This Link Goes to 11

Live Feed Glee inspired political attack ad. Who knew an attack ad could be cute?
Kenneth in the (212) my friend Kenneth will be seen briefly in the new Mindy Cohn gay flick Violet Tendencies. When was the last time you heard "new Mindy Cohn flick"... let alone a gay one?
Pop Justice "Bad Romance" is one year old today. Kinda. Still love it.

This Leonardo TotallyLooksLike double got
saved on my computer months ago. Every time I
notice it I start giggling. So I must finally share.

Vulture worries that Thor's Frost Giants will battle for the home tree in Avatar. Please. Thor should be so lucky to be (favorably) compared to Avatar. I'm guessing. I am just sensing a terrible terrible movie coming our way.
IndieWire assures us that the Spirit Awards are returning to their Saturday afternoon by the beach tradition.
ArtsBeat Broadway cools down its celebrity lust... for the current moment at least.
Popbytes Speaking of... can you believe that The King's Speech is already planning its Broadway bow? It hasn't even opened in movie theaters yet!
MTV Ang Lee's Life of Pi gets one step closer to production by casting its lead actor 17 year-old Suraj Sharma
Just Jared Tom Hardy for Snow White and the Hunstman? I'm in. Just please let some of these new fairy tale movies NOT view Tim Burton's hideous Alice as something to emulate.

...and some artwork for you
Y'all don't comment on the art related posts but you're going to keep getting them because Nathaniel likes to draw and he loves the artists out there making the internet a more beautiful / whimsical / imaginative place. Deal!
Becky Cloonan "Sluts of Dracula" omg love these sketches. And the title is to undie for.
Austin Translation "Bitter Moments with Count Chocula" a wee Twilight dig.

No Exit Through The Simpsons Shop

Did you catch this frankly amazing Banksy-adjusted opening to The Simpsons? Here it is in all its subversive glory.



This makes me think two things.

1. I probably should have seen this year's buzzy Banksy street art doc Exit Through the Gift Shop. Of the three documentaries at Sundance that garnered the most "you must see this!" buzz -- the others being Catfish (loved) and Waiting for Superman (did not enjoy) -- it's the one I skipped.
2. Maybe I should still be watching The Simpsons?

Links: Cher, Cheyenne, Celestia, Carey and CQueen

Guardian good piece on Anne Heche, her not totally recovered career post-Celestia, and Hollywood's double standards about men and women with troubled souls.
After Elton first look at Cheyenne Jackson on Glee. He's replacing Idina as the Vocal Adrenaline coach. I guess that means he's off 30 Rock? But this'll be a better fit anyway. Yay for singing stars!
Lazy Circles speaking of Cheyenne...
Natasha VC makes a brilliant observation on the quality of Al Pacino's acting.
Broadway Buzz A Cher bio-pic style Broadway musical is in the works from director Andy Fickman (You Again)


Avengers Assemble have you seen these new YouTube shorts, the superhero team gathers to discuss business/politics. It's such a weird concept that I am forced to enjoy. They need to speed up line delivery a bit but each episode has a few good laughs.
Film Freak Central on Let Me In (I thought this review was interesting. Positive but definitely keeps the original in mind.)
Coming Soon Sacha Baron Cohen to play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in a biopic. Filming starts in 2011. You know what's weird? The internet rumor mill spends so much time talking about pre-production and development that by the time something is official, one could swear it was official 7 or 8 months prior! and that it's totally old news.
PopWrap Carey Mulligan has been making surprise appearances at movie theaters in NYC to introduce Never Let Me Go. How cool.
Pussy Goes Grrr offers up a late "best shot", a minimalist one, from the wonderful Pandora's Box (1929)
/Film Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) writing a new live-action version of Pinnocchio.
37 Posters by Jerod Gibson is a design project using movie quotes in the shape of the movie's iconography for new posters. Fun. The one for The Big Lebowski is probably my favorite.
Movie|Line Andrew Garfield sings "Bed Intruder". Wait, what? I have to post it here. It's just too funny/weird.



HELP. I'm curious as to what you all use for your blog reading? Do you click directly to the sites or do you use a blog reader? In the past I've always used bloglines which is where roughly 2/3rds of my link roundups are pulled from. I have hundreds of subscriptions... some of which I read and some of which... well, there's only so much time. Bloglines is shutting down as of October 1st so I'll have to rebuild elsewhere. I think I'll start from scratch so to as freshen up. Any suggestions?
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actual e-mail received last night.

