Young Directors at LACMA Share Spotlight With the Rock

March 13, 2012

A sold-out crowd at LACMA’s Bing Theater was on hand for the 11th annual Muse Young Directors Night to view a diverse slate of short films and then pick the winning director.

 

There was laughter, there were some shrieks and possibly even some tears as the movies unspooled during the two-hour program

 

“A Sushi Love Story” from director Mike Blaney was an homage to George Melies and the early days of cinema, a symbolic story of a boy leaving home told by animated pieces of sushi shot in the kitchen of Blaney’s parent’s home.

 

“In Captivity” was the futuristic tale of an endangered species, a young man held captive in an enclosed world and on view to spectators, living a great life until the introduction into his environment of a female of the species. Directed by Michael Koerbel, the piece was shot in a Los Angelesf urniture showroom and features an unexpected happy ending in a completely different environment.

 

In “Contra el Mar” (Against the Sea), director Richard Parkin tells the story of a Mexican deep sea diver whose wife disapproves of his dangerous profession. An accident at sea forces the lead character to confront the deadly nature of his job, his dream of owning his own boat and his commitment to his own family, which includes the coupe’s adorable young boy.

 

“Snow” tells the little-known true story of a physician in 1854 London who discovered the roots of a virulent, deadly cholera outbreak that took the lives of many residents in the Soho District. In the period piece directed by Isaac Ergas, leading medical authorities of the time are blaming it on poisonous air, while Dr. John Snow uncovers a controversial and entirely different theory, piecing together a puzzle that eventually anoints him as the father of modern epidemiology.

 

“The Last Rites” is what director Namina Forna called a black zombie story, a horror short that depicts a young woman fighting a zombie apocalypse outside her home that threatens to turn her trapped mother into a monster.

 

In “Thembi’s Diary,” director Jisoo Kim animates the true story of a 17-year-old South African girl with HIV and how she copes with the virus by speaking to it every morning. The script was taken from an audio documentary aired on NPR.

 

“To Rest in Peace,” directed by Fawaz Al-Matrouk, takes viewers back to the time of occupied Kuwait  in 1990. The story is based upon real events and centers around two men who discover two corpses in a car that is purposefully left in full view by authorities as a message to the populace. When one of them takes it upon himself to give them a burial, the drama grows even more intense.

 

After the screenings, all of the directors took the stage with the host committee, made up of LACMA film curator Elvis Mitchell, Josh Welch, co-president of Film Independent and Maggie McKay, also with Film Independent and discussed the back stories of their respective projects.

 

The audience then got to vote, via paper ballot or text message, on their favorite film and director.

 

Muse is known for its fun-filled parties based around art and the directors joined a boisterous crowd across the street in the lobby of the 5900 Wilshire Boulevard building for a late-night celebration before the winner was announced. The theme of course, movies, with movie candy handed out by “cigarette” girls, fresh popcorn, sodas, beer and vodka drinks.

 

The honor went to Parkin for his family drama set against the backdrop of dangerous deep-sea fishing, shot on location in Baja, Mexico. Yet all of the films were well-received and pretend bright futures for their creators.

With the arrival of the rock that morning after its long journey on a huge custom-built rig from a quarry in Riverside County, several of the Muse partygoers didn’t let any moss grow, and made their way to the corner of Fairfax and 6th Street to get a view of the museum’s monolithic new star.

But to see the centerpiece of the upcoming outdoor exhibit, “Levitated Mass,” one had to work hard to get a view, even under a full moon. The rock was blocked by a construction fence and required a little climb to take a peek.

The exact date of debut has not been set, but LACMA director Michael Govan put it this way: “What’s a few more weeks when it will be here forever?” And we can’t wait to walk under the rock.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Film Tagged With: , , , ,

Oscar Leading Ladies: The Competition, The Comraderie

February 24, 2012

For the first time in nearly 25 years, the Academy Awards will feature a leading lady smackdown between Meryl Streep and Glenn Close. The last time the two blonde, East Coast born and well-bred actresses went head to head was in 1989, with Streep for the baby-killing drama “A Cry in the Dark” and Close for her delicious role in “Dangerous Liaisons.”

