Crybaby Countdown: The Tearjerk-iest Moments of 2010

year in review

Kurt here from Your Movie Buddy, getting honest about choking up. I live to cry at the movies, but it's so, so rare. It's like genuine belly laughs: they're great, but they just don't happen that much, especially for frequent, discerning filmgoers. My strongest recent memory of getting all sniffly would probably be during the candlelight vigil scene at the end of Milk. Such a powerful sight. I don't discriminate, though: I'm not afraid to admit I fell victim to the climax of the DeNiro weeper Everybody's Fine. Tearducts play by their own rules. Here's what gave mine a workout this year:

SPOILERS APLENTY...

9. “Because it's important to you,” Date Night

It's no must-see, but Date Night scores major heartstring points as a valentine to long-term commitment. In the end, Steve Carrell and Tina Fey (let's call them “Stina”) have a lovely breakfast scene in which Steve throws in this affecting, encapsulating line about the couple's shared suburban pastimes.

8. Funeral scene, Undertow

Yes, it's another gay film stricken by tragedy. But it's a very, very moving one, especially in its closing scene, when in-denial protagonist Miguel (Cristian Mercado) at last pays tribute to the lover (Manolo Cardona) he lost too soon.

7. On the bench, Rabbit Hole

I don't have one specific scene to cite here, but rather every park scene Nicole Kidman shares with Miles Teller (who, IMO, was robbed of Supporting Actor attention). Their moments together are such wise, aching and beautiful depictions of forgiveness and mutual healing.

6. “Just read it to me, as a friend,” The King's Speech

For me, moving and plausible friendships are right up there with troop-rallying battle cries and father-son reconciliations in the lump-in-the-throat department. This moment between Firth and Rush runs deep.

5. Scrubbing the sidewalk, For Colored Girls
In the wrongly-reviled Tyler Perry melodrama, the suffering is constant, but a lot of it hits its mark. The most shattering scene is when Kimberly Elise is comforted by Kerry Washington during an unfathomable moment of post-traumatic cleansing. Then someone walks over her stain, and it's like claws to the soul.

4. Wedding, Blue Valentine

There are crushing moments aplenty in this oh-so-painful love story, but none trump that which finally shows you – in one gleaming-white, all-American flashback – all the initial hope and joy that's deteriorated through the course of this tragic couple's marriage.

3. Off to college, The Kids Are All Right

This hugely emotional au revoir is the perfect capper to everyone's new favorite family portrait. When all is said and done, family comes first, and at the end of the day, what's truly important is that the kids are...oh, you know.

2. Lantern release, Tangled

I liked the story of Tangled just fine, and Rapunzel's quest for freedom and identity is nicely developed, but what truly underscores this absolutely breathtaking peak of the Disney gem is its pure ability to transport: to childhood, to Disney's princess heyday, to movie heaven.

1. Moving on (Finale), Toy Story 3

I am not on the Toy Story 3 bandwagon by any means, but you better believe I was a puddle of mush just like everyone else during the final scene. I truly think it's one of the most emotional series finales in history. The greatness of its impact is that it's at once universal and personal: it feels like it's speaking to every viewer individually.

Need to laugh now? The YEAR IN COMEDY

Your turn, TFE readers. Spill it.  
What had you fighting back tears this year?
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Box Office Blather: Jeff Bridges Double Dips

A weekly box office series, in beta, to see if we like. To remind you that you're here and not elsewhere and we can't just do things normally, we'll come at it from weird angles when we can.

Jeff Bridges stars in TRON GRIT

1. Little Fockers $30 NEW
2. True Grit $24.8 NEW
3. Tron Legacy $19.5 (cumulative: $87.3)
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader $9.4 (cumulative: $62.5)
5. Yogi Bear $7.8 (cumulative: $35.8)
6. The Fighter $7.6 (cumulative: $26.6)
7. Tangled $6.4 (cumulative: $143.6)
8. Gulliver's Travel $6.3 NEW 
9. Black Swan $6.2 (cumulative: $28.6)
10. The Tourist $5.4 (cumulative: $40.8)
11. The King's Speech $4.4 (cumulative: $8.3)
12. How Do You Know $3.5 (cumulative: $15)

With Little Fockers and True Grit topping the charts and we experience an unexpected flashback. Bridges & Babs haven't dipped into the top box office together since The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). And this time Jeff is double-dipping.