LOL. I guess my friend wasn't happy that I dropped Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole from those Oscar predictions. The film has it's official premiere tomorrow in Toronto so expect a lot of net reaction for better and for worse. Please get distribution and release date nailed down Most-Desired-Film-of-Mine-Except-for -Black-Swan (sorry)! You can do it.
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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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Don't Be Afraid of the Link

<-- The poster and the teaser for the British noir Jack Falls. Hmmm, somebody has been mainlining Sin City!

Victim of the Time on Susannah York. My god I love this scene in They Shoot Horses Don't They
Guardian Stanley Kubrick's widow speaks. How they met, how he danced (?) and more...
Cinema Obsessed is spooked by the Don't Be Afraid of the Dark teaser. I am too. Guillermo Del Toro found created his scaried creature yet called "Katie Holmes"!
And Your Little Blog, Too shares memories of meeting Patricia Neal (RIP)
Videogum Inception themed casual encounter [NSFW... and by Not Safe For Work I mean NSFP... Not Safe for the Prudish]. You know it's funny. I was just going to post about how I'm just DONE with reading about Inception on the internets and then this hit. Hee.


Tribeca Film my column "best in show" spotlights John Hawkes and Dale Dickey in Winter's Bone
52 Bad Dudes This is a cool tumblr. Adam Sidwell is drawing badasses from the movies each week
50 Best Illustration Blogs If you're like me and you love drawrings, check these out.
Daventry Blue "12 Songs About Movie Stars" Can you think of any more?
Quiet Earth isn't too happy about these plans for Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

On a final note, I read Sunset Gun's piece on a meeting with Lindsay Lohan before that infamous trip to Cannes with great interest. Like Kim, I think Lohan is gifted and like Kim I'm all for forgiving stars their scandals. I have roughly zero use for the weird media demand that they also be role models. But I'm not defensive about LiLo anymore. Give me fine movie appearances and I'll forgive all but Lohan isn't delivering in the movies... or even in the movies so I can't rally. I wish she'd come back but until she recovers her acting focus, I have no real use for her. Party girls bore me. Give me actresses!

Earth's Mightiest Links!

Risky Business a hideous sounding new version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame may be upon us. Action/adventure... inspired by The Pirates of the Caribbean. Huh?
Movie|Line thinks that Salt is going to be bigger than Inception. I've been thinking this too, yo. I don't know why but I think Salt is going to be massive... we're speaking of box office, mind.
Empire Haley Joel Osment is 22 now! He's returning to the screen after a long absence to play a virgin teacher in the comedy Sex Ed.
Cinema Blend Edward Norton calm about The Avengers situation.


In Contention the top 10 performances in Chris Nolan films. Hard to argue with #1 but otherwise I'm sure there's room for debate.
Guardian Will Mélanie Laurent be the biggest French export since Binoche?
MTV Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, True Blood) is already eyeing a third HBO series. Good luck topping the previous two. P.S. Why doesn't my beloved Joss Whedon make the jump to pay cable. I'll never understand it. He's perfectly suited for long form writer driven stuff. God, I hate this Avengers movie, tying up all these people.
That Obscure Object "I wish this excuse was still relevant." Teehee

Finally, behold and gape at this Toy Story 3 finger painting.



Having "painted" on my iPhone, I frankly cannot believe that someone can do this (although I'm sure it would help to have that larger iPad surface).

Let's Link Together, yeahyeahyeah, think of all that we could sha-are.

Tyler Coates shares my favorite personal anecdote post of this past week. Yay, Parent Trap.
Peel Slowly offers up several examples of movies recreating paintings. Neat stuff.

Material Girl Yes, it's true. Madonna's firstborn is now a (fashion) blogger. She loves all things 80s apparently like 4realz. Believe it or not I threw a first birthday party for Lourdes (aka Lola) in 1997 with my roomie at the time who was also a Madonna man. Our apartment was packed -- anything Madonna themed you know -- and we gave all the donations to a local children's hospital. So, see, one can use celebrity obsessive powers for good.
Movie|Line "9 dates that will shape the rest of 2010."
I Need My Fix Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green are now married in case you hadn't heard or cared.
In Contention Tree of Life is Apparition's sole 2010 release now. "And who knows if we'll even see it in 2010," Nathaniel the cynic adds.


