With 2010 about to wrap, let's do a top ten list albeit a very specific one. Let's make like Barbara Walters and choose The Most Fascinating (Fictional, LGBT) People. Barbara obviously uses a different criteria than "fascinating" in her annual roundup. Hers seems closer to "constantly in the news /has overworked publicist" and our choices are also debatable. The ranking is somewhat arbitrary. It's a glorified excuse to talk about people, in this case the LGBT characters who were on movie screens in 2010. So let's get to it.
The Invisible Man
This following list is dedicated to the openly gay "Chris Hughes" in THE SOCIAL NETWORK, portrayed by Patrick Mapel (pictured left with Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in the movie). Because this excellent movie chooses to focus so tightly on its intellectual property lawsuits, fraternity "punch" lust, and that central squabbling sextet of Ivy League straight boys (Zuckerberg, Saverin, Narendra, Parker, and "the Winklevii"), it apparently didn't have much room for diversity; the women and the gays involved in the Facebook story don't get much attention.
Read the list of the year's best gay characters at my weekly column @ Towleroad featuring The Kids Are All Right, I Love You Phillip Morris, La Mission and more.
Uh... I got a little carried away. Enjoy the ones you will
JACKintheblog 'Is it just me or does Jake Gyllenhaal look...' Everything I Know responds to EW's list of "greatest characters" with a few theatrical suggestions. EW only allowed for two stage characters. EW sucks at list-making. They're always pandering to the OMGRIGHTNOW CHUD Austin Texas' great theater The Alamo Drafthouse could be coming to your city. I've only been to Austin once and I only peeked at the exterior but I would go there so often... The Pixar Blog "Groovin' With Ken" an interview clip that's not in Toy Story 3 The Telegraph Tim Robey on Mark Ruffalo, The Unpretentious Leading Man Dark Eye Socket What the 00's meant to TFE contributor Craig. It's never too late for a list! Dear Old Hollywood looks at Bette Davis early homes in California Anomalous Material is hosting a "greatest comedy of all time" tournament. Let them know what makes you laugh the hardest Movies Kick Ass "A woman's right to shoes" on Dorothy & her ruby slippers. This is part of... Encore's Movie Musicals Blog-a-Thon which I didn't know about in time. Ah well.
Sex? i cite has a thorough piece up about what critics missed in their savage takedowns of Sex and the City 2. Great read, though I wish I had enjoyed the movie this much! For me it's a miss The Film Doctor 'don't leave me hangin' here'... a discussion about the movie that I appreciate because it's not OTT histrionic / hateful. There's very few discussions of that movie that aren't. And speaking of... The Telegraph Tim Robey discusses "Sex and the City and the Art of the Pan" citing hilarious takedowns of this film and other hated films. Huffington Post dating lesssons from the fab four Tim Seidell equates Sex & the City to Star Wars. Seriously, he does. Original trilogy and 'prequel trilogy' and all Sling Blog 5 pop culture hits besides SatC that were savaged by audiences that they weren't remotely intended to be enjoyed by
Finally... Nicks Flick Picks has reached the final 10 in his Best Actress Project. Incredibly he will soon have seen every Best Actress nominee. Latest writeups: Bergman's Anastasia and Irene Dunne in Love Affair. He's got two of my all time favorite nominees coming up in his final 8 screenings: Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Judy Garland in A Star is Born (1954). I'm prepared for the worst. Though Nick and I are great friends we disagree surprisingly often on the subject of Actress so I have no expectations as to how he'll respond.
P.S. Don't even ask how close I am to having seen all 408 performances. So much left to see. At least that means multiple pleasures await.
Sometimes we're our own worst enemies. "Sex & The City," the ginormously popular HBO sitcom understood this. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), the heroine of the whole enterprise, was the worst offender. She bought shoes when she needed to pay rent. She cheated on her boyfriends. She broadcast her business to the world when she would have been better off keeping her mouth sh -- oh, uh, yes, job hazard as a sex and relationship columnist. Mr. Big (Chris Noth) was also skilled in the art of self sabotage, continually pushing his perfect girl (Carrie, duh!) away when she needed to be pulled close. He perfected this dynamic in the first movie's act one climax by leaving her at the altar. Ouch. Two year old spoiler alert: They got back together and married in the end.
Now the Fab Four (Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte) are back. They've mostly settled down so Sex and the City 2 will pick up the baton and practice the fine art of self sabotage on itself.