♪ this is it... OHHHH i finally found someone... someone to share my life ♪♫

The first thing to note is that Jeff Bridges is hogging the higher altitudes of the chart as both True Grit's grizzled Rooster Cogburn and the god/father figure for Garret Hedlund (and cross-generational computer geeks) in Tron Legacy. I haven't seen the latter picture but it's good to see Bridges back in sleeker form again after those last two sloshed rundown beer-bellied men in Grit and Crazy Heart. The new old western is is now the Coen Bros' best opening narrowly beating Burn After Reading (2008) which, had almost exactly the same budget but more stars to sell itself with. No Country For Old Men (2007) is their highest grosser though. Will Grit surpass it?

art by Daniel Foez

Couple other things.

• You'd think the Narnia series would die as its box office descends with each film but it's still popular globally and the budget on this one dropped considerably. Does it show?
• Christmas was the first wide weekend for The King's Speech, arguably the only major film relying entirely on Oscar buzz to sell tickets. (You can't really count the films that have barely even tried to open and they are unfortunately many.)
• Tangled is holding well, despite losing some theaters to Christmas fare, demonstrating long legs to accessorize that golden hair. It'll need them. For some reason it cost $260 to make -- which is at quite a bit more expensive than the three animated films which have outgrossed it this year. Was it the frequent retooling that made it that expensive? It'll presumably be awhile before profits once you factor in marketing costs.

Speaking of animated fairytales... Does anyone else remember The Last Unicorn? Is that even on DVD? Here's Jeff Bridges (as the charming Prince) serenading/romancing Mia Farrow (the unicorn)



 It's not some sick interspecies romance because somehow she's a beautiful woman and not just a unicorn. No, I don't remember the story at all.

Three questions to send you on your way: 

1. The Mirror Has Two Faces? Go. (even if you haven't seen it you MUST read this awesome review of it by Glenn at Stale Popcorn. It's laugh out loud funny)
2. Aren't you glad Jeff's musical talents improved before The Fabulous Baker Boys and Crazy Heart?
3. What did you see over Christmas?

Barbra Streisand

There Are 41 Songs (& Vids). There Is Only 1 CHER.

41 Songs were declared eligible for Oscar's least cinematically relevant prize a short while ago. Wheeee!

We only didn't share them yesterday because every single damn thing happens in the same week. I'd be more excited about this category if recent years hadn't seen the big show trending away from original performers singing their original songs. If I can't see Cher doing her Burlesque number(s) on Oscar night, someone is going down.

The Academy will choose up to 5 of these songs as nominees, depending on how their voting goes. I've included video accompaniment when available - listen (and watch up).



 Which are you rooting for?

Please god no. No more honors for this eyesore movie.

"Alice" from Alice in Wonderland

"Forever One Love" from Black Tulip 

"Freedom Song" from Black Tulip

 oooh, now this is more like it. Sadly, it's only a partial video.

"Welcome to Burlesque" from Burlesque

 

a Burlesque suite.

"Bound to You" from Burlesque 

"You Haven‘t Seen the Last of Me" from Burlesque

Despical Meusic Videos from Narnia

"There‘s a Place for Us" from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

"Despicable Me" from Despicable Me 

"Coming Home" from Country Strong 

"Me and Tennessee" from Country Strong
Country Strong has a YouTube channel but neither of their eligible songs are featured. Weirdness.
"Prettiest Girls" from Despicable Me

 

Jeg ♥ Sondre Lerche and not just because he's Norwegian, kjenner du.

"Dear Laughing Doubters" from Dinner for Schmucks

eat pray love & going the distance.

"Better Days" from Eat Pray Love 

"If You Run" from Going the Distance

demo version of Holy Rollers end credits and live Jónsi perf.

