Due to the long holiday weekend which put me behind and a busy screening week, I've decided to postpone this week's HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT. The series will be back next Wednesday the 15th with Pandora's Box (1929) so you have another week to watch this awesome silent classic whether on DVD or Netflix Instant Watch. Thanks for understanding and please join in the celebration of the immortal Louise Brooks next Wednesday. On Wednesday the 22nd we'll do David Fincher's Se7en (1995) for its 15th anniversary. Honestly, it's the movie I was thinking of picking -- it'd been on my mind and I had an itch to scratch with it -- and then I looked up the release date and couldn't believe my eyes. Obvs, It was meant to be.
Links! The Big Picture George Clooney's box office pull and the fate of The American. /Film interviews Aron Ralston. James Franco plays him in 127 Hours. Cinematical strange stories surfacing from 127 Hours screenings. Medics called in. MTV MoviesMulan is getting a live action version with Zhang Ziyi returning to action heroine mode. Jan De Bont (Speed) will direct. This message has been brought to you by the year 2000. Lazy Eye Theater an important message from Machete. Movie|Line The Verge: Keir Gilchrist. I like this regular feature at Movie|Line. Mind of a Suspicious Kind would like you to reconsider Megan Fox... as a silent film star.
CHUD Natalie Portman offered the Gravity lead. So much for our casting suggestions last week. I like Portman quite a lot but every actor has their weaknesses and so far she hasn't shown any skill at acting with green screens. Can Cuarón take her to where she needs to go? Movie City News a cool press kit for Never Let Me Go. Uhhhh, I didn't get this. Boo. Rooney Mara Network They're already filming The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? David Fincher is breaking speed records he is. Perhaps he's hurrying to complete filming before the awards season long haul for The Social Network.
And finally here's another Joseph Gordon-Levitt performance. He does love singing the girl songs. This time it's "Bad Romance"
This is my favorite part OF COURSE
For those still doubting the artistic integrity of Lady Gaga, this next verse has three Hitchcock references and the use of the word "shtick"
6:30 So Kevin McHale of Glee was very nearly the first person "E!" has talked to that I remotely cared about. He's wearing a yellow bowtie -- I almost typed yellow boytoy -- Weird. I blame Madonna.
Glee Boys.
Kevin named Sally Field as his celebrity crush (!) and Brothers & Sisters as his favorite show. I hope he was conveniently forgetting this past season because it blew.
Moments before Ryan Seacrest was actually wishing Emmys on the Jersey Shore cast. I am so embarrassed for everyone. E! should have rechristened themselves S! for Shameless or Stoopid long long ago. But at least they changed their red carpet people and got rid of the silver haired pancaked makeup person.
6:40 Claire Danes looking gorgeous with relaxed hair and shimmery gown. A Truth: I sometimes wonder what Angela Chase would think of Claire Danes. It's not that I get fantasy and reality confused so much as I just tend to prefer fantasy. Danes claims the only critic she worried about for this movie was Temple Grandin herself. Danes always strikes me as so fragile with all the tics and flinching that I imagine that bad reviews ACTUALLY hurt her, like cause blistering or some such.
6:45 Eva Longoria. That rumor she was going to play the Wasp in The Avengers was one of the darkest moments of my summer.
6:50 Jon Hamm (Mad Men) named Tatum O'Neal as his first celebrity crush because of Bad News Bears. That's so cute. She was one of mine, too. Only it was because of Little Darlingswhich scandalized me as a kid. Scandalized! But there's definitely a connection between being scandalized by someone and crushing on them, don't you think?
7:00 Ryan Murphy is wearing a blue tux and blue sunglasses. And he actually seems a little blue (mood not porny). Maybe he's less excitable in real life than he as a TV god. Because Nip/Tuck and Glee are nothing if not excitable.
7:01 January Jones is going to play Emma Frost "The White Queen" in X-Men: First Class which I think is kind of a brilliant casting decision. I understand the internet thinks otherwise but the internet is craycray
7:03 I'm not kidding you that this is what the E! cameramen did intermittently throughout Christina Hendrick's interview. Again: S!
or maybe E! is correct: E! for Exploitative. P.S. I love those Mad Men barbie dolls. I don't have Joan though. Just the Drapers.
7:12 Bill & Sookie (Anna Paquin) are now married. It's true. And yet they still have to answer constants nudity and sex questions on the red carpet. They're talking about their Rolling Stone photoshoot and how they covered each other's bit. One of the weird annual joys of awards season is watching Bill (I forgot his name. Deal) get embarrassed while talking about the sex scenes and use hand motions to describe body parts. Last year he used his hands, cupped, to demonstrate his butt pumping technique on the show. I kid you not.