Eddie on Film is hosting a John Williams blog-a-thon. That man just doesn't get enough attention you know obviously I'm joking a few pieces are already up. More to come ONTD hilarious bit on public reaction to celebrity sightings. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal Towleroad watch Sex & The City 2 in 60 seconds. Teehee CHUD '50 Cent about to win Oscar' through the weight loss gimmick! Arts Beat fans ask The Lovely Laura Linney questions. Our very own par3182 gets one in. Yes, that's right. I'm claiming TFE readers / frequent commenters as my own. You are all mine mwahhh haha ha ha
The L Magazine how have I never heard of this Liza Minnelli/Vincent Minnelli movie A Matter of Time (1976)? Is there a leak in my brain where I keep Liza? Noh Way "How Carrie Got Her Groove Back." I suspect this is the most positive review of Sex & the City 2 that you'll read The Stranger "Burkas and Birkins" I suspect this is the most negative review of Sex & the City 2 that you will read. NY Magazine Joan Rivers doesn't hold her tongue
I feel so totally forgotten. The fucking New Yorker did this big piece on the genius of Rickles, who is brilliant but who hasn’t changed a line in fifteen years. Meanwhile, I am totally ‘old hat’ and ignored while in reality I could still wipe the floor with both Kathy [Griffin] and Sarah [Silverman].
...and sure is pushing this new documentary. I smell an Oscar nomination in January. Not for Joan Rivers exactly (she didn't direct it) but still.
Cinema Blend Katey Rich on Sex & The City 2's wardrobe budget "Marie Antoinette might call it a little much." As Little As Possible Dan Zak on I Am Love "I kind of love the whole movie, either in spite of or because it is such a bald stab at profound auterism, and an exploitation of the visual mysteries of Swinton." Peer to Peer an interesting interview piece on the decisions behind promotional materials for Red Cliff and Tilda Swinton's star turn in the glorious I Am Love Kenneth in the (212) "If I had a gun" post = hilariously succinct evisceration of not one but two summer movies
SLatIFR interesting piece on different types of film buffs and where their limits are in terms of interest and history The Fug Girls Juliette Binoche in The English Patient and at Cannes 2010 Hollywood ElsewhereBlue Valentine press business. I wonder about this "Cannes bounce" apparently the film is shorter now than when I saw it at Sundance. Seven minutes can make a huge difference in how a film plays. Must see it again
offcinema diversions izasmile makes funny (well, several of them) with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Broadway.com makes a 'top ten stage stars of the decade' list. Unfortunately the list should be titled 'top ten film/tv stars who also do stage'. You can't really do justice to the past decade in theater without mentioning Donna Murphy or Sutton Foster
television The networks have been busy with "Upfronts" lately which means new shows are announced (Ken Levine has advice for the newbies) and old ones are axed. Did you see that ABC is doing a riff on Pixar's The Incredibles mashed up with The Fantastic Four's origin story? It's called No Ordinary Family and mom, dad, daughter and son get superpowers from some crazyweird accident.
Uh... good luck competing with memories of the incredible The Incredibles... although it shouldn't be too hard to wipe the floor with the awful and finally cancelled Heroes.
Directed by: Michael Patrick King, aka that guy who started it all and refuses to quit it. Starring: Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker aka SJP), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), The Island of Manhattan (Manhattan), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis). And in that order though you may disagree.
Synopsis: Until the most recent trailer (below) all we knew was that they go to the desert because that's what filthy rich gorgeous 40somethings in Manhattan apparently do when they need a little R & R. Plot is beside the point. It's all about the girls, the clothes and the laughs. Brought to you by: the last film's extraordinary box office Release date: May 27th
Nathaniel: So, Jose. You and I will probably get flak for picking this one.
Jose: Then bring on the flak!
Nathaniel: But here's the deal: I am an unapologetic fan of the HBO series. It was the ideal series to watch with a groups of friends on a Sunday night. We missed it when it was gone. We even missed groaning about Carrie's columnist tics... how many of her thesis statements were prefaced by "I couldn't help but wonder..." and concluded with "And just like that..."? All of them!