Neither won. That honor went to Jodie Foster for playing the victim of a gang rape in “The Accused.”

A similar Oscar play-off occured just the year before, in 1988. Both Close and Streep were nominated, for “Fatal Attraction” and “Ironweed,” respectively, but the Oscar went to…drumroll, please: Cher, for “Moonstruck.”

Cut to now. Aside from the staggering 17 Oscar nominations and two Oscars Streep has stacked up compared to Close’s six nods and zero statues, it’s easy to confuse these two titans of the silver screen. Here’s how they’re different, and alike:

Both are leading edge baby boomers. Close was born in 1947 in Greenwich, Conn. Streep made her debut as a Garden State girl two years later, born in theNew Jersey town of Summit. She attended college in the hallowed Ivy League halls of Vassar and Yale, while Close matriculated at the College  of William and Mary. Harvard has honored both women with its coveted Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year title, Streep in 1980 and Close in 1990.

Oscar touched each very early in their careers. Right out of the gate, Close nabbed a supporting actress nomination for her very first film, “The World According to Garp,” (1982), in which she played Robin Williams’ mother. Streep had her first brush with Oscar in 1978 for her second film, best picture winner “The Deer Hunter” with Robert DeNiro, for which she was recognized with a supporting actress nod.

For Close, getting an Oscar nod (for “Albert Nobbs,” a passion project of hers in which she plays a woman disguised as a man) is an experience that hasn’t happened to her for decades. All five of her previous nominations were during the 1980s when she racked them up for movies including her classic turn in “Fatal Attraction” (1987) as the crazed other woman in Michael Douglas’s marriage and for her standout roles in “The Big Chill” (1983) and “The Natural” (1984).

Streep has never lost her status as an Oscar voter favorite over the decades. Her 17 nominations are a record, giving even more weight to her unofficial but often used title of ”the greatest actress of our generation.”

She’s also known for her chameleon-like ability to adopt varied hairstyles– from the pre-Raphaelite red curls of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” to Karen Silkwood’s brown 1980s shag to the sleek gray bob of the formidable fashion editor Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada” to the political helmet hair of the so-called Iron Lady, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher— along with her repertoire of foreign accents.

Close’s wild mop of blonde 1980s curls in “Fatal Attraction” could’ve merited its own nomination for Best Hair. And recognition for her acting certainly hasn’t been off the map for decades, as the Oscar track record might indicate. She’s won a Golden Globe and two recent Emmy Awards for her role as the tough as nails attorney Patty Hewes on FX’s “Damages” and garnered a slew of other nominations from the Television Academy for shows including “The Shield” and “Will & Grace.” In addition to a Globe for the 2003 TV movie, “The Lion in Winter,” Close has also scored three Tony Awards for her work on Broadway.

Close and Streep have intersected on screen just once, in 1993′s “The House of the Spirits.” They both appeared in 2007′s “Evening,” but did not share any scenes.

They will next cross paths on the Oscar red carpet, but whether either will step up to the stage to claim the grand prize is dependent on how many voters decided to award it to another favorite, Viola Davis.

 

 

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Secrets of the Spanx: Costume Designers Know it All

February 23, 2012

It’s the one night of the year when costume designers in film and television get more glory than the actors who wear their creations in an event that has a rep for being loose and rollicking, the Costume Designers Guild Awards.

 

Actress Jane Lynch, outfitted in a stunning long red gown, ably hosted the 14th annual edition of the gala awards ceremony held Tuesday night at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom, which was packed with well-dressed attendees.

Lynch has close ties with a double honoree of the evening, “Glee” costume designer Lou Eyrich, who was awarded with trophies for Career Achievement in Television, presented by Ryan Murphy, and for Outstanding Contemporary TV series. The actress recalled their initial encounter for the Fox show.