"Darkness before the Dawn" from Holy Rollers

"Sticks & Stones" from How to Train Your Dragon

There's no mistaking Bill Plympton's animated films for anyone else's

"Le Gris" from Idiots and Angels
 "Chanson Illusionist" from The Illusionist

God clearly hates me that I am forced to share that music video (to your left)

"Never Say Never" from The Karate Kid 

"To the Sky" from Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga‘Hoole

"What If" from Letters to Juliet

"Life during Wartime" from Life during Wartime

"Made in Dagenham" from Made in Dagenham (couldn't find a vid but here's a sample)

"Little One" from Mother and Child (no vid but sample - pretty song)

"Be the One" from The Next Three Days (no video -- why not Moby? You used to make good ones -- but here's the song)

"If I Rise" from 127 Hours (song)

"When You See Forever" from The Perfect Game

"I Remain" from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (no Alanis video but here's the song)

"Dream Big" from Pure Country 2: The Gift

"How I Love You" from Ramona and Beezus (no vid but here's the song)

Remember Landon Pigg from Whip It? His punishment for treating Ellen Page like crap is singing a Shrek song.

"Darling I Do" from Shrek Forever After

"Noka Oi" from Six Days in Paradise (no video but here's the song)

"This Is a Low" from Tamara Drewe 

"Rise" from 3 Billion and Counting

Two likely nominees from animated hits.

"I See The Light" from Tangled
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3

"Eclipse: All Yours" from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (it's not embeddable which saves me from having to promote Twilight. Yay.)

I'm still kinda pissed that Justin Timberlake survived but Janet Jackson's career was demolished. Just sayin'

"Nothing" from Tyler Perry‘s Why Did I Get Married Too 

"A Better Life" from Unbeaten 

"Shine" from Waiting for 'Superman‘

"The Reasons Why" from Wretches & Jabberers (here's the song)

Name your preferred five songs in the comments. Or maybe you think they should just dump this category all together?
*

Box Office Blather: Unstoppable Potter and the 127 Tangled Swans

No, not that BOB.

Box Office Blather. Let's call it "BOB".

One should probably discuss it weekly (and not on Wednesday? Shut it. I'm late.) if only to be more "in the world" and less hermetically sealed in one's own bubble, he said to himself while gazing at his navel in his 360º mirror.

In all seriousness this is a problem. I sometimes stare at box office charts and think "'The Warrior's Way'?  What the hell is that?" And, bear in mind, I think and write about movies 7 days a week so these blind spots can be problematic. And yet, when you live in a big city and you have options you don't always notice what's playing in thousands of theaters when you can obsess over something like Black Swan which is playing in just over a dozen. Thus one stays sealed in one's bubble.

Box Office Blather Bakers Dozen
("Bobbed!"...why do I need names for everything? It's a sickness)

1. Tangled (2nd week) $21.6 [cumulative: $96.5] -55%
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 (3rd week) $17 [cumulate: $244.5] -65 %
3. Burlesque (2nd week) $6.1 [cumulative: $26.9] -48%
4. Unstoppable (4th week) $5.9 [cumulative: $68.7] -47%
5. Love and Other Drugs (2nd week)  $5.6 [cumulative: $22.5] -42%
6. Megamind (5th week) $4.9 [cumulative: $136.6] -60%
7. Due Date (5th week) $4.1 [cumulative: $90.8] -42%
8. Faster (2nd week) $3.9 [cumulative: $18.2] -53%
9. The Warrior's Way DEBUT $3.0
10. The Next Three Days (3rd week)  $2.5 [cumulate: $18.3] -45%
11. Morning Glory (4th week) $1.6 [cumulative: $29] -54%
    
12. 127 Hours (5th week) $1.6 [cumulative: $6.6] -5%
13. Black Swan DEBUT $1.4

A few random or obnoxious observations about that chart [src] come after the jump




Let's start off by alienating all of you! Wheeeee. Back in 2001 and 2002 I was incensed with Hollywood for being so lame / literal when the first two Harry Potters emerged and they were like books on tape only the tape was film. Then, through sheer force of ---FULL STOP. We should save this for the "Year in Review, Cinematic Shame" section later in December.

About 127 Hours... should it or shouldn't it be doing better business? It's a matter of perspective I suppose. One of my friends shared this on Facebook and said I could share it here. It's just too amusing while also illustrating a box office obstacle to the movie.