Anyway, we loved the color and the clothes and the puns and the cheeky sex scenes. Speaking generally now, people like to say that that's shallow but is this really any different that people loving action films for great stunt sequences, visual effects, explosions and derring-do. "Derring- do"... I've slipped back in time to the 30s or something. I'm HOPING that this film slips back in time a little too. I worry that the girls might be a little too "settled" what with the happy marriages and children and whatnot. Where's the conflict and the risque fun? Now, I don't mean this in an ageist way at all. Don't all these people continually bitching that the actresses are too old for this realize that they themselves are going to be 40...and then 50... and then 60 before they know it? Do they want their own stories to end at 35?
But I do worry that the first movie painted itself into a corner of domesticity when it was always most fun as a girls-on-the-town comedy. And why are they leaving Manhattan again? Manhattan is the fifth girl. They need her! I'm fraught with anxiety but I'll be there on opening night.
"I can hear the decadence calling!" -Samantha in Sex & the City 2
Jose: I refuse to call this a "guilty pleasure". I unashamedly love everything Sex and thought the first movie was one of the smartest romantic comedies of the decade. I think your travel back in time is appropriate because when I first saw the desert scenes in the trailer I immediately thought Road to Morocco, not "big sequel in an exotic land". I don't really mind them leaving Manhattan so much because I'm sure there's a part in the movie where they realize what fools they were to even leave and will return to the island with hard earned lessons and new found appreciation (I've always wondered who would win in an I ♥ NY battle: Woody Allen or Carrie Bradshaw?)
When it comes to the age issue, it's just plain, old fashioned chauvinist BS; men seem to have a problem with women whether they age or stay young, so I love how Kim Cattrall gets naked and SJP wears the craziest crap out there with no regards for what others will think. SatC2 should work because the themes at the center of the series were timeless and whatever seems shallow for some might be the holy word for others (I know people who believe they can find answers for everything in the show).
Besides even if the movie blows, I would never say no to the opportunity of dressing up on a Friday night and going out for a movie and cocktails with my friends. Isn't this in the end what Sex has always been about?
Nathaniel: That's the not so secret secret to the movie version appeal, surely. Movies that promise a fun group experience are often the movies that open well. I love that the new trailer ends with Charlotte's daughter referencing Aladdin. Carrie amends "yes sweetie, but with cocktails". The series has always known it's a fantasy.
When one thinks of Sarah Jessica Parker the first thing that comes to mind of course is sex.
For years we've enjoyed her iconic performance as the most fabulous journalist in TV (and later movies!). Through most of the last decade she made a name for herself as a great comedic actress, bold producer and fashion icon.
Today she turns 45 and what better way to celebrate her than to indulge in the sheer joy of her style?
Therefore, if an image is worth a thousand words, I give you 45,000 words that express why we love SJP.
How will you celebrate what should ideally be International Fashion Day? How excited are you about the Sex and the City sequel?
id My New Plaid Pants Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen onscreen together. For David Cronenberg? And they're playing psychoanalyst giants/friends/rivals Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung? Please let this be as masterfully sick as Dead Ringers! This is the best movie news since The Hurt Locker's Best Picture win. It's even better news than that if the movie is great.
The Playlist Two new Wizard of Oz movie projects and neither of them are Wicked? Okay worst movie news of week. Coming Soon Lone Scherfig (An Education) is moving on from Carey Mulligan and on to Anne Hathaway (!) The movie is a romance called One Day (co-starring Jim Sturgess). MTV Amanda Seyfried will be The Girl With The Red Riding Hood for teen-girl angst obsessed Catherine Hardwicke (thirteen, Twilight).
ego Flaunt Magazine has a feature interview with Vincent Cassell, he of the Monica Bellucci loving, good French movie-making and Eastern Promises closeted Viggo-lust. Regarding the latter: Isn't everyone gay for Viggo... or shouldn't they be?
I bring this up primarily because I always look at Flaunt Magazine in the book stores (pretty pictures!) and I never buy. So I felt a sudden pang of guilt when I got the press release on this new issue. And no, I have no idea why there's an albino peacock on the cover instead of Vincent Cassel. But I like this bit on French cinema
“Things are very different in France,” muses Cassel. “In Hollywood there’s politics; young actors have to do big, stupid movies to eventually be a box office figure and have access to great directors, stuff like that. But in France the market is a little different. In a minute, you know everybody, so you stick to what you like because, otherwise, you won’t be able to come back to it.”