“The first fitting, she gave me an off-the-rack Adidas track suit. She had ripped it apart. But I am so hard to fit, she (Eyrich) just said, ‘We’re going to have to make them for you.’ Now, I have 35 custom track suits in my wardrobe closet. And you won’t rip that track suit off my body until it goes into the Smithsonian,” Lynch told the appreciative crowd. “That’s the magic of costume design.”

Eyrich reflected on her career, which began in 1988 when she was a production assistant on a music video, then worked on a movie with Prince in her native Minneapolis before beginning television costume design with the WB show “Popula r” and moving on to work with Murphy on his acclaimed FX series “Nip/Tuck” and then on to “Glee.”

“I’ve learned to handle everything with grace and a sense of humor,” she said. “Costume design is like falling off a cliff and you have actors that need to be dressed by the time you hit the ground.”

For the contemporary television series category, she competed with the costume designers from “Modern Family,” “Revenge,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Sons of Anarchy.”

Viewing the recap reel of the year in design, it was easy to appreciate the artistry in shows ranging from “Downton Abbey” to ”Pan Am,” “Boardwalk Empire” to “the Kennedys” and films including “Hugo,” “The Help,” “The Iron Lady,” “The Descendants,” “Bridesmaids” and “Moneyball” that were showcased.

In the period/fantasy television series category, “Empire” and  ”Pan Am” competed with “Game of Thrones,” “Once upon a Time” and “The Borgias,” with John A. Dunn and Lisa Padovani taking the prize for their 1920s period costume work for the large ensemble cast of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”

The awards ceremony was sponsored by Lacoste and Disaranno which each presented honors, to Kate Beckinsale and Marlene Stewart, respectively,  and studded with actors of the nominated programs as presenters, including Katey Sagal, Penelope Ann Miller, Amber Valletta and Madeleine Stowe.

But it was Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood and his long-time costume designer Deborah Hopper who stole the spotlight as they were honored for their 20 films during 28 years of collaboration.

Marcia Gay Harden introduced them, and noted Eastwood’s early contribution to the concept of his clothing in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western, ”The Man With No Name.” “That iconic serape, Clint came up with that idea. Sergio not only approved the olive green poncho, that serape was never washed, never even dry cleared and with each film… it became a darker shade of olive,” she said.

Actor Ken Watanabe made a surprise appearance to honor the two as well, having worked with them on “Letters from Iwo Jima.”

Eastwood charmed the audience by noting that he never subscribed to the auteur theory of film–that he considered people on his productions a platoon and a company, with Hopper playing a key role. “I feel lucky every minute,” she said, alluding to one of his iconic movie lines of dialogue.

It was a feeling that swept through the ballroom.

Filed Under: Awards, Awards Season, Entertainment, Film, Television Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

A Controversial Show Vindicated (Again) by Awards Gold

January 31, 2012

It was Michel Hazanavicius’ night at the DGA Awards. Yes, you better learn how to pronounce the French director’s six syllable name of Lithuanian origin already. More on that in a moment.

 

It would be an understatement to say that “The Kennedys” began as a very rough road for Jon Cassar and everyone else involved in the production of the mini-series about the presidency of JFK, starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

 

Dropped like a hot potato by the History Channel, the eight-hour series was quickly picked up by Stanley Hubbard’s Reelz Channel, and since it aired in April 2011, it has shaken off the initial controversy attached to it and become a huge awards magnet.

 

Perhaps the final vindication came when Cassar, well-known for his work on the vaunted “24,” won the Directors Guild Award Saturday night in Hollywood in the prestigious movies for television/mini-series category. Cassar had previously won the DGA in 2006 for directing “24.”

 

Patty Jenkins took the drama trophy for directing the pilot of AMC’s “The Killing” and Robert B. Weide scored the comedy prize for the legendary “Palestinian Chicken” episode of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Other television winners included Glenn Weiss for musical/variety, “65th Annual Tony Awards,” Neil P. Degroot, reality program for “Biggest Loser,” and Amy Schatz, children’s programming for “A Child’s Garden of Poetry.”

 

William Ludel took the DGA for an endangered species, daytime serials, for “General Hospital” and Noam Murro won in the commercials category for among others, spots for Heineken, DirecTV and Volkswagen.

