Gleeful Gwyneth

Last night's Glee. Do we need to discuss? Stunt casting, so flagrantly used on television and stage to yield press & ratings dividends is a completley unreliable tool for producing quality entertainment. Last night was a happy example of the times when it works. "The Substitute" reminded us how joyful Comedic Gwyneth Paltrow can be.

Somewhere after her Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, she started seeming super morose onscreen as if depressive gloopy drama was her true calling. And then she went yet GOOPier. But last night she glided through her role as "Holly Holiday", Spanish speaking catchphrase wielding Cee Lo loving totally irresponsible teacher with such relaxed shimmer, that it only reminded how radiant she was 12 years ago before she won the Oscar.

It's quite possible, if her subsequent career is any indication,  that she doesn't take her acting career too seriously but if so, why not move in that direction; funny, tossed off, 'I'm only here to have fun' treats for her starved fans? We've got plenty of actresses who can handle heavy dramatics... and some can do it with more pizzazz or more varied nuance than Paltrow. We've got too few who can get all sparkly while joking, singing and dancing. Oops, scratch the last part. Paltrow's dancing was even more clubfooted than Zeéeee's was doing the same number, Chicago's wondrous "Hot Honey Rag" finale. Well, at least Gwynnie sparkles when she sings!

Santana: What would you know about Cee Lo? You're like...40.
Gwynnie: Top 40, sweet cheeks.

Towards the end of the show there was a spot for Gwynnie's new movie Country Strong. I recently got a major thumbs down on the movie from a trusted industry source but I enjoyed hearing Gwyneth sing so much last night that I might be up for it anyway. I love the singing actresses, I do. It's just too bad that she's playing an alcoholic. No more crying Gwynnie, make it sparklier!  'It's kind of your thing.'

Here's Gwyneth singing "Country Song" at the CMA Awards last week.



You like? Maybe Best Original Song attention?

Related Posts

• Shakespeare in Love BPFTOI
• Best Actress 1998
• Gwyneth Loves Actresses in GOOP

Gwyneth Says "Hi"

so... "Hi."
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Cast This: Gravity (Without Angelina Jolie)

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that I'd never mentioned Alfonso Cuarón's upcoming sci-fi epic Gravity. And here's a worrisome opportunity to do so. According to CHUD Angelina Jolie has passed on the big budget project for a second time. That type of a "no" can often doom an expensive project.

Gravity sans Jolie. What will they do?

Who will Alfonso Cuarón find to handle the heavy duty film-carrying demands of the role? The film concerns a man and a woman who are stranded in a space station. Or at least the woman iss (details are kind of unclear) The rest of the crew is dead. Robert Downey Jr has the principal male role but for whatever reason, it's a supporting gig. Gravity will rest on the female lead's shoulders. Most exciting from a filmmaking perspective is not, for me, the abundant groundbreaking CGI (as much as in Avatar) but that Cuarón wants to include long unbroken shots... one of them 20 minutes long.

Long unbroken shots are just about my favorite cinematic thing in the world after actresses so I should have mentioned this project long ago. This movie gives both. And Cuarón's already given plenty just by making Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men. (Speaking of unbroken shots...)

Anyway, this has got to be a tough role to cast... and not just because of bankability issues. Not every actor would understand the shift in performance style required to carry huge metaphysical but also action-tinged sci-fi epics all by their lonesomes. Who were the last actors to do so? I guess Jodie Foster (Contact), Hugh Jackman (The Fountain), and George Clooney (Solaris) have all given that a go in their respective ways. Carrying a survival epic on your own? Tom Hanks in Castaway pops into mind... though that's decidedly earthbound. But we'll allow for him since he's also got the stranded in space thing with Apollo 13. Obviously you have to have a star people love to look at if they have to spend 90-120 minutes with primarily one face.


I always find it amusing/annoying that when big roles for women that don't seem to require a specific age range are being cast, studios always seem willing to consider any currently hot A list star of any age and virtually every 20something in town with any heat that month even though there's usually no proven bankability (which is how so many people end up starring in like 10 movies simultaneously and are never heard from again. Remember Kate Bosworth?). Studios will almost never bank on someone who once had heat and lost it despite the cold hard fact that showbiz is nothing if not a random chaotic collection of people who are walking embodiments of the cyclical nature of heat.

"Interested" lists always make me realize how rare and lucky we are as moviegoers when something accidental happens like when someone gives someone great a real shot even though they aren't perceived as "hot right now" or bankable or on every shortlist in town. Like Marisa Tomei in all of her Oscar nominated roles. She was never on the top of every list but she's so damn talented and reliably watchable. Or like Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham in '88. She had to fight to get that and then was magnificent obliterating any notions that she had already peaked. Many people even thought Streep was over in the early 90s, you know?

Who would you cast? Bear in mind we know virtually nothing about the role other than that it's a solo and the character has a daughter back on earth (so you can't skew as young as Ellen Page, or at least you probably shouldn't because why would someone leave a baby on Earth while they were space travelling?) They'll have to have chemistry with RDJ if he stays on, and they'll need to be comfortable in an effects heavy film (which is why I worry about the studio's interest in Natalie Portman. When exactly is she good in those situations even though she's often good elsewhere?). I'd be considering Gwyneth Paltrow first (I'm serious) and then probably Nicole Kidman. Hell, I'd even test Christina Ricci on account of the curveball aspect of it. There's a familiar interesting face that nobody would be expecting but that many people would enjoy and if she ever delivers big somewhere a million people are going to say "I knew she had it in her all along!". But as much as it surprises me to hear myself type it, the studio's rumored interest in Sandra Bullock makes total sense to me artistically even if they're probably only interested due to the monetary heat. Still, I can imagine her being a good match with RDJ and her uncomplicated but highly watchable acting style might actually be an assett to an effects heavy film. She's never tried one and maybe she'll want to stretch a little post-Oscar?