You can see American actors struggling with this all the time. See Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman's frequent trips into films they aren't suited for in order to maintain their fame levels and enormously salaries within the drama-hating reality of the American box-office. Antagony & Ecstasy "in the spirit of whiny, unconstructive criticism" names the 10 worst best picture winners The Awl Apple's subconcious / conscious take-over of the movies and especially Sex & The City
super-ego LA Times Variety lets its best known critics go. Such a different world than it used to be. Pretty soon PR departments will be the only paid opinion-makers... which is something I'm sure The Corporate Machine always wanted. Film Essent defends Jason Reitman post-Up in the Air Oscar loss /Film Clint Eastwood is now the director for that Dustin Lance Black scripted J Edgar Hoover biopic. What a strange combo?!?!
As y'all know, I am not terribly good at simplicity. I can't just post a trailer. I gotta have an angle (charitable view) or a gimmick (uncharitable view) in order to have at it. Otherwise I fear I'll be absorbed into that Borg-like group internet mind that exists only to offer movie studios free publicity. So what to do with trailers? I used to resent them. I spent a lot of 2009 worrying about our All Foreplay/No Sex internet movie culture. 95% of movie discussions these days take place before anyone ever sees the movie in question. The discussion ends on the movie's opening weekend. Doesn't anyone wanna have sex with the movies anymore?
Speaking of Sex...
I didn't even realize this until both of these teasers premiered this past week or so but 2010's upcoming summer movie season is basically an elaborately expensive time machine designed to transport us back exactly two years to May 2008 when Tony Stark and Carrie Bradshaw played bookend egotist divas. They're both coming back to open and close the month of May again.
Which film are you salivating for?
While I blame our trailer-happy YouTube culture for this 'all foreplay' problem, I have decided to simply accept it and share and thus (hopefully) manage my expectations for new movies with a simple yes, no, maybe so.
Sex & the City 2
Yes. Sarah Jessica Parker is a babe*. She's only gotten more divalicious with age and the opening of this trailer, with the iconic Carrie Bradshaw emerging from her impossibly lux apartment building with pristine white dress and gold shades is such a money shot. Even better, SJP caps it with Carrie's trademark tongue check followed by hair toss. Love it.
*I don't even care how gay that makes me sound, haters!
No. But then there's the suggestion that we're going to spend the whole movie in the Sahara. Sometimes you do just have to get away with the girls but must you go so far? Did they learn nothing for those episodes in California? Manhattan is the fifth girl. And the best one.
Maybe So. Even if this movie is totally unnecessary I still can't wait to see the clothes*.
*I still don't care!
Yes. Robert Downey Jr & Gwyneth Paltrow had fine chemistry in the first. More Pepper, please. This kiss-off "you complete me" banter is totally endearing even though it's a little smug/ obnoxious. Kind of like RDJ as Tony Stark. No. I'm excited that Mickey Rourke has a career again (God, the Wrestler was so good). But I don't get this busy/ugly Whiplash costume. Are those orange harem pants? Maybe So. Metallic special effects mayhem. Entirely thrilling or too repetitive for words?
Those were my immediate responses. Yours? Do share... even if your feelings are as contradictory and carefully managed as mine.
Bonus points to whoever can accurately comment-guess how little screen time Scarlett Johansson is actually going to have as the Black Widow. You know how those superhero franchises like to load up on excellent comic book characters only to do virtually nothing with them once they show up onscreen. Care to guess? Unfortunately we won't be able to name the winner until May.
Your cinematic birthdays for December 1st. This post is dedicated to frequent reader/commenter Chris Na Taraja who celebrates the big 4-0 today. Happy Birthday, Chris!
"The World Spins" one of my single favorite scenes on television ever. Although it doesn't really work out of context. So sorry
1958 Candace Bushnell aka "Carrie Bradshaw" minus the perfection of SJP 1961 Jeremy Northam I bought the Gosford Park soundtrack just to hear him sing over and over again
1967 Nestor Carbonell tv series regular (Suddenly Susan, Lost, Kim Possible), occasional screen actor (The Dark Knight) who may or may not nab the famous "Khan" role in the sequel to this year's smash Star Trek reboot 1970 Sarah Silverman who is no longer f***ing Matt Damon 1971 Emily Mortimer (right) fine actress, Mrs. Alessandro Nivola. Not shy about her bod either, witness Lovely & Amazing in which she poses for a lengthy inspection or Young Adam in which she lets Ewan McGregor rub custard and ketchup all over her. But then again... who wouldn't? Next up for Emily: a key role in Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. More on that here. 2005 Violet Affleck, Spawn of Bennifer, beloved by all gossip blogs. *
I'm not sure that Georgia O'Keeffe would have loved Sex & The City but I'm pretty sure Sex & The City loves Georgia O'Keeffe. Those lady flowers are everywhere.