My parents' review of 127 HOURS (they went with another couple): "We all really enjoyed the movie a lot. But we didn't see the one you wanted us to see. We got to the theater, and Rhonda didn't want to watch the arm-cutting, so we saw 'Morning Glory' instead. It was adorable."

lol.

I'm sad that Burlesque isn't a smash. Now, we'll never get the sequel Burlesque 2 that Joe Reid pitched like so...

Burlesque 2, where Cher and Xtina must deal with a rival burlesque club that moves in across the street, run by a wizened Madonna and her protégée Britney Spears.

I would pay a month's wages to see that movie.

Moving on... Black Swan's $77,000 per screen average is a feat (a record for Fox Searchlight) as is the #13 status when it's only on 18 screens. But it remains to be seen how well that ballet thriller will transfer once it widens. "Weird" movies don't tend to play all that well at the box office, no matter how brilliant they are. You could counter with Inception but how weird is that? It explains the weirdness to you to make sure you don't get confused and the dream imagery, for all its gargantuan f/x thrills, isn't surreal like actual dreams. I'm trying to think of a strange movie that did well at the box office and I'm coming up blank. Do bizarre movies -- even the thrilling ones -- ever make a splash at the box office? (Post 1970s I mean.) Think of the fervor for Mullholland Dr (2001) and remember: it only managed $7 million in the States. My friend who I was discussing this with thinks I'm underestimating the accessibility of Swan but agreed that there's still going to be a ceiling; maybe Precious sized grosses? Help me out in the comments. What do you think the ceiling is for the high/low mix of psychological ballet thriller and camp horror hallucinatory artistic metaphor? 

Argh! And there I go again with the bubble. 127 Hours and Black Swan are only 451 screens between them and that's immediately what I start talking about. Perhaps this will be a project for 2011. Go to more mainstream movies. Experiment. (Didn't Tim Brayton agree to review anything that opened at #1 at the box office. Or did I imagine that? Think of the things you'd have to review!) My point is this: My brother called last week wanting to talk about Skyline which opened on 2800 screens and Megamind which opened on nearly 4,000. I hadn't seen them. Total bummer because I don't talk to my brother enough and he called about movies, sniffle, my favorite topic.

Tangled has nearly equalled the entire The Princess and the Frog gross
in its first two weeks.

So outside the bubble... Tangled. Do you think Disney will attribute its success to that misleading obnoxious ad campaign positioning it as a Shrek-like affair or to the fact that it's a throwback to their late 80/early 90s musical princess heyday. Or will they attribute it to both and advertise all future movies as the opposite of the type of movie they actually are?
*

"Tangled" as 50th. A Disney List

At some point in the chronology of me dealing with Tangled, a complicated psychological rollercoaster for this lifelong Rapunzel lover, I had completely forgotten (or maybe never known?) that it was to be the 50th Disney animated feature.

I think I wasn't counting the compilation films but Disney does. Here's a helpful reminder from Disney of that rich history (which I saw courtesy of All Things Fangirl). How many have you seen?

The video comes after the jump.






The ones I've seen are in bold. Some I haven't seen so childhood so I dare not "rank" them though it's tempting to imagine watching them all chronologically and doing so... I just need a free 300 hours or so to watch and write up. Easy. Links go to previous posts if there are any -- every time an animated film comes out I realize it may be the biggest deficiency here at TFE. I never talk about them. Can't figure why -- I've also pinpointed my three childhood favorites and my current holy trinity. An asterisk indicates films I was basically obsessed with during their release.