Anita Kunz She's one of my favorite illustrators and she drew 100 nude male celebrities for an artshow in Toronto. How funny. This is but a 3% sample. But if you're in Toronto, go see it. Report back.
Eye Scoop Excuse me, how had I not heard that Christophe Honore was doing another musical with Ludivine Sagnier and Louis Garrel (from Love Songs)! So excited. That film just grows on you.
Cinematical Peter Sarsgaard goes Bluegrass.

A Blog Next Door suggests you watch TiMER on Netflix Instant Watch and so do I. Anya!
A BlNYT Wonder Woman has a new look. I'm sure this will be applauded widely but I can't help but worry that it's one more step in completely genericizing all superheroes. Watch it turn into black form fitting armory leather for the movie which all superheroes seem to be wearing ever since they held a mass costume designing conference in 2000 and decreed that The Matrix and The X-Men were the new standards for f/x costuming.
The Awl a conversation about The Twilight Saga: Eclipse that has to be more entertaining than the movie.

Finally, Towleroad alerts us to a rare moment of levity in the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Elena Kagan. The "Edward vs. Jacob case"



I don't even know what to say...

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P.S. If you've been following me on Twitter, you already know that I met Julianne Moore today. Yes, yes, I'll tell you all about it soon enough. I have to process first. [gulp] I reached out my hand to shake hers and... she hugged me!

Earliest (Second Hand) Movie Memory: Jaws (1975)

I'm ready to love a big summer blockbuster again. But will there be one worth loving? I worry.

It pains me to say that I don't remember my first moviegoing experience. Some people do and I'm jealous of each and every one of them. I assume it was something Disney but I've never been able to recall and my parents aren't helpful there (they're not movie people). My earliest cinematic memory is actually second hand. I was scared to death of Jaws (1975) as a little kid a full decade or so before I actually saw it. Ahhhh, irrational childhood phobias...

[These illustrations were first published on the site in 2003]

First Panel: Jaws' poster haunted me. Neighborhood kids fixated, snickering, on the nude swimmer. I stared in horror: How could any animal have so many teeth ?!?

Second Panel: I tried to inure myself by playing the famous theme on our piano. Nothing worked. The backyard pool became fraught with terror.

Third Panel: People blame Spielberg for creating the blockbuster filmmaking mentality. I blame him for ruining summer in the pool.

What's your earliest movie memory?
Were you scared of any movies as a kid that you didn't see until years later? I'd especially love to hear from any readers who have first memories from earlier than the mid 70s so that I don't feel so old! ;) I don't suppose TFE readers born in the 1990s have any movie fears. Don't they wean kids on slasher flicks now?

A Link Divided

multiplex
Movie|Line suggests that Lindsay Lohan stay in France. International diplomacy is admittedly not their strong suit
The Onion Ridley Scott and Tim Burton switch action figures. 'No tradebacks!' (this article is a couple weeks old but if you haven't read it, experience the hilarity)


The Big Picture questions the hypocrisy of dissing Shia Labeouf for dissing Steven Spielberg. Good piece. There's too many "yes people" in Hollywood and Crystal Skull stank.
The Hot Blog Poland waxes philosophical about revivals of genres, musicals, and cartoons
A Socialite's Life I wouldn't normally link to a Robert Pattison on set! thing (who cares?) but in truth I have read this book they're making into a movie Water For Elephants. The whole time I was reading it -- even though it wasn't great or anything -- I kept thinking 'this should be a movie.'NatashaVC an evocative Harvey Keitel story
I Need My Fix on the Demi Moore ♥ Ashton Kutcher romance. In truth they're one of my fav Hollywood couples, too

arthouse
In Contention Guy Lodge on Cannes winding down
Vulture The Fug Girls uncover and display the 10 loopiest outfits at Cannes. Their quote on Kate Beckinsale who isn't wearing anything crazy in the picture is lol

...tends to prefer either short prom dresses or really long prom dresses; ergo, for her, this is practically Gaga City.