While it's true that you can't really make a wedding movie without a floral arrangement, Sex... doesn't just use flowers for the bouquet toss.
Just give me the damn symbolic vaginas -The Bachelor (1999)
Flowers cling to Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw like she's a one woman photosynthesis factory. It'd be a stretch to say that every costume includes them but more often than not costume designer Patricia Field has dipped Carrie in vats of them: green florals (buying an apartment), red (bragging about her boyfriend), purple (single again), huge gigantor white florals just because. She's a photosynthesis factory and a color wheel.
Subtlety has never been Sex and the City's strong suit. The movie is all about the act of handing her ladyparts over to Big permanently, so they must be fully visualized. She even beats Big over the head with them!
Carrie has never been a shrinking violet, she's always an exhibitonist. She parades it around. She turns heads with it on the street. She even writes best selling books about it as you know.
The other women are not without their own floral motifs. Charlotte (Kristin Davis), always the most subdued, doesn't wear a lot of flowers but she's named her daughter "Lily" so she's done her part. Her sexuality was always goal oriented anyway.
The older women get floral representation too, albeit with less saturation. Carrie's envious editor (Candice Bergen) has given up. She's framed hers and hung it in her office.
Samantha (Kim Cattrall), who kept Sex in Sex and the City (the TV show) even when it forgot its libido late in the run, isn't having a lot of sex (in the movie). She wears no florals but in one key sequence she decides that she must have a pricey bit of jewelry at auction.
This flower ring is the essence of me. One of a kind.
It's a symbolic vagina for a symbolic vagina (oh, the folds and layers!). See, her boyfriend Smith Jerrod also wants to purchase the ring and Samantha's entire subplot becomes a tug of war between them. Smith wants her ladyparts for himself. She wants them back.
This leaves two characters and they're both conspicuously lacking in the flower power. 'Saint Louise from St Louis' (Jennifer Hudson) has no vagina. Poor thing. She's only there to help Carrie, so I guess they figure she doesn't need one?
And finally there's Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) who definitely has one but is being punished for pretending she doesn't. Her vagina is furious and only comes out once (barely visible: black on dark brown) to warn Big away from Carrie's vagina.
My vagina's angry. It is. It's pissed off. My vagina's furious and it needs to talk. -The Vagina Monologues
Miranda is all work work work and 'let's get this over with' mood killer. Unless she learns to let Steve in, she'll never be able to wear bright floral prints again!
P.S. We'll find out if Miranda is back in bloom when Sex and the City 2 opens next year on this very weekend. *
Women (and sometimes men) with roomy charisma and acres full of flamboyant self regard often become favorite film characters. At the very least they provide us with indelible big screen moments. It's a neat trick of the narrative arts that people who would be absolutely maddening in real life are so loveable onscreen. There are a lot of self absorbed characters in fiction but there's something even more delightful about those larger than life figures who don't have time for navel gazing. They expect you to dutifully memorize their belly button while they strut their other stuff. They've got so much worth gazing at. So here's to the divas of the past year in cinema.
Like Philippe Petit of Man on Wire... his goo goo eyed girlfriend's narration (in subtitles) says it all.
I really wanted to include Sarah Jessica Parker reprising "Carrie Bradshaw" for Sex & The City. Carrie is everyone's favorite neurotic NY size queen (huge closets, endless shoes, lavish weddings and Mr. Big -- give them to her!) in this shortlist. Trouble was that she spent too much time in Season 7, excuse me ,in her movie worrying about her self absorption rather than revelling in it to qualify as Diva of the Year. Too bad really when her inimitable style, humor and offbeat charisma can turn so many heads.
Too darn hot. They're having a heatwave. Et cetera.
I meant to toss this out on Wednesday but here are my choices for sexiest of the year. Yes, I'm back to the FB Awards. Gotta wrap these up. Medalists in every category have to be announced a week from today!