1. Snow White (1937)

2. Pinocchio (1940)

3. Fantasia (1940) Childhood Obsession

4. Dumbo (1941)

5. Bambi (1942)

6. Saludos Amigoes (1942)

7. The Three Caballeros (1944)

8. Make Mine Music (1946)

9. Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

10. Melody Time(1948)

11. The Adventures of Ichobad & Mr Toad (1949)

12. Cinderella (1950)

13. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

14. Peter Pan (1953)

15. Lady & The Tramp (1955)

16. Sleeping Beauty (1959) Holy Trinity & Childhood Obsession

17. 101 Dalmations (1961)

18. The Sword in the Stone (1963)

19. Jungle Book (1967) Childhood Obsession

20. The Aristocats (1970)

21. Robin Hood (1973)

22. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

23. The Rescuers (1977)

24. The Fox and the Hound (1981)

25. The Black Cauldron (1985)

26. The Great Mouse Detective* (1986)

27. Oliver & Company (1988)

28. The Little Mermaid* (1989) Holy Trinity

29. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

30. Beauty & The Beast* (1991) Holy Trinity

31. Aladdin (1992)

32. Lion King (1994)

33. Pocahontas* (1995)

34. Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

35. Hercules (1997)

36. Mulan (1998)

37. Tarzan (1999)

38. Fantasia 2000 (1999)

39. Dinosaur (2000)
40. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
41. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
42. Lilo & Stich (2002)

43. Treasure Planet (2002)

44. Brother Bear (2003)
45. Home on the Range (2004)
46. Chicken Little (2005)

47. Meet The Robinsons (2007)

48. Bolt (2008)

49. Princess & The Frog (2009)

50. Tangled (2010)

Yeah, yeah, Nathaniel, that's all well and good. But when are you going to really write about Tangled? Ergh. I know, I know. For what it's worth, I had a conversation with Michael (who writes "Unsung Heroes") about Tangled over dinner a couple of days back -- where we'd place it in the Disney hierarchy, its strength and weaknesses. I'll share that in a couple of days. Must transcribe first. But by then you'll all have seen it, right?

7 Word Reviews: From Rapunzel to Woody

Until I find more time... 7 words must suffice.

Tangled 
Disney's animated Rapunzel musical (Skip the 3D, save money.)
7WR: Gorgeously rendered central image / conflict. Tonal slips.  B+
[More to come on this one soon. Sorry for wait.]

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Woody Allen's annual comedy. This one focuses on a failed writer (Josh Brolin) whose new work just doesn't measure up to the old (hmmmm) and the women in his life.
7WR: Woody, lazily confessing, quotes Shakespeare "...signifying nothing."  D*

Inside Job
Oscar finalist documentary on the global economic crisis.

7WR: Dry, linear 'Recitation O' Horrors'. Beautifully shot. B

The Way Back

Peter Weir's true WWII era story of escapees from a Siberian work camp.

7WR: The walking dead; only haunts in stasis. B/B-

*That grade might be generous. It might be my second least favorite Woody Allen film. Nothing "tops" The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

Donna Murphy is "Mother Gothel"

If you don't just skip the occasional theater post on The Film Experience you may know of my love of Tony winner Donna Murphy. She has what might be her most significant screen role ever this very year. 'But what they want from her is....her voice.' She is playing Mother Gothel, the villainess of Disney's Tangled. She's the one who grounded Rapunzel, like, forever. [Okay, stop gagging. I know the juvenilia of the Tangled marketing has been entirely off-putting but let's stay positive for two minutes.]

Here's the first image release of Mother Gothel, just released.

Tangled's song score -- eight new songs the soundtrack is out in November the week before the movie -- is by Alan Menken so we hope against hope that the songs will be good and some of his past work is very good indeed. Lately it hasn't been quite so magical but at the very least a Menken score would have to be preferrable to the pop-song laden trailer music which led us to believe that this would be another Shrek, musically speaking. [Shudder.]

<--- Donna (left) with fellow Broadway headliner Sutton Foster, who has weirdly never appeared in a film, despite being a rather big deal on stage. (Usually the big theater stars get at least some film work.)

You've probably seen Donna in a few things already since she does bit parts on film (like in Door in the Floor or Spider-Man 2) and major parts on TV... but her voice is INCREDIBLE so I'm hoping she gets a song that's worthy of her.

So, let's think about the "villain songs" in Menken's oeuvre. How would you rank them? Here's what I'd say.

1. "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid. Undeniable classic!
2. "Gaston" from Beauty & The Beast. Not exactly an 'I'm evil' song but so great nonetheless.
3. "Suppertime" from Little Shop of Horrors. Creepy.
4. "Heaven's Light/Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hunchback's music is SO underrated and this scene sandwiched next to Children of God is maybe my favorite musical act in any Disney picture. Marvelous. Can I get an "amen"?
5. "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" from Little Shop of Horrors. Fun.
6. "Mine, Mine, Mine" from Pocahontas. Errrr. not so much.