Classy! But True Blood is A grade B trash and that's why we love it.
7:34 I'm so bored right now. I was all excited for about 41 minutes. But there are too many TV stars I don't care about. Like Juliana Marguiles. I have this fear that The Middlebrow Wife is going to win lots of awards tonight. It seems so Emmys.
7:52 Julie Bowen just said that her favorite shows on television are 30 Rock which she deemed an "old school" choice (... um, it's only been on for like four years. It's not like Law & F'in Order) and Project Runway her guilty pleasure. Meanwhile the reporter appeared to be headed to Las Vegas right after the show. A cut-out at your waist?
7:59 Billy Bush is TERRIBLE at his job. He really is. He's like "The Emmys" like that's as interesting as a message from their sponsors.
8:03 Opening skit. Glee themed. Gee, I wonder who will win tonight. Was that really Jon Hamm's voice just now? It's fun to see Dr Drew reunited with Liz Lemon but otherwise that number was atrocious. There were lots of pauses for laughter with no laugh track and (presumably) no one laughing.NEXT DAY NOTE: I'm reading around that net that people mostly loved this opening. Hmmm. The dangers of live blogging and divided attention?
So the straight man playing the gay man in the gayest category ever won. But he is truly hilarious on that show. "I ate the sun!"
8:20 txtcritic explaining The Bing Bang Theory to my clueless BFF "it's about three nerds that live together." That sounds unmissable! Modern Family takes another award for Best Writing in Comedy. Well deserved.
Thanks the cast, her agent, "my lord and creator Ryan Murphy" (ha!) her wife. and then a "God Bless"
She's so talented but I feel a bit bad for Krakowski who had her best season ever I think. Is she having a "rage stroke" right now?
8:35 Ryan Murphy wins Best Comedy Director Glee. He says the show is about the value of arts education. My friend (who watches Glee every week) "That sounds so interesting. I'd love to watch that show. What show is he talking about?" Ha! Something tells me that Glee has peaked. Even fans are mocking it tonight.
I should note that somewhere in there was a skit with the Modern Family cast that actually had a good 3D joke featuring Sofia Vergara's boobs. I feel certain that the entire camera crew of E! television guffawed.
In her acceptance speech she says "I'm not funny." Ha. Well, that's true. But your supporting cast sure is. And Edie is marvelous on that show, don't you think? And even better: very little like her Sopranos self. That's range.
8:51 Top Chef wins Best Reality Series. I had no idea that Padme was this divisive but my friends all started arguing about her. There was only pure hate and big love. Nothing inbetween. Weird.
8:55 They keep showing Oprah commercials. We're laughing because we've decided that "Steadman" is the best fake boyfriend name since "George Glass."
9:00 Chris Meloni. I just had to turn the air conditioner back on.
9:02 Best Writing Drama for Mad Men. This is the lamest live blog ever. I apologize. The Emmys are somehow sucking the life out of me. Maybe it's because the awards have not been embarrassing. And the acceptance speeches have been very standard so far. And the hosting not inspired. So... uh... APOLOGIES.
9:04 Supporting Actor NomineesAaron Paul, Breaking Bad | Martin Short, Damages | Terry O'Quinn, Lost | Michael Emerson, Lost | John Slattery, Mad Men | Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain AgeAnd the winner is...Aaron Paul. I guess I need to watch this show. Aaron Paul looks like the tiniest person alive. A pocket Emmy winner.
9:10 Supporting Actress Nominees Sharon Gless, Burn Notice | Rose Byrne, Damages | Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife | Christine Baranski, The Good Wife | Christina Hendricks, Mad Men | Elisabeth Moss, Mad MenAnd the winner is...Archie Panjabi. I like her but it's not OK that Christina Hendricks lost when she doesn't even get nominated for each season. But Mad Men doesn't have much luck winning acting prizes, does it.
9:15 Lead ActorBryan Cranston, Breaking Bad | Michael C Hall, Dexter | Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights | Hugh Laurie, House | Matthew Fox, Lost | Jon Hamm, Mad Men And the winner is Bryan Cranston for the third time. Poor everyone else. This is actually why I've never been into the Emmys. It's like making your bed in the morning. There's always deja vu.
Beautiful gracious speech from Cranston, though. If there's a takeaway from the evening it's that we're all supposed to be watching Breaking Bad. I feel left out.
9:24 Jimmy Fallon just isn't funny. I think that's the problem. He's doing a musical In Memoriam to shows that went off the air. The lyrics were mildly amusing for the 24 spot. But otherwise I'm lost. And he's doing Lost "I didn't understand it, but I tried."