I decided to give Daniel Craig a vacation this year (no blue speedo. no nomination!) even though he's already a double medalist in this category. Who I really wanted to include was Haaz Sleiman from The Visitor. That was a good film but while we're wading into shallow waters, wouldn't it have been a better film if he had drummed in his underwear in every scene. Haaz doesn't make the nominee shortlist because carnality seemed to be the last thing on his mind in the film (legal troubles will kill the sex drive). The choices might seem a bit more obvious than in past years, but sometimes obviousness hits the spot.
The Oscar films expanded last week (and in some cases -- *cough* Milk ??? -- they're already constricting again. Hope you caught them during those seven days you were allowed to see them!) so it's strictly new releases for February. Links go to trailers...
L I M I T E D Fanboys Odd that this comedy, about a group of Star Wars fanboys (and fangirl Veronica MarsKristen Bell, left) storming George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch would come out the day it's target audience is hitting the Comic Con. (Methinks the target audience will be too busy wearing their own Princess Leia costumes or gawking at real live ones to go see Kristen don hers!) Like many a film before it Harvey Weinstein bought this and locked it up tight never to see the light of day until, suddenly, on a whim he decided to dump it in a theater or three. The Objective One of the directors of The Blair Witch Project tries the 'filming our demise' thing again only with military men in Afghanistan this time.
Chocolate The director of Ong Bak: Thai Warrior returns with another one of his "no wires. no stunt doubles" action films. This one is about a special needs girl who loves chocolate. She has some magical gift for muy thai fighting. I think it's kind of like that superpower on Heroes where if you see an action performed you can duplicate it. I also love chocolate and have special needs. Where's my movie? Alas, I lack that nifty fighting gift and my special needs primarily revolve around Tony Jaa. Where is he?
W I D E Coraline If you suffer from koumpounophobia you should skip this one. If you don't, you should run to the theater because the buzz for this 3D stop motion adventure makes it sound delicious and the source material is superb. If you haven't been reading Neil Gaiman's books, when are you going to start? Try American Gods.
He's Just Not That Into You Looks like the kind of movie you'll l-o-v-e if Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus strikes you as a landmark academic tome. Initially I wanted to see it (Ginnifer Goodwin plus the parade of stars) but early reports from critic friends are grim and the episode of Sex & the City about that catchphrase is unbeatable anyway. Plus, you know how they often put the best jokes from movies in trailers?
_______...those are the best jokes?
Push In which Chris Evans keeps his clothes on (just a hunch -- it's that damn new manager's fault) to play a rogue psychic leading a battle against a secret government agency. Or something. Dakota Fanning (the voice of Coraline. Dakota is a workaholic) and Djimon Hounsou also have clairvoyant powers. My own telepathic abilities tell me you're confused. "Isn't Push the movie about the obese black teenager? Didn't it win the top prize at Sundance last month?" Yes, yes, that's the one. Only it's not this one. The Sundance Push is the one that's winning Mo'Nique raves and Oscar style buzz. But this is the other Push, now playing in thousands of theaters starring Chris Evans and it's not going to get any Oscar nominations.
It would be better if Mo'Nique was in it.
Much better.
Oooh, baby, baby Baby Yo, yo, yo, yo, Evans, Chris / Yeah, you come here, gimme a kiss / Better make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed
P.S. I don't know why everyone is surprised that Mo'Nique can act. Duh.
While I work on some articles, please solve these recent off-screen mysteries in the comments:
<-- how long do you suppose sophie and sky stayed together after that wedding ceremony wrapped in span style="font-style: italic;">Mamma Mia! and what scenic destinations did they hit before the split?
What happened to The Joker after Batman ran off in The Dark Knight ?
How long did it take Carrie Bradshaw to fill that cavernous lighted walk in closet in Sex & The City?
Screenshots from the 20th minute and 8th second of films of 2008
and Caroline Herrerra... and Christian LaCroix... and DIOR [pictured] ... and Oscar de la Renta... and, finally, Vivienne Westwood.
Carrie Bradshaw, enduring pop culture clotheshorse and television's favorite neurotic single gal, enunciates each name carefully, as if not to wrinkle the dresses by blurting them out too forcefully or ripping a seam whilst stumbling over a jutting syllable.