 

One of television’s most famous faces hosted the non-televised ceremony, with Kelsey Grammer taking over the duties long performed by legendary comedian Carl Reiner.

 

The show has a bit of a unique format among kudofests. Each of the feature film directors up for the top prize is lauded by a colleague or coworkers involved the project at hand, and bestowed with a golden medallion, giving currency to the throwaway line that “it’s an honor just to be nominated.”

 

It’s a crowd -leasing tactic as well, and a chance to lobby the picture further down the awards path to the Oscars.

 

Ben Kingsley, who plays director George Melies in “Hugo,” gave a moving introduction to the film’s director, Martin Scorsese, who then received a standing ovation, presumably, just for being Marty Scorsese.

 

Another George, Clooney, was the one to present “The Descendants” director Alexander Payne with his DGA medallion. Ever the gentleman, Clooney, who has been ubiquitous on the awards campaign trail with recognition for his lead role in that film, and for directing, producing, co-writing and acting in “The Ides of March” was careful not to overshadow Payne when it came to photo ops.

 

Kathy Bates, who plays Gertrude Stein in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” was tapped to do the honors for Allen, who is notorious for rarely showing up at Left Coast awards presentations. In a rare turn of events, he spoke to the crowd of industry peers in a previously taped bit explaining why–saying that his funny façade, the nebbishy, neurotic Jewish guy from New York, disappears once he has to mingle with people, because he really has nothing to say.

 

DGA president Taylor Hackford lauded the also absent David Fincher for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

 

It was “The Artist’s” freshly and French-ly talkative, charming co-starring duo, Bérénice Bejo and Jean Dujardin who regaled the crowd with memories of making the silent film, directed by Michel Hazanavicius. They said that after multiple takes of the tap dance routine, he told them simply that it was “pretty good,” but to “smile more.”

 

After his win of the trophy, the trio had nothing but smiles on their faces, and after Dujardin’s surprise lead actor SAG win, presumably, will keep them through the Academy Awards.  

 

As for the pronunciation of Hazanavicius, we’re told you can go with ha-za-na-VEE-shus. There, that makes it a little easier.

 

 

 

 

 

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Living the Legacy: TV’s Best Achieve Tartikoff Status

January 30, 2012

The legendary television executive Brandon Tartikoff set a high bar in the industry, one that still sets a standard in the nearly 15 years since he passed away, far too young. Yes, he is always remembered fondly—but nowhere does his inspirational legacy come into clearer focus than at the annual Tartikoff Legacy Award ceremony.

 

The 9th annual edition was held at the Fontainebleau Resort inMiami Beach during the 2012 NATPE Market & Conference, in a lively ceremony hosted by “Access Hollywood’s” Billy Bush, a self-described aspirant to one day achieving the award.

 

The four honorees represent a diverse slate of television talent: Matthew Weiner, creator and executive producer ofAMC’s award-winning drama “Mad Men”; Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) and executive producer of “American Idol”; Fernando Gaitán, vice president of production and content for Colombia’sRCNTV and creator of “Ugly Betty” (“Yo Soy Betty la fea”); and Dennis Swanson, President of Station Operations forFOX Television Stations Inc.

 

Lily Tartikoff always speaks eloquently, and recalled how Brandon knew Swanson, who was an early champion of her Revlon Run/Walk benefiting women’s cancer research.

 

It was Dick Ebersol, a recipient of the Tartikoff award last year, who introduced Swanson, noting that in his storied 40-year career, Swanson has worked at all four broadcast networks, discovered Oprah when he was a GM in Chicago, put Regis and Kathie Lee together at ABC and was instrumental in the resurgence of Monday Night Football.

 

Swanson thanked his wife of 50 years and reminisced about some of his fondest television moments, aside from telling Oprah to “just be herself.” One of those was making the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, which had previously been a tape delayed segment, into a live show.

 

Frot-Coutaz may not be a household name, but she is the center of the “American Idol” universe. FreemantleMedia CEO Tony Cohen recalled meeting the executive early on, and knowing she had what it took to run the North American division of the company – and handle the likes of Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller. He also joked that she’s been called a kitten and a shark, kind of cute, but then she bites.