9:25 My best friend on Glee"If Glee loses, it will follow the storyline of the show. And thus, will only serve the show." Hee.
9:30 I forgot to mention that Dexter won Direction of a Drama. I feel like I am seran wrapped to a table right now and the Academy of Television is a serial killer ready to do me in. I'm so over this.
This will not help to free me up from the seran wrap.
I'll say come on, come on, come on, come on, yeah take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby. (break a..)
9:36 I swear Jimmy Fallon is hosting this show from his basement. It's so 12 year old boy "funny" rather than funny.
9:40 The Tonys just won something. My friend thinks that awards shows should be ineligible to win prizes at other awards shows. Listen, I love Broadway but seeing a Broadway show will not change your life. And as my friend Ed says "It'll change your bank account."
9:53 Ricky Gervais is SO funny. "Bucky Gunts" for the win.
9:55 I may actually expire before this show is over.
10:08 Julia Ormond just won Supporting Actress for a TV Movie Temple Grandin. They spelled her name wrong "Julia Ormand" and then she couldn't remember Catherine O'Hara's last name? A joke? I'm very confused right now. Earlier today I forgot the word to "balcony" I am terrified that I have Aphasia. Or at least I am terrified that awards shows have it.
10:16 Temple Grandin won another. Is that about a disease? I shouldn't joke about Aphasia. But I really did forget the word for balcony earlier. WTF?
10:17 Jewel is doing In Memoriam? But without an intro. I remember HER but I can't remember "balcony"
10:20 These In Memoriams are always so sad. Sniffle.
10:23 We're now eating Iceland skyr... it's a little mealy or chalky or something. Do not like. Sorry Iceland.
10:24 I have lost the thread.
10:26 Some time ago George Clooney won a humanitarian prize. He really is a great person. But my apartment -- I have a couple friends over -- we're now experimenting with cuisine and discussing the Scissor Sisters. I tried!
Look how A-MAZ-ING this photo is that my BFF took? The light is emanating from Jake Shears chest. It's not the first time. Light is also absorbed there. The light in my eyeballs.
10:30 Oh all right. If I must. Back to the Emmys.
Lead Actress NomineesJoan Allen, Georgia O'Keefe | Judi Dench, Return to Cranford | Maggie Smith, Capturing Mary | Claire Danes, Temple Grandin | Hope Davis, That Special RelationshipAnd the winner is... Claire Danes.
Her acceptance speech was fun. I would quote it for you now but I lost the thread. I'll have to backtrack. But she was cute and, it's like, something Angela Chase would've said if she'd become, like, a tv star. For reals.
10:38 Lead Actor NomineesJeff Bridges, A Dog Year | Ian McKellen, The Prisoner | Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack | Dennis Quaid, That Special Relationship | Michael Sheen, That Special RelationshipAnd the winner is...Al Pacino. I hate his hair so much.
BTW Latisse is probably loving how many opportunities Claire Danes has had to blink and coo at the camera tonight. Those lashes sure are lovely!
10:40 Yes, please wrap it up Pacino.
10:41 OMG. He is STILL talking? They would drown anyone else out with orchestra music.
Except maybe Betty White.
10:42 I am beyond TIME. I am now going to share a screencap that happened before Al Pacino won. Because I cannot be contained by time or by my own time stamping. F*** you 10:42 I am 10:36 or something. Take it. You'll take it and you'll like it.
MmmmmSkarsgård.
10:46 I feel like if you add up all the times Tom Hanks has been on awards stages accepting prizes -- best miniseries -- you would equal my life. Or at least up until say high school graduation. He's logged years up there is what I'm saying.
10:50 So Claire Danes was just called "bottomlessly talented" does this mean her bottom is without talent? She'll always have her eyelashes.
LAST TWO AWARDS. YEEHAW.
Defending New York City champs 30Rock and Mad Men, both of which have won for every season aired (thus far), defend their titles. Will they repeat for their 4th and 3rd respective seasons? We'll find out in seconds.
DramaBreaking Bad | Dexter | The Good Wife | Lost | Mad Men | True BloodAnd the winner is...MAD MEN. Yes! Best show on TV. You know my feelings about it. January Jones is wearing a dress made of a blue chinese new year dragon. Shell breasts. How cute was that little exchanged look between the Drapers on stage?
ComedyCurbYour Enthusiasm | Glee | Modern Family | Nurse Jackie | The Office | 30 Rock And the winner is...[nailbiter] Modern Family! Great great show. Yay. Deserved. So consistent and so beautifully executed and just, well, funny. And the award is called "Best Comedy"
10:59 Okay wow. So the awards went to fairly deserving things but Jimmy Fallon was terrible. I'm out.