<--- She's about to bust out that doubled-over / elbows out pose that's so popular on reality show modeling competitions. A pose that judges will invariably call "editorial" or "high fashion" and never once "derivative" even though people have been doing it since at least the days of Kristin McNemany and Linda Evangelista (and probably well before that)
Designers are namechecked a lot in the world of Sex & the City but in this particular scene it's appropriate since it is a fashion shoot. Our Carrie Bradshaw (the ever divisive Sarah Jessica Parker) is Vogue's bridal cover girl. Quite a coup. Unbeknownst to Carrie, this cover spectacle will ... well, it will cause P-L-O-T to happen. And it's about time since we're 20 minutes into the movie.
I kid. I love the movie... though I realize it's not so much a movie as a chance to reconnect with the girls. After watching the very awkward remake of The Women (2008) I became even more convinced that Sex & the City for all it's "now" appeal, is actually a worthy homage to girlie movies of yore. It even breaks for fashion shows just like the old black and whites used to. Sex & the City gets dinged often for being materialistic and shallow. The former charge applies, the latter does not. Carrie especially has been confronted with her own materialism and other less-than-desirable traits throughout the series. The actress and scripts have never shied away from her complexities or from investigating the shallower or, to be more generous, the fluffier pockets of her personality.
Most economic porn movies -- which is to say most movies -- including The Women never look deeply at their character's finances. Shopping sprees are rarely seen as anything other than triumphant and nobody would ever be forced to confront that they were living way beyond their means (as Carrie was during the course of Sex and the City). Now, that's shallow and materialistic, to continually glorify consumer culture and never once have to foot the bill. Everybody in television and the movies has apartments and wardrobes that they could never afford in real life -- I was giggling just last night that I was supposed to find Ugly Betty's spacious new Manhattan apartment (with big windows!) a horror. If I didn't already love my apartment I would've taken over her lease in a heartbeat. *
tuesday top ten: for the list love in you and the list maker in me
Flipping through the internets this morning I realized that Sarah Silverman had won an EMMY a few days back (along with her songwriting partner in crime) for that irreverent flash of comic brilliance "I'm F***ing Matt Damon". It's been lampooned so many times since -- I even was tempted to picked up a guitar and sing about my wild fornications with Kathleen Turner -- and with such diminishing returns that people now like to pretend that it wasn't funny at the time. They're wrong.
I normally don't bring up the EMMYs unless I am rabidly frothing at the mouth with some new or, more frequently, repeated injustice. But today a less angry more blindly optimistic approach.
10 Carry On. Project Runway finally triumphs over Amazing Race. The designing competition isn't as good as it once was but seriously voters, you're really late here. 09 Carrie On. Sex & the City's divas Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis host the entire show together (drunk on cosmos) when Howie Mandel mysteriously falls ill. 08 Mary Louise Parker wins Best Actress in a Comedy for Weeds. There's never enough MLP to go round, if you ask me. 07 Abundant Michelle Pfeiffer Cameos. Even though her hubby David E Kelley won't be picking up trophies the camera-man inexplicably cuts to La Pfeiff's reaction to every single win. Wheeee. 06 Undead retroactive EMMY tribute to Buffy the Vampire Slayer with special statues for both Joss Whedon & Sarah Michelle Gellar. 05Mad Men wins Best Drama in a landslide. Because... duh.
04 Freak Accident Falling debris shockingly kills all Academy members who continue to think Two and a Half Men is funnier than Pushing Daisies, Weeds, How I Met Your Mother and more.Charlie Sheen swallowed up by freak earthquake. 03 Write In Vote Coup! Mary McDonnell wins Best Actress in a Drama for Battlestar Galactica even though she's not on the ballot.And President Roslyn didn't even have to fix the voting this time! 02 Mea Culpa. The Academy President walks solemnly out on stage to declare that all of their rule changes still haven't fixed their collective bad taste. One more rule change for next year: All people playing law enforcement officials, doctors or lawyers will be deemed ineligible for acting prizes. Just to, you know, shake things up a bit. OK, a lot.
01 Hopelessly Devoted to Her. Kristin Chenowith wins Best Supporting Actress for Pushing Daisies and sings her acceptance speech, including a funny shout out bit to her longtime Broadway fans (like me).