The possibilities are endless... aren't they?

I'll shut up now. I do go on. Your turn. Which actress would you love to see carrying a sci-fi epic for Alfonso Cuarón.
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Streep Nom #11: One True Thing

We're looking at each Meryl Streep Oscar nod and its competitive field.
Previously: 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88, 90 and 95

Twenty years after her first nomination for The Deer Hunter (1978) Meryl Streep replaced Bette Davis as runner up to Katharine Hepburn's Oscar throne with her cancer victim in One True Thing. For a very short time period (i.e. twelve months) the three legends had a 10-11-12 Oscar nomination spread. Streep would soon leave both Hepburn and Davis in the dust. But we'll get to her #1 status when it rolls around.

1998 the nominees were

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth
• Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station *Nathaniel's vote*
  
• Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love
• Meryl Streep, One True Thing
• Emily Watson, Hilary & Jackie
  

The Blanchett vs. Paltrow contest has arguably been the most discussed in modern Oscar Actress history with the possible exception of Swank vs. Bening (both rounds). People still get hot under their ruffs about this one a full dozen years later.

Other '98 women for context:
Globe nominees that didn't make Oscar's cut were Susan Sarandon (Stepmom), Jane Horrocks (Little Voice), Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary), Meg Ryan (You've Got Mail) and Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex). Elsewhere in Awardsland, Ally Sheedy (High Art) took Best Actress at the Indie Spirits, besting Alfre Woodard (Down in the Delta). Weirdness: Emma Thompson, an awards staple, couldn't get any traction for a mimicry job (Primary Colors).

Anne Heche & Ellen Degeneres still had tongues wagging --- >

1998 was a double dipper year for Drew Barrymore (The Wedding Singer, Ever After), Sandra Bullock (Practical Magic, Hope Floats) and Anne Heche (Six Days and Seven Nights, Psycho) who was the controversial rage at the time as the first out lesbian* headlining major studio movies.

Major 90s stars like Angela Bassett (How Stella Got Her Groove Back), Holly Hunter (Living Out Loud) and Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight) came on strong. And Oprah Winfrey (Beloved) didn't generate the awards enthusiasm needed.

Finally, this is the year we met Lindsay Lohan, future hot mess -- and like Heche, also a future faux lesbian! -- in her wonderfully able child star debut in The Parent Trap. It was so wonderfully able, in fact, that I fell hard for her. To emphasize why that is unexpected is to admit that the Hayley Mills film was my BEST-MOVIE-EVER until I was about eight years old. Even thinking of it now in 2010 makes me all teary-eyed with nostalgia.


Nathaniel's List?
He's not so sure. Oscar's roster is Classic Bait: terminal illness, mental disorders, Shakespeare, royalty porn, older person opening their heart to a child (Yes, they have a thing for that, too). How could any of these performances not have been nominated even if they weren't as good as they are? Originally in the now mythic war for the statue between Paltrow & Blanchett I favored Blanchett but my opinion of Paltrow's star making turn has grown considerably over the years. Still, I'm not sure either would make my list. I'm not sure who would make my list. Strangely, given the topic at hand, I barely remember Streep's cancer mom.

Apologies to Watson but she'd probably be the first to go to make room for one of the worst snubs of the decade. I'm talking about Ally Sheedy's devastating photographer/junkie in High Art. I was madly in love with both Hunter and Ricci's smart sexy comic work in '98 so maybe I'd dump a couple more of the Oscar women for them. Who knows? Revisits are in order. But to make a long story short, the LAFCA got it exactly right with their tie; Ally Sheedy and Fernanda Montenegro tower over 1998's actress field.

*Anne "Celestia" Heche's lesbianism was short lived of course. But still. People were all "Oh My God!" -- OMG! wasn't in the vernacular yet -- "They're letting an out lesbian play romantic straight leads in movies! The world is going to end."
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Curio: Actress Cameos

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here. I've always wondered if the phrase "cameo appearance" originated from cameo jewelry: a recognizable face that appears in relief, at least on film. I haven't got a verifiable answer (although Wikipedia tells me I'm right). In the meantime, here are some recognizable film faces that have been cameo-ized.

One of Wes Anderson's trinkets, Margot Tennenbaum, makes a perfect cameo brooch.

A fittingly Burtonesque, Gothic cameo necklace of Anne Hathaway's White Queen.

The classics: Louise Brooks, Bette Davis, and Greta Garbo.

And on the edgier side, a Jane Fonda protest cameo.

Iron Men

Last week, we prepped for the summer movie season by pondering good times at the multiplex with summer playthings Tony Stark and Carrie Bradshaw (Sold Separately!). Sarah Jessica Parker will make us wait as Carrie is fashionably late; Three more weeks until she flicks her witty tongue, tosses that glorious mane, and buys several more pairs of shoes. Robert Downey Jr's billionaire weapons manufacturer, on the other hand, has already returned. With IRON MAN 2 playing to sold out crowds everywhere there's no more wondering what the summer movie season will look like.

Not that it was ever anything like a secret what Iron Man 2 would offer up. This blockbuster's shiny surface reflects Hollywood's sequel mandate back at us. Their answer is always 'more! more! more!' before anyone has asked a question.

Read the rest at Towleroad

Return and report... Did you like the movie's more more more credo? And how about Mickey Rourke's post-Wrestler turn?
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