Now, admittedly the lyrics are a crucial part of the best villain songs. So hopefully Menken will have great assist from Glenn Slater in that department though obviously there will never be another Howard Ashman. Not every villain gets a song. If I recall correctly Hades from Hercules and Jafar from Aladdin don't have songs but that better not be the case when you've got pipes as golden as Murphy's to work with. That'd be like casting Mandy Patinkin in a musical and not letting him sing. Hey, now wait a mi...

Here's some Murphy performances I just love. "Hit Me With a Hot Note" from What About Joan? "Swing" from Wonderful Town, "Loving You" from Passion and "Shall We Dance?" from The King and I.

Linkfish

Before we get to the links, two things.

1. Catfish, a hot ticket documentary from Sundance is coming to theaters near you. It's totally worth seeing but please avoid all articles and trailers. Just know that it's about an online relationship. Just trust me on this one. Totally worth seeing (even if you hate it) for the conversations it'll spark afterwards.
2. Black Swan will open in early December, presumably following The Wrestler's release pattern. I'm not sure this is a good idea since it seems like a harder sell for awardage since it's genre tinged AND about young beauties. Oscar likes old broken down piece of meat man drama way more. But I must lower my expectations. I'm unreasonably excited and there's not even a trailer yet.

Link Time
I Need My Fix Emily Blunt in Elle. Did y'all hear Meryl Streep sang ABBA at Blunt's wedding? Blunt leads a charmed life, okay.
Coming Soon The Social Network and The Tempest will open and close NYFF, respectively. But what's the centerpiece?
The Disney Blog a live action Mulan with Zhang Ziyi. Well, Ziyi could really use a comeback hit.
Movies Kick Ass weighs in on the new posters for Tangled and Never Let Me Go.
/Film Liam Neeson on longer attached to Steven Spielberg's Lincoln biopic. Will it ever be made?
Fader remembers the Madonna-adjacent style of Tony Ward. Definitely Madonna's best trophy boy.
That Obscure Object Johnny Depp by Herb Ritts? Wow, this takes me back.


Fashion & Style considers Mad Men and and the vicarious thrills and feelings of superiority watching its messy lives. But are we living? Great piece.
Edward Copeland on Film I haven't read this 75th anniversary article on Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps yet, but I hope to write about the movie myself tonight, if time allows. Watching it on Netflix today.
Alt Film Guide Suso Cecchi D'Amico, the female Italian screenwriter that I'd forgotten on my list of Oldest Living Oscar Nominees last month, died yesterday in Rome. She leaves behind many classic films including The Bicycle Thief and The Leopard.

Today's Must Read
The Awl "Fingered by Fosse" a conversation about jazz hands, not spirit fingers. The clip from All That Jazz makes me sad because we'll never see dancing like Ann Reinking's again at the cinema. No directors or studios care about training anymore. And Ann is a marvel. That takes years to master.

Finally, here's Jude Law for Dior Homme (directed by Guy Ritchie)




Jude Law is nasty. We've always liked him that way. Ever since Wilde.

"we have 12 vacancies. 12 cabins, 12 links."

<-- poster for The American. I like. Do you?

links
Word Smoker I love this piece on Tangled and its evocations of "tentacle porn".
Some Came Running a piece on Cyrus which is quite a funny if inconsequential movie. Glenn Kenny is so fun to read.
Movie|Line Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising) on Wonder Woman and what he'd do with her in a movie. This is a pretty intriguing interview. I would love them to give this project to someone who has an idea, you know. Not just another generic superhero movie.
The Awl proclaims Toy Story 3 "totally bonkers" and the best movie of the year. Good piece
The Wrap I didn't know this: Influential guilds are rallying to have IMDb lose those birthdates, claiming it leads to ageism in a youth-obsessed business.
/Film A Toy Story short coming next year? Oh Christ Almighty. What happened to going out with a bang?