Scanners With Jean Luc Godard's Socialisme premiering, Jim Emerson neatly summarizes the critical conversations about Godard over the past... entire career
David Germain on Sony Pictures Classics at Cannes and with Oscar
YouTube Have you seen this "Chlöe Sevigny" dragster yet? Funny. Love the coyness when dropping Tilda's name

great white way
Just Jared Paul Reubens still in process of bringing Pee Wee Herman back. Yay.

the page
Cooley! "Inappropriate Golden Age Book: Movies R Fun" [via]

the boob tube
Antenna an interesting piece on the Joss Whedon episode of Glee just past, which gives answer to the question i had while watching it: this doesn't feel like recent episodes. Why?

in the life
The Onion "New Social Networking Site Changing The Way Oh, Christ, Forget It Let Someone Else Report On This Bullshit."

Link & Order: Special Random Unit

The Awl "10 Reasons Why You Should Give Me One More Chance This Weekend" by that bucket of charm "Russell Crowe". (teehee)
Go Fug Yourself theorizes that Cate Blanchett stole a White House carpet
Go Fug Yourself... and welcomes Cannes crazy with open arms
Catalogue of Curiousities "floating heads of doom!"
Buzz Sugar the trailer for True Blood Season 3
Mister Hipp "He can take it." I love this illustration of Wolverine. So fun


Towleroad Elton John covering Madonna hits with scandily clad go go boys. What the hell?
Towleroad my weekly column
The Portland Mercury hilarious movie marquee. Poor Terrence Howard
A Socialite's Life Christina Ricci to join Laura Linney on Broadway in September. Interesting
Playbill Antonio Banderas returning to Broadway for Kander & Ebb's Zorba
Empire strangest bedfellows ever: Charlie Kaufman + Kung Fu Panda
/Film yes I've heard about the duleing Monroe biopics: Naomi Watts vs. Michelle Williams. Just haven't mentioned them yet since they kinda deserve a whole big post. Later. Have patience.

Finally, PopEater says goodbye to Law & Order (just cancelled) with a opening credits mashup of all casts from the franchise. I know people are sad that the original flagship series is going bye-bye. But puhleze. It lives on in 3 spinoffs and endless syndication like some unholy hydra beast. I will never be able to escape it. You've won, television my nemesis, you've won! I thank the original L&O for keeping my Broadway babies fed and in rent payments... but otherwise I kick it to the curb. See, I don't think I can take one more Linus Roache or Dianne Wiest situation wherein some gargantuan talent hides their magnificence under that particular bushel. The next great that the series plans to taint is... Isabelle Huppert. Je pleure.

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice

I was sad to hear Monday that fantasy artist Frank Frazetta had passed away. He died of complications from a stroke at 82. I grew up in a very pro-fantasy household so Frazetta was a name I knew fairly early. I was thrilled when I first saw Fire & Ice, a rototoscoped collaboration between Frazetta and rogue animator Ralph Bakshi (though years later I definitely took issue with the villain).



I loved watching those cartoons run and fight so realistically. It was as if their monotone, ink-outlined flesh were real. With the rise of CGI, rototoscoping made less sense. There's no reason not to use real actors for fantastical stories now. If you're going for realism that is.

Fire and Ice was a unique picture when it premiered and we'll never see its like again. I suspect that its closest film relative is Sin City, another picture from a lone wolf director that explicity used an artist's style as entire guiding aesthetic force. With Sin City, the artist even got co-director status.

Fire and Ice flaunted it the most but it wasn't the only movie with a Frazetta connection. Frazetta designed movie posters, did comic books but most importantly his fleshy muscled/busty fantasy art (plentiful examples here) practically defined the modern look of the sword and sorcery genre (at least until The Lord of the Rings arrived) most famously, arguably with Conan. That property is currently getting a Schwarzenegger free reboot in 2011 but we're guessing it won't look that far removed from Frazetta's conception. You can see photos from the set here, here and here.

That's not the only upcoming movie that may owe Frazetta a large debt. There's also John Carter of Mars in 2012. That sci-fi/fantasy movie will star Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) and Lynn Collins (Wolverine) who both have the appropriately flawless bodies for their roles. Though the movie might well risk an R rating if they take Frazetta's barely clothing concepts too literally as aesthetic guide. The weird thing is that Mars is totally cold. Like freezing. Shouldn't they be dressed like eskimos?


Are you looking forward to either of these pictures or was Lord of the Rings you're only real fantasy fancy?

