible goddess: witty, classy, sexy and politically active. Here she is in New Orleans working it through a beautifully written very pointed speech about gay marriage in case you haven't seen it yet. It's funny, true and a little bit angry, too. Just as it should be. [via]

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.
-Tennessee Williams

Amen, Patty! It's always worth spending 15 minutes with you.

P.S. If you're just joining us here at the Film Experience, don't miss the month long "Streep at 60" retrospective. Can you believe she's 60 next week?
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"You Haven't Taken Any Pills Have You?"

JA from MNPP here. Thank goodness Martin Scorsese finally got that damn Oscar out of the way! This is the Marty I've missed. The Marty who's having some fun. The Marty who had Robert DeNiro hold a bubbling flare in his hand.

If you have no idea what I speak of, the trailer for Shutter Island has finally arrived. If you don't know the plot from Dennis Lahane's book here tis:

"From Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese, “Shutter Island” is the story of two U.S. marshals, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who are summoned to a remote and barren island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from the island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane."

I knew as soon as Leo Dicaprio was given a couple of seconds of weighty dramatic pause before he could finish his setnence saying the hospital which he speaks of is "......... for the criminally insane!" that we were in deliciously lurid Cape Fear territory. You get glimpses of most of the film's sterling cast - Leo, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo (yum), Emily Mortimer (yay!), Michelle Williams (yay!), Elias Koteas and Jackie Earle Haley (both being creeps, yay!), Patty Clarkson (double yay!), Max Von Sydow (woop!)... I always look forward to a new Scorsese but this one is one tailor-made for me, I swear.

You can watch the trailer in at Apple or right here:

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I took some more screen-grabs if you're interested in that; they're over at MNPP. The cinematography by Robert Richardson looks typically gorgeous. What do we think? Shutter Island is out on October 2nd.

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