Psycho is 50
I really meant to commemorate it myself but until I do...
WSJ great piece on Psycho (1960) and the Bernard Hermann score
Sunset Gun "50 Years and a Remake Later". I love discovering that cinephiles I respect are also fond of the Gus Van Sant recreation. Throw your stones elsewhere I'm not the least bit embarrassed about it. I like cinematic experimentation.

and here's a YouTube video on shower scene parodies/homages/ripoffs (hat tip to JA)



off-cinema
Sociological Images fun art project visualizing "masculine" images through "feminine" processes. We need more of this since Toy Story 3, though often brilliant, continues Pixar's little boys rule / girlie things not as cool messaging.
Us Magazine Ryan Kwanten is writing a sex guide book. Anyone who has ever watched his sex scenes on True Blood will surely buy it. Best Seller!
Boy Culture Is Queen Latifah softening her stance about coming out?

finally, Rob Will Review top ten Glee performances season 1. But I really must take exception with Kurts coopting of "Rose's Turn" not being on the list. That's just crazy talk.

p.s.
I find it very annoying --and I wonder if any of you have noticed -- that blogger no longer has accurate comment counts. It's very annoying because I read every comment and if it's lying to me about when you're commenting, I might miss some. grrrr.

Yes, No, Maybe So: Tangled

Unnghhwhaa? I thought Rapunzel i.e. Tangled was going to be a YES for me from day one. But...



Teaser trailers are supposed to excite you. Unless they've changed the def' in Websters, this is not what I'd personally describe as "excitement". This is no tease, but a bully. But let's break down the reaction anyway to our traditional yes, no, maybe so trailer feelings.

I've been waiting my whole life for Disney to take on the Rapunzel story. In fact, when I was a kid and reading books on animation and wanting to be an animator myself, this is the fairy tale I fixated on as something they hadn't done and why was that and could I please do it myself? Plus, it is a musical and Alan Menken is sometimes brilliant (even if they did make the bizarro choice to do the songs with a 60s flavor).

How bad could this movie really be?

I don't wanna know the answer to that question.

I mean... "This is the best day ever!"??? Ghastly! Doesn't this take place in ye olde medieval times and isn't Rapunzel a shut in? Shouldn't it be easier to imagine her as Sleeping Beauty's BFF rather than a member of Bratz. Anyway, both Rapunzel and her prince charming type, refashioned here as a thief, seem to be enrolled in that infamous late 90s/ early 00s school for bratty self-aware animation where characters do "funny" antics while random rock songs play or make anachronistic jokes & pop culture references that have utterly no connection to the time period or the material. This school's dread curriculum first entered Disney product with Aladdin and by the time of Hercules and Tarzan, all the classic textbooks had been replaced. I began to realize that nothing was ever going to feel as pure and magical and, well, mature, as Beauty & The Beast again. Shrek (not from Disney) was the star pupil of this Satanic School's teachings. I HATE SHREK. So I transferred out as quickly as I could and put all my hopes and future dreams in the hands of Pixar and imported Mizayakis.

But sometimes I miss classic Disney fairytales so this is not the best day ever.

On the other hand... if I hadn't been wanting to see Rapunzel onscreen since I was a wee thing constantly brushing and braiding my big sister's long tresses, ! I know! maybe I'd find this cute? I mean cute like Flynn Rider and his porn name who you know'll start showing up in those lustful Disney fan-fantasies soon enough. If I see it when I'm feeling exceptionally generous, might it be [gasp] fun? We don't see Mother Gothel (the villain) in this teaser but Donna Murphy is providing her voice. Donna Murphy is amazement, trust. Can there at least be an excellent song for her? A "Poor Unfortunate Souls" level classic?

Help me out here with your own yes, no and maybe sos. Tell me I worry too much.
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Once Upon a Time In...

It's Inglourious Basterds Day... 5 days until Hollywood's High Holy Night

"Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France..." was a pretty great opening for a revisionist history yarn like Inglourious Basterds. I feel safe in assuming it's the most violent film to ever use the instantly familiar "Once upon a time..." line for story positioning.

Can you think of other films that have used the "Once upon a time..." line in unusual fashion? It's a memory exercise for the comments. The only movies I can think of are the original Disney classics which even used to zero in on books opening and turning pages to put you in the right fantastical (not based on a true story) frame of mind.