Will any of my wishes come true? Dream with me in the comments. *
SAMANTHA (Morton) and her cosmos. .... I couldn't help but wonder: Who ever would play Carrie Bradshaw?Let your mind wander. Cast this imaginary indie version if you dare. *
tuesday top ten: for the listmaker in me and the listlover in you
Naturally the year will get better from here. "It will, won't it?" he asked in a panicky sweat. These are the ten best of 2008 from January to June (from what I've seen). The most serious omission on my part is In Bruges which won fine reviews. I'll get to it soon. [UPDATE: Have now seen it and would place it at #3 on this list and make the double feature must see, a triple feature] I expect only two of these to make my year-end top ten list. I'm discounting stuff that didn't or won't be getting proper theatrical releases though some (Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, Russia's Cargo 200 and miniscule indie True Love) are better than those that did.
10 Iron Man The year's most popular picture is a fun ride. It lags a little at times, that final action sequence sure was drab (The Incredible Hulk's is much stronger for what it's worth) and I'm less impressed than most about that teaser coda but I'm totally ready for the sequel so it must have done something several things right. The most obvious smart move was casting Tony Stark to perfection rather than casting on bankability. Well done Marvel Studios. You must be feeling pretty 'hot rod red' cocky right about now. So, challenge yourself with something a little riskier and less instantly saleable. See how much of a movie empire you can build: Cloak & Dagger, The StarJammers, Doctor Strange ... surprise us! And for gods sake... if something needs a 'pretend it didn't exist' shame-faced reboot It's not Ang Lee's Hulk, it's The Fantastic Four or Daredevil. Get on it.
09 Savage Grace Remember when Julianne Moore used to say the word "cock" all the time in movies. Yeah. They had me at 'Julianne Moore has a dirty mouth again' (review)
05 Sex & The City: The Movie I realize this ranking overstates its case. It's not without sizeable problems (chief among them time spent with Jennifer Hudson in an embarrassing role when the movie was already so long) but with 80% of the critical population trying desperately to undermine it any ludicrous way they can, I'm just here for a little balance. Consider the reviews for Wanted versus the reviews for Sex & The City and be alarmed that so many critics think the former was all in good fun and yet called the second for shallow and morally questionable. Hmmmm.
Anyway, my point is this: It was fun. The clothes were a hoot. The familiar friendships were lovingly put on display for one last nostalgic round. Best of all, with Samantha's plotline they corrected the biggest stumble of the series finale. Despite a fine last season on air, the finale had a weird need to pair everyone up. The series was always about the trial and error of the romantic journey --and the friends with whom you walked that road --rather than the 'happily ever after' part. I hope they don't make a sequel but I'm glad they made this.
04 Young @ Heart I resisted. Like the film at #6, I went in with a not entirely open mind. I'm allergic to excessive sentiment in movies so if a film has that in its very DNA, I'm always wary. (It's why I don't trust Steven Spielberg the way everyone else does) But by the time an old grieving man with oxygen sits down to croak out a lived-in cover of Coldplay's "Fix You" I was a goner. The movie got to me. [sniffle]
okay I'm just going to tear up again 03 Kung Fu Panda A total surprise. Who knew that Dreamworks Animation, so previously reliant on instantly stale pop-culture humor (think Shrek) and bad anthropomorphics (think Shark Tale) had this gorgeously animated comedy in them? Panda's got a sophisticated color palette plus action sequences that are more inventive than anything in The Incredible Hulk or Iron Man... and a pathetic-schlub-becomes-an-incredible-force-of-nature plot that isn't quite as mainstream pandering or morally repugnant as the office dweeb turned super assassin plot of Wanted. I don't want to overstate its quality but I thoroughly enjoyed.
Double Feature Must-See ~What are you waiting for?
02 Wall•E Post-acolyptic fare with heart? Oh my. Pixar recovered easily from their one stumble (that'd be Cars) with Ratatouille and the follow up is just as rewarding. This tale of a lonely trash collector might even be right up there with The Incredibles (i.e. better than most live-action films) as its vivid with invention, smart but accessible humor and sweet humanity... even though it's about robots.
<-- 01 Reprise Yes, clearly I'm on a mission to get you to this film about two young novelists in Oslo, Norway. But it's not just me who wants you to go. Consider Manohla Dargis's rave, smartly trumpeted in the trailer.
...one of the most passionately and intellectually uninhibited works from a young director I've seen in ages... Reprise has a lightness of touch to match its seriousness of mind, and it may move you to laughter as well as tears.
What she said. Smart girl. We both insist that you go.
Later this week: 2008's best performances thus far Previous Top Tens: new Academy members, 2008 box office, cinematic princes, TV shows, weirdos and more...