The clear winner of the night is... (I think we all know).... Claire Danes. How soon does HBO offer her her own series?
11:54 OK. I really must sleep now but I just wanted to remind Sofía Vergara of her commitments.
Robert here, back with more of my series on great contemporary directors. Last week I promised someone more universally beloved than my subject Andrew Bujalski. I'm not sure if I've kept that promise. Although Mr. Soderbergh is certainly better known (though not necessarily less experimental) which is why he's so damn interesting.
Maestro: Steven Soderbergh Known For: Politically charged dramas, mini-budget indies and the Oceans films. Influences: William Friedkin, Sidney Lumet, take your pick from the 70's but also Bergman and (according to Soderbergh) Jean-Luc Godard most of all. Masterpieces: So many of his films depend on personal reaction... but let's say Traffic. Disasters:I'd sayFull Frontal and Ocean's Twelve. Better than you remember: And how you remember them is also so personal. Let's say Che. Box Office: 183 mil for Ocean's Eleven... no shock there. Favorite Actor:After scouring through Soderbergh's vast casts, I find the answer to be Clooney with 5 and Damon with 5.
Why do we admire Steven Soderbergh so? It's because he's decided to make the films he wants to make, the way he wants to make them and still achieve success and name recognition. As a director, he's daring, constantly pushing the possibilities of the medium. The results are often flawed, and occasionally downright bad, yet sometimes inspired and even game-changing. No one really seems to think of Soderbergh as a "comeback kid" because there's never any doubt if he'll come back eventually with a new hit (and what he's doing when he's "down," if you can call him that, is always interesting if imperfect.). Consider his output in the years after Sex, Lies and Videotape catapulted him to indie-movement-godfatherdom. There was Kafka, Schitzopolis, King of the Hill (no relation to the T.V. show of the same name), Gray's Anatomy(no relation to the T.V. show of the almost-same name). Then, suddenly he peeks his head above the water with Out of Sight, owns the cinematic landscape in 2000 with Traffic andErin Brockovich, brings back cool with Ocean's Eleven and then it's back into the experimental. Few other directors can pull that off, if any.
What makes Soderbergh so modern is his subtle infusion of the topical in his films. Bubble isn't about a murder mystery as much as it is about the lives of Mideast factory workers. The Girlfriend Experience isn't about prostitution as much as it's about the state of the economy. Even Traffic and Erin Brockovich, which are more blatantly political, escape traps by focusing on character. The Informant, may be a zany comedy but it's a zany comedy about corporate corruption and bureaucracy. Speaking of which, who makes a zany comedy about corporate corruption and bureaucracy? It may not seem like it at first glance, but The Informant is one more in a line of bold and uncompromising experimental films from Soderbergh. Bubble and The Girlfriend Experience should stand as monuments to independent filmmakers as what's possible. Che may not have been perfect but the idea of a two-part epic where the films' inconsistencies are as important as their uniform elements is a gamble worth noticing. The Good German wasn't perfect, but it's hard to argue with the suggestion that throwback genre's should only utilize the technology and resources of the time they're recreating (I'm looking at you Grindhouse).
Oddly enough, it's not the problems with these Soderbergh films that stand out in his filmography. In his dedication to experimentation, they seem expected, almost necessary. These Soderbergh films may not have been entirely successful, but I'd never call them unsuccessful. In fact, it's primarily when he strays from his standards of modern relevance and technical audaciousness that he seems to miss the mark significantly. Consider Solaris, a film that was perhaps too conventionally filmed and philosophically detached from the social issues and politics that Soderbergh loves to have been much more than a blip in his otherwise interesting canon. And "interesting" may be the key word here. For Steven Soderbergh, success isn't measured in terms of "good" and "bad." It's measured in terms of "interesting" or "not." If something hasn't been done before, if it dares to question the standard interpretations of filmmaking, then it's worthwhile. Usually I dislike that idea, that concept is more important than product in the world of film. Yet Soderbergh is one of the few filmmakers (along with his idol Godard) for which it easily and happily applies.
Due to the long holiday weekend which put me behind and a busy screening week, I've decided to postpone this week's HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT. The series will be back next Wednesday the 15th with Pandora's Box (1929) so you have another week to watch this awesome silent classic whether on DVD or Netflix Instant Watch. Thanks for understanding and please join in the celebration of the immortal Louise Brooks next Wednesday. On Wednesday the 22nd we'll do David Fincher's Se7en (1995) for its 15th anniversary. Honestly, it's the movie I was thinking of picking -- it'd been on my mind and I had an itch to scratch with it -- and then I looked up the release date and couldn't believe my eyes. Obvs, It was meant to be.