I know that Disney promises that the upcoming Thanskgiving release, the 3D animated Tangled, will be a "really fresh, smart take on the Rapunzel story" but I think nobody will ever beat Stephen Sondheim for refashioning fairy tales to serve his own brilliant purposes.

Rapunzel Unbraided, Pfeiffer Shorn (?)

Oopsie. Forgot to update the Say What? contest from the week. The winner is Michael Parsons who is the first back-to-back winner of this series. Next time I'll let him pick the winner and declare him ineligible!


There were other good ones if you click back though. There were also some interesting comments which I'd hoped to address. But this week went on as long as Rapunzel's locks. Jack observed/worried that Disney will be going all snarky/cynical with this one (note the poses) and misses the sense of innocence and wonder that used to be found in the genre. Duly noted and I do think that's a shame. Especially since I love the story of Rapunzel and if any character shouldn't be worldly and snarky it's probably the one who's a total shut in with no outside contact.

Can Disney movies ever be innocent again when they've discovered the billion$ to be grossed by merely adding princesses with new dress colors in each film? Didn't anyone wear purple yet? Rapunzel it is, then!

The color wheel gets more crowded: yellow for Belle; light blue for Cinderella; blue pink for Aurora; light green for Jasmine; browns for Pocahontas; multi-colors for Snow White and Mulan; silvery white (?) for Tiana; and one switch hitter in Ariel (though it's usually green or pink... take the pink! Let Aurora go back to blue, fools!).

Eventually they'll get around to a Princess swathed in red. Or black. Or flourescent beige.


But back to Rapunzel ! The originally announced voice for the girl in the tower was the singular Kristin Chenoweth so now that she's been replaced, I'm less excited about the heroine. Once you've dangled the Chenoweth in front of me everything else is a let down. But at least the replacement pipes (Mandy Moore) are musical ones. I'm more excited about the villain Madame Gothel who'll be voiced by the great Broadway star Donna Murphy who just never gets the good parts in movies even though she's a) insanely talented and b) beautiful and c) funny.

In other hairy news, reader Cristhian pointed out this photo (left) in which someone involved in this musical --why doesn't Rotten Tomatoes caption its photos? -- has a photo of Michelle Pfeiffer pinned to his wall. Look to the top right corner.

Did they use her blondeness for Rapunzel inspiration or is he merely a pfan? Curiously it's the same photo that they've been adorning her IMDB page with for ten years (it's lifted from The Story of Us I think). If it's not her hair I'm pretending she turned them down for voicework. She's done the animated films already (Sinbad and The Prince of Egypt) and she's not the sort of star who needs the easy money.

But speaking of hair, if she was inspiration for Rapunzel they may have caught her just in time. Has she chopped off her famous locks? Some photos from two days ago just hit the net here but some people are saying it isn't her. Discrepancies! Whether or not it's Pfeiffer, the overall look is very Ladyhawke / Into the Night (1985) era, don'cha think? With maybe a little Dangerous Minds thrown in by way of leather jacket.

In other Pfeiffer news: I keep forgetting to post this. This past Tuesday in Palm Springs, she presented a prize to Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart. I'm always thrilled to see the Fabulous Baker Boys duo reunited...


...and if she can't ever have an Oscar, at least he is probably getting one. I'm sure she'll be thrilled for him. She mentioned him, unprompted, while discussing Chéri when I met* her and he attended her star ceremony for the Walk of Fame in 2008. Why they've never reunited onscreen is an unsolvable mystery, something to hold against their agents and a bad decision on both their parts.

*well... "met" as in sat two seats away from her. But that's as close as I need to get. So much emotional/visual stimuli! ;)

Say What? Rapunzel

Amuse us in the comments. Add a caption or dialogue to this new image from Disney's next fairytale animated musical, Rapunzel


I'll repost on Wednesday with the winning entry.

P.S. When I was a little kid I totally dreamed of being an animator. And you know what fairy tale I wanted to make since Disney wasn't doing it? You guessed it. God, I hope this one is good. It opens next Thanksgiving or thereabouts.
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