Further Reading
Austin Translation an art blog says goodbye to a hero
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Compartmentalinked

creativity is not a waste of time
Laz Marquez amazing freshly imagined Hitchcock movie posters [heads up]
The Awl a conversation about Lady Gaga's "Telephone"
Gallery of the Absurd Lindsay is a "milkaholic"
Very Important Pixels how great are these simple movie director drawings? You can recognize them instantly!
Pop Eaters Mad Men dolls? Me want


classics
Self Styled Siren on Merle Oberon and her hidden mother
Old Hollywood 'subtle moments in American cinema' with Jayne Mansfield
If Charlie Parker... two bitches

oscar night
Towleroad more lingering (gay) questions from Oscar night
The Hot Blog has a few (harsh) words on the media's reaction to Farrah Fawcett's absence from Oscar's 'In Memoriam'. I personally think she should have been included since Michael Jackson was. I mean if we're opening it up to celebrities who weren't movie stars, shouldn't they be treated equally?

coming soon
The Big Picture Leonardo da Vinci, action hero. Oh dear
I Need My Fix Dakota & Kristen premiere The Runaways. In hideous clothing.
V Magazine The Art of Being Kirsten Dunst (Can we expect a comeback? *crosses fingers*)
LA Times more females behind the scenes in Hollywood? We can hope. It's still VERY much a boys club


the state of moviegoing
LAist I have shushed people in movie theaters. Fortunately I've never been stabbed with a meat thermometer for doing it
Erik Lundegaard statistics on moviegoing for the past 100 years. Crazy how the attendance is the same but the population has grown enormously. The 70s had the least amount of moviegoing. No wonder all those great directors got away with so much.

Up in the Link

My Modern Met fun film art for the BAFTA best pic nominees. Speaking of... I will be live-blogging or rather tape-delay blogging the BAFTAs tomorrow night. Be here, 8 PM ESTish.
New York Magazine have you heard the murmurs about Walter Kirn, the Up in the Air novelist? He ain't happy about the lack of an Oscar invite.
Geekologie disturbing Spider-Man fetish video. I wonder if Tobey Maguire ever spent time in his trailer doing this.
I Watch Stuff Owen Wilson to star for Woody Allen next. I could see that pairing working, couldn't you? The film is called... wait, you guessed it, Untitled Woody Allen Project.
Cinema Blend Kristin Scott Thomas to seduce Ethan Hawke in Paris. Can't wait! Parisians are totally into Ethan Hawke, haven't you heard?
Situated Laundry picks 10 favorite frames from 2009 movies (inspired by In Contention)

Vulture Christoph Waltz on The Green Hornet and working with Quentin Tarantino. I love this bit

I said to Quentin once, “Why is it that I’ve never seen a bad performance in one of your movies?” Even from actors — well, you know my belief is there’s no such thing as great actor, good actor, bad actor. And Quentin’s movies are the perfect proof for that. Because when someone is right, he or she is right. And only then can she be good. And with Quentin, I don’t know the way he casts, the way he looks at people, but also, you know, the way he writes his parts, every single part is a great part. There are no lousy parts in Quentin’s movies.

That's so so true. Even the bit players have fun/interesting parts to work with.

Hot Link Injection

I Need My Fix pics from the Shutter Island premiere. Scorsese gets the stars out
Worth 1000 "Mate a Movie" contest. Fun entries my favorites being Lt. Aldo Raine of the Na'Vi tribe and a Coen Bros/ The Wolfman mash-up
/Film An Avatar novel to tide you over until the sequel?
Studio Daily Lance Acord, one of the best living cinematographers (Where The Wild Things Are, Marie Antoinette), speaks
In Contention concludes its annual opinionated shots of the year column
MTV Movies Oren Moverman (The Messenger) moving on from depressed soldiers to depressed rock stars. A Kurt Cobain biopic is next
Upper Playground 'The Lost Art of Inglourious Basterds'. Mmmm, movie artwork.

Finally, today is Molly Ringwald's birthday -- happy 42 -- and since I grew up idolizing her (ohhh, the 80s!) I had to share this great print celebrating The Breakfast Club. It's going for $10 a pop. Isn't it fine?


I should also note that the Oscars will have a tribute to John Hughes this year. That should be fun but I think it's kind of a bummer that the BFCA already went there. And it's a little suspect since I remember my young self being h-o-r-r-i-f-i-e-d when they passed Mr. Hughes over for screenplay nominations for this immortal film. Among others. He was never nominated for an Oscar.

Secret's Out.

Jose here with a look at the most pleasant surprise in the Oscar nominations.