 

Gaitán also came in for some good-natured ribbing by Guillermo Arriago, a director, producer and screenwriter. Picking up the animal theme, he compared the Colombian television titan to a tiger.

 

Gaitán stepped up to the stage with a woman, creating some momentary confusion. Was she the star of one of his new shows? She certainly wasn’t an Ugly Betty, quite the contrary. No, it turns out she was his translator, as he said he did not know how or like to speak English. The language barrier certainly did not prevent him from making a well-received speech citing the major influence American television had and continues to have on him as the VP of production and content for RCN TV.

 

When it came time for Matthew Weiner to be introduced, Lionsgate television president Kevin Beggs did the honors. “He has indelibly changed the TV world. He’s a consummate showman, a master craftsmen, a visionary who inspires people,” Beggs said. “’Mad Men’ will make its mark for generations to come.”

 

And with that pronouncement, a comical taped message of congratulations from his coworkers on the award-winning drama was rolled, many of them alluding to his notorious demand for secrecy about the scripts. “I have to sign a nondisclosure for my own show?,” remarked Lionsgate’s Jon Feltheimer in one of the bits.

 

Saving the best for last, Jon Hamm acknowledged Weiner’s plethora of awards, saying he could put all of them on his head, but it still wouldn’t be “this,” the actor pointing to his own handsome visage.

 

Weiner immediately commented that he couldn’t believe he was unaware that all of this was shot on his own set without his knowledge. He relayed his youthful experience with television, from when he was a bad student whose parents forbade him to watch it except on Friday and Saturday nights, but that he made up for it during his college years. Weiner said he idolized Tartikoff, especially his respect for the audience.

 

Weiner acknowledged the risk that Lionsgate and AMC took with “Men,” which has been a critical darling and a pop cultural force since it premiered five years ago.” I got to turn a hidden vice into a way of life,” he said. “I wanted people to be entertained.”

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It’s the Battle of Los Angeles, Art Show Edition

January 19, 2012
Blue Cars by Johnny Taylor at Affordable Art Fair

It’s a big art lover’s weekend in Los Angeles as several art fairs hit town, from downtown to Santa Monica, and we got a chance to preview two of them.

 

The Affordable Art Fair is at the LA Live Event Deck downtown, featuring galleries from around the world showcasing contemporary art by almost 3,000 emerging and established artists. It’s the first edition of the show to be held in Los Angeles, and since its debut in 1999 in London, is now held in eleven cities around the globe.

 

While your definition of “affordable” might be different, event organizers say the works range from $140 to $10,000—with half under $5,000. We particularly were taken with colorful, graphic works in acrylic by Johnny Taylor, repped by Artspace Warehouse on Beverly Blvd.in LA, with many of his 18” x 18” canvases for sale at $625.

 

The opening night benefited Free Arts for Abused Children, with all of the proceeds donated to the organization, which helps about 30,000 kids in foster case and those who are homeless or at risk due to violence, poverty or substance abuse.

 

The fun and friendly environment was made even more so with a lively bar and food station with items from Wolfgang Puck.

It’s an ambitious undertaking, and organizers have supplemented the exhibits with a series of talks with artists and curators, including one with producer/director Morgan Spurlock on collecting.

More info: www.affordableartfair.us

Filed Under: Art, Entertainment, Events Tagged With: ,

Extremely Moved by Extremely Loud

January 18, 2012

It was with a small dose of trepidation that we approached “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” based on the 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, but only because images and emotions from 9/11 are still difficult to absorb.

 

Yet this beautiful film (opening wide January 20) is well worth the trip back in time to that trauma of “the horrible day,” as it is called by the main character, a precocious and intuitive boy named Oskar Schell, played by an outstanding young actor named Thomas Horn.

As we see in flashbacks, he is especially close with his father (Tom Hanks) who takes Oskar on exploratory, scientific adventures all over Manhattan and insists that there is a missing sixth borough– a concept that fascinates the boy no end.