Last night I had the opportunity to see The Secret of Kells (my review here).
Like almost everyone bored to death by how predictable the Oscar nominees were turning out, the mention of this film, that seemed to come out of nowhere, among the Best Animated Feature nominees rang beautifully in my ears.

I have to confess that before I saw it, I was expecting it to be one of those awful decisions AMPAS makes in this category (remember the Simpsons being snubbed in favor of another penguin movie a few years ago?) but now it amazingly turns out that it's one of the most satisfying, almost groundbreaking, decisions the Academy has taken.

Those who feel like it stole Hayao Miyazaki's spot, I have to say they're quite wrong. If a movie was to be replaced in the category it's probably Disney's The Princess and the Frog which is another showcase of how the studio has become so comfortable within its formula that it no longer can muster the magic its classics did.

Curiously the best sequence in that film is a stylized, art deco inspired, moment where Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni rose) imagines she owns a restaurant.
If like me, you also thought this was the only magical moment in the stereotype laden movie, then The Secret of Kells is the movie for you.

Based on the legends that surround the creation of the Book of Kells the film is a lovely allegory about the battle between illumination and barbarism.
It takes its cues from several Pagan myths and Celtic traditions, but its power isn't in its Herman Hesse inspired screenplay (Pixar's still pretty unsurpassed in that area) but in its lavish animation.

It references Klimt, Andrei Rublev, Dadaism, Medieaval tableaux, Mayan and early Latin American monuments, some Tolkien, Samurai Jack, Cretan ceramics, chalk illustration Japanese watercolors among others. But does so in a smooth, elegant way that will make you want to run out and get a book on art history the minute the credits start rolling.

Its simple yet fascinating animation style also recalls the great work done in the mid-twentieth century by the Russian Soyuzdetmultfilm-Studio.



Its passion for graphic history reminded me of the cinematic history crash course provided in WALL-E and as such both movies are true landmarks in their specific field.

But honestly don't take my word for it and run to your theater the minute this movie opens.



You're gonna want to see these come to life...

Halfway House: Sell it to the Highest Bidder

Halfway through the day freeze a movie halfway through. What do we see?

I haven't done a bang up job keeping track of Olivier Assayas career. Quelle dommage. I had loved two of three films of his that I'd seen. Clean, about the misadventures of a recovering addict rock star (Maggie Cheung) did little for me but the diamond hard Demonlover and the layered Irma Vep (also with Cheung) both thrilled me. After numerous reader pleas, and the not so minor matter of those NYFCC and LAFCA foreign film prizes, I finally got around to L'heure d'été / Summer Hours (2009). It's three for four now.

51 minutes into Summer Hours, pragmatism triumphs over sentiment.

Halfway through this rich film, the three heirs to a family fortune decide to sell all of their newly departed mother's estate. It's largely composed of furniture, art and real estate. Their decision may make absolute real-life sense but -- Metaphor Alert! -- they're basically selling their childhood, their memories, and possibly France itself because they just can't be bothered with it... they're busy, OK!? Adrienne (the typically excellent Juliette Binoche) and Jérémie (Jérémie Renier) both live and work abroad and are very much citizens of The (Global) Corporation rather than of France.

At times I worried that the screenplay was a little too on-the-nose about all of this larger meaning but as the film unspools, Assayas's direct candor about his actual subject matter becomes refreshing. As The Boyfriend said to me afterwards "Wow. How many films do you ever see about Cultural Patrimony?"

Not many.

This centerpiece scene ends with the camera tracking the wife of the eldest sibling who leaves the room to find her husband Frédèric (Charles Berling), who quietly excused himself earlier. She finds this eldest and most sentimental family son sitting in their dark bedroom, alone. We already know he's heartbroken: his memories, mother, and siblings are drifting ever further away. But Assayas's cooly intelligent and ineffably sad movie never allows itself to drown in simple sentiment.

Frédèric's Wife: Are you crying?
Frédèric: Don't be ridiculous

Fade out. *

Link Pit(t)

I'll be spending most of the weekend at the movies (I hope). Posting may be light unless I am unusually speedy in the digestion of these big movie meals... which would be a first. I wish there were four of me every December (one to enjoy the holidays, one to earn money, one to see all the movies I missed and all the movies Hollywood withheld simultaneously and one to write about all of that.) Herewith some links to keep you buzzy.

Ed Norton and Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999)

Nerve "Class of 99" This is a neat angle: How did the breakout directors of 1999 fare in the cinematic decade that followed?
Indiewire Oscar's potential Live Action Short nominees
Final Girl Have you seen this series, inspired by my own (20:07). Fun for horror fans though most of it is lost on me, I'll admit. Still I have an affinity for stopping movies at odd places so I like to look at it anyway.
Low Resolution Sandra Bullock: Human Being of the Year

DListed Brad & Angie, sculpturally speaking
New Yorker David Denby's top ten list, with an Inglourious Basterds takedown preface. I love what he says about Up in the Air and you've heard me say virtually the same thing about The Last Station (only I called "without a trace of stiffness" 'unfussy' instead)
In Contention Morgan Freeman IS Nelson Mandela. My god, here we go aga...zzzzzz. When will people finally get tired of each new biopic performance being deemed 'not an impersonation but an incarnation'. Someone says it about someone every damn year.
popbytes "the color of crazy: Brittany Murphy"
A Socialite's Life the Nine premiere in London -- I keep missing pretty things because my schedule is merciless
Movie|Line How big will the numbers for It's Complicated be? Is there no stopping Meryl's box office muscle?

Toxic Birthday Suits

Your cinematic birthdays for 12/02. If it's your big day, let us know.

Steven, Lucy and Warren

1894 Warren William, charming snake, pre-code movie star who was often paired with formidable actresses like Claudette Colbert (Imitation of Life, Cleopatra), Joan Blondell (Gold Diggers of 1933, Stage Struck) and Bette Davis (Three on a Match, Satan Met a Lady)
1914 Ray Walston, the Damn Yankees! devil had a lengthy career on screens small and large
1914 Adolph Green, musical giant of 'Comden & Green' fame. I can't even begin to choose a favorite song by that duo. Plus they wrote the screenplay to Singin' in the Rain!
1923 Maria Callas, La Divina. Fanny Ardant recently played her in Callas Forever. The next actress who'll have a go at her is Eva Mendes in Greek Fire
1925 Julie Harris was Oscar nominated for her film debut (The Member of the Wedding), co-starred with James Dean (East of Eden) and even found nighttime stardom (Knots Landing). But her real legacy is on the stage. Until this past June she was the only actor to have ever won five Tony Awards on Broadway (now she shares that honor with Angela Lansbury)
1943 Steve Rubell, 'Pasha of Disco' was portrayed on film by Mike Myers in the notoriously 'edited' 54 (1998). Has anyone had the chance to see the director's cut of that film?
1945 Penelope Spheeris, 90s film director (Wayne's World, Beverly Hillbillies, The Little Rascals) before female directors were a regular occurence. Here's a list of the top ten grossers by female directors.
1946 Gianni Versace, tragically slain designer. He dressed so many movie stars. His name was mangled so endearingly in Showgirls
1954 Dan Butler one of Hollywood's first out actors so put your hands up for him today. Though he's most famous for his years on Frasier as womanizing "Bulldog" he's also been in several movies from classics (Silence of the Lambs) to gay landmarks (Longtime Companion) to his own projects (he amusingly plays himself as an obsessive actor in Karl Rove, I Love You)
1956 Steven Bauer 80s hunk of Scarface and Thief of Hearts fame
1967 Nick Cheung Ka Fai Hong Kong star (Exiled, The Beast Stalker) who just won the Golden Horse (previous post)
1968 Lucy Liu "Cottonmouth"
1981 Britney Spears, ♪ toxic star, one-time-only movie actress, snake charmer

Today is also the 150th birthday of Georges-Pierre Seurat and 118th birthday of Otto Dix, two painters I love. Seurat, the famous pointilist, has never had a proper biopic though he was portrayed onscreen by Christopher Lee in Moulin Rouge (1952). He also inspired one of Stephen Sondheim's greatest musicals Sunday in the Park with George. That's a musical which should probably never be transferred to the screen but which should be seen on stage every single chance one gets. As far as I know (and it's very possible that I don't know enough in this case) Otto Dix, a neue sachlichkeit painter, has never been so much as a character in a movie. But I'm rather bewitched by Weimar era Germany and his portraiture is pretty incredible. More filmmakers should revisit that era. I could see whole mini movies within his weird and often unflattering portraits. Or at least movie-worthy characters.