 

When his father asked him to bring back something from every decade, the boy produces a rock, much to his father’s delight. Thus we see the the solidity of the relationship, even as Mom (Sandra Bullock) doesn’t seem to have much of a role other than to be supportive of them.

 

We are not giving anything away here to say that the father perishes in the twin towers, after a heartbreaking series of missed phone messages left on the answering machine of the home where Oskar has not yet arrived after being let out of school early.

 

Never able to ascribe meaning to the tragedy and becoming increasingly estranged from his mother, Oskar fixates on a key he finds hidden away in his father’s belongings, a key that he hopes will unlock the mystery of why his dad had to die, or at least give him a message from beyond or some type of meaning.

 

He’s already shown himself to be an incredibly bright child with a growing obsessive/compulsive disorder, which works to his favor in mapping out and tracking down the clues that he feels will lead him to what the key unlocks.

 

Afraid of public transportation, he walks great distances in the search. All the while, as he pushes his mother away, he becomes closer with his paternal grandmother, who lives across the way in a building that he can see from his bedroom window. They communicate by walkie-talkie and grandma warns him not to talk to a strange man who rents a room at her place, a person she simply calls “the renter.”

 

Played by Max von Sydow as a man who can’t speak and writes down his answers or comments quickly on paper or shows the “yes” or “no” that are written on the palm of each hand, young Oskar becomes fascinated with him and quickly begins to view him as a father figure. So much so that the mystery man is asked to come along on the journeys to find the lock the the key fits.

 

It is here that “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” soars to new emotional heights as the boy learns to overcome his fears, which include meeting the diverse group of people who may be able to provide answers to his search.

 

Through all of his methodical searching, and just when he’s close to giving up, Oskar does finally find the person who has the key the the lock opens– and the movie takes an entirely new direction in a journey the audience will never forget.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, rated PG-13

Directed by Stephen Daldry, written by Eric Roth

 

 

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Gervais Gets Neutered, Silence is Golden for The Artist

January 17, 2012

It was the second coming of Ricky Gervais to the emcee podium of the Golden Globe Awards, or actually, the third. After last year’s controversial performance, people forget that the British comedian also hosted the 2010 edition of the kudocast.

 

The hyped-up fascination of who he would offend this year paid off again in the ratings, with Nielsen estimating that about 16.8 million viewers tuned in to Sunday night’s NBC telecast.

 

But mirroring his insistence that Johnny Depp was on recreational drugs, Gervais apparently took some recreational nice pills before the show. With a few exceptions, his jabs just didn’t have the bite that aroused such vitriol last year from the likes of insult target Robert Downey Jr.

 

Trashing Kim Kardashian and comparing her unfavorably to Kate Middleton? Standard fare for any standup comic. Dissing Eddie Murphy for bailing as host of the Oscars but saying “yes” to “Norbit?” Fair game. Asking Depp if he’d even seen “The Tourist,” a film he’d trashed last year? Amusing.

 

The wrath of Ricky, despite endless promos touting it, turned out to be pretty toothless during one of the few gigs where it’s okay, and even expected, to drink on the job. After reading the rules he was supposed to follow, like no profanity (yeah, right) and no jokes about Mel Gibson, he quickly followed up with an innuendo-laden rant about Jodie Foster’s (film) “The Beaver,” which the actress/director seemed to take in good humor by giving a thumbs-up from her seat in the Beverly Hilton ballroom.

 

Similarly, evoking sexual innuendo and insults, he lashed into Madonna in his introduction to her as a presenter, which she quickly turned around to bash him. “Ricky, if I’m still like a virgin, why don’t you come over here and do something about it? I haven’t kissed a girl for a long time. (Pause.) On TV,” she said–as he ran back and forth behind her on stage.

 

It was one of the funniest moments of the show, which, despite its reputation for raunchiness saw its share of dignified moments, starting with Christopher Plummer’s acceptance speech as supporting actor for his role in the little-seen film “Beginners,” and continuing with Helen Mirren and Sidney Poitier’s presentation of the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement to Morgan Freeman.

 

There were other Oscar-worthy acceptance speeches as well, not surprisingly, from those who have taken home those more “esteemed” trophies—as Gervais called the grand dame of award shows in comparing it to the Globes—like Kate Winslet (for the lead role in HBO’s “Mildred Pierce”) and Julian Fellowes for PBS’s “Downton Abbey.”

 

Hollywood Foreign Press Association voters went all in for quality television, awarding new and niche shows and their stars golden statuettes. “Homeland,” “Boss,” “Episodes” and “Enlightened” thus have frontrunner status on the road to the Emmy Awards, while critical and popular favorite “Modern Family” added to its trophy case with the prize for best television comedy and “Game of Thrones” scored with a win for supporting actor Peter Dinklage.

 

But back to the show. Seth Rogen drove the lewd scale to a new low when he took the stage as a presenter with actress Kate Beckinsale and promptly remarked upon being unable to contain his physical arousal. (That must have been on the same teleprompter that wasn’t there for Rob Lowe and Julianne Moore—resulting in their ad lib of cold reading for Steven Spielberg.) She never regained her composure as they proceeded to present an award.

 

Who would have guessed that in addition to Gervais’ planned profanities, Meryl Streep caused a bleep when she apparently uttered an expletive upon realizing she forgot her reading glasses as she took the best actress prize for her role as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”

 

Leave it to the ever suave, sophisticated, sexy two-time winner of the night, “The Descendants” star George Clooney to be both funny (coming out on stage with Brad Pitt’s cane, making fun of Michael Fassbender in “Shame”), and touching (complimenting best actor rival/friend Pitt on his humanitarian work).

 

If there were any residual effects of the anti-French sentiment from the Bush era, the people behind the burgeoning awards powerhouse “The Artist” dispelled it with their charm in receiving three Globes, including the top prize as best comedy/musical.

 

As that black and white art house film is showing the world, sometimes silence can be golden–and Rogen could surely take a lesson from that.

 

Filed Under: Awards Season, Entertainment, Featured Stories, Television Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Young Adult: Billed as a Comedy but Heartbreaking at its Core

December 19, 2011

Although we’ve seen some of the key comedic scenes multiple times in commercials and trailers –Charlize shopping for a hot outfit, Charlize talking about her baggage–watching “Young Adult” felt fresh and new.

Full disclosure: Charlize Theron is a huge favorite of ours, as an actress, as a person and as one of the most beautiful women to currently grace the silver screen.

By all accounts, her character, young adult author and Minneapolis (or Mini-Apple, as small town Minnesotans apparently call it) resident Mavis Gary, was supposed to be “vile,” a word that is rarely used but brings to mind horrendous qualities about a person.

But is it really so terrible that she apparently has trouble meeting deadlines, loses herself in casual sex, drinks from a huge bottle of Diet Coke as a hangover cure first thing in the morning or pulls her hair to relieve stress? C’mon people, Mavis is not that out there, especially when she settles in with a bucket of KFC to watch the latest ep of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” or tries to remember to feed her pocketbook-sized Pomeranian.

You could possibly say she’s a bit deluded, but nothing completely off the charts–until she decides to trek back to her small Minnesota town and win back the heart of her high school boyfriend, a married hottie (played by Patrick Wilson)  who just had a baby girl.

OK, this is a pretty common scenario—in your dreams, though. Who hasn’t wanted to go back to high school and re-live young romance, especially if you were hooked up with the cute star player on the baseball team who was also the lead singer/guitarist of a band who played around town—or the equivalent?

What makes Mavis’ fictional story so interesting and relatable—through Cody’s sharp script and Reitman’s direction—is the filmmakers’ refusal to let her off the hook for her foibles, or to grant her any sort of redemption in the third act.  

Sure, some of the scenes are painful to watch, like the meltdown at a family party, which we won’t spoil, or when we realize she was never going to call her parents who live in the small town, which is continually bashed as a hick haven whose haute cuisine is the newest location of a combo Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC.

More humor comes in her overindulgence in Makers Mark at the local bars, of which there appear to be two. One dive, one not so dive—where she originally makes her play for Wilson, who has agreed to meet her for old time’s sake.

Mavis’ fantasy of stealing him away from his salt of the earth wife—who’s also a drummer in an all-new-mom garage band—takes over her reality, and we’re in for the duration, a surprisingly short and snappy hour and a half.

And what heroine, drunk, disheveled or at her best, doesn’t need a kicky confidant? In this scenario, he’s played by Patton Oswalt in an authentic take on a high school nerd twenty years later, making homebrewed liquor in the garage of the house where he lives with his sister, who idolizes Mavis.

Patton, as Matt, was Mavis’ locker mate during high school, but she barely acknowledged his presence—until he was brutally beaten by bullies because they thought he was gay.

As bizarre soulmates with wounded psyches—his from much longer ago and hers more recent, it seems—they make a riveting pair. You almost, almost, hope that Mavis will see the light and realize what a great, available guy he is, a man who would worship the ground she walks on—even knowing her “truth.”

But Reitman and Cody have another ending in mind, and it’s not a typical Hollywood one.

Young Adult, Rated R

Directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody.

Running time: 1:34

Filed Under: Entertainment, Film Tagged With: , , ,

New Year’s Eve: Worst Holiday Movie Ever?

December 14, 2011

 

Holiday movies, by virtue of the power vested in them, are supposed to have uplifting elements to them. But in the case of the celebrity-packed “New Year’s Eve,” from the makers of the similarly-themed “Valentine’s Day,” the dominant emotions are stultifying boredom and dread.

The story certainly had potential for that warm, fuzzy feeling. The concept: take a bunch of diverse, but generally inordinately attractive people like Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Zac Efron and Josh Duhamel – some couples, some former couples, some singles and some kids – and mash up all their stories in New York City on New Year’s Eve.

Make one of the centerpieces a last-minute glitch in the the famous ball drop at Times Square, overseen by a toothy Hilary Swank, and a race between two couples to deliver the first child of the new year for a $25,000 prize and you have yourselves the making of a lighthearted, fun comedy.

But the mix of movie and television stars thrown together for seemingly no other reason than their tabloidability just never seems to work– until the surprise ending – which we are not going to spoil. Only to say that it partially mitigated the previous two hours of discomfort of watching scenes like:

– a slacker/hipster Ashton Kutcher (gee, that’s a stretch) stuck in an elevator with an aspiring singer played by Lea Michele. If you’re a fan of hers, you may appreciate the skintight red bandage dress with black tights. Otherwise, not so much.

– SNL’s Seth Meyers as the husband of pregnant Jessica Biel. You’ll be waiting for him to say something funny, but it just doesn’t happen.

– Jon Bon Jovi as a gasp, hot, headlining rockstar who gets religion about relationships and tries to pull out some stops in order to win back his ex, Katherine Heigl, masquerading as an accomplished chef catering one of the city’s biggest bashes. We must say Bon Jovi, not singing, was one of the film’s highlights.

– Robert DeNiro in a throwaway role that probably took a couple hours to shoot as a dying man in a hospital bed who refuses treatment– and whose last wish is to see the ball drop from the rooftop. Yeah, right. Going out of this life on a real highlight.

– Michelle Pfeiffer as you’ve never seen her before, and wouldn’t want to again, as a scattered, mousy music industry secretary who quits her job and goes on a “bucket list” journey with none other than Zac Efron. Okay, will admit it – he’s cute and charming.

– And then there’s Sofia Vergara in another caricature of her va va voom Latina bombshell persona, which has become extremely tiresome, spouting one inane line after another as she thrusts herself in the direction of Bon Jovi– even though she works for Heigl.

Need we say more? One person we haven’t mentioned is Sarah Jessica Parker. That’s because she supplies the only real emotions and romantic drama in the whole piece. You go, SJP.  Everyone else, probably best to forget you were in this stinker.

New Year’s Eve, directed by Garry Marshall, written by Katherine Fugate

 Rated PG-13, Runs 1:57

Filed Under: Entertainment, Film Tagged With: , , ,
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