Who Cares About Link?

God bless V Magazine for their latest issue, "Who Cares About Age". Usually when the media decides to celebrate older women, we're only allowed one. Like the recent Streep Mania... or 2006 when Helen Mirren was all the rage. I've always had a thing for actresses of a certain age so I applaud them for multiplying the enthusiasm. I mean check out these legendary cover girls: Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, and Sigourney Weaver. yesplease³.

And as if that weren't enough, you've got Charlotte Rampling on the inside! A whole huge photogallery of her... "Charlotte in Couture".

The average age of these women is 66. The average fabulousity of these women is ∞. Just saying.

More links...
Scott Feinberg interviews Halle Berry
The Evening Class Liza Minnelli interviews and TCM schedule
Deadline Hollywood Toy Story Best Picture spoofing FYC ads. The first is to your left. There's more to come as they campaign for the big prize. I'm really hoping they do Amadeus, The Hurt Locker and West Side Story. Which Best Pictures would you like to see spoofed by the toys?
Man About Town interviews Ryan Kwanten... naked. Ha.
Shadowplay proposes a mid December blog-a-thons about the last films from directors. What a fine idea. Any suggestions you'd like me write about?
Just Jared Anne Hathaway is awesome. She's already dreamt up her own role on Glee and picking songs before they've even invited her.
Moviefone If Lindsay Lohan needs to hit rock bottom to recover maybe this will do it? Malin Akerman of all people is now considered a suitable replacement.

offscreen
Gabby's Playhouse brilliant cartoon about the progression of all "sexism" discussions on the internet
The Post-Game Show on "beefcake" comic art and how it differs from cheesecake...

And finally... 
What's your take on Christian Bale's Oscar chances for The Fighter?

I was discussing this with some peers earlier today. Some people feel he's too disliked to win an Oscar (after all, many below the line players vote on Oscars and we all know that Bale has a temper on set) others that "likeability" doesn't matter so much in the face of a certain level of performance. Esquire just published a thorny profile piece. Some journalists think he's an ingrate. Others, like Kris Tapley appreciate his rough edges. My take is somewhere in the middle. Likeability does matter in awards season (a lot) and though I appreciate honesty and strong opinions, I do find that it's incredibly narcissistic when stars of a certain level bitch about their duties as stars... like doing press. Basically they wouldn't have those duties if they weren't hugely successful. If people want to talk to you that means you're more successful. All jobs come with elements that are less joyous for the worker ... but very few jobs have the rewards that star actors receive. Bitching about a tiny amount of drudgery within a life filled with extravagant reward (the only reason that tiny amount of drudgery even exists is because you're successful enough to have been extravagantly rewarded) seems very very petty. So I'm torn. I find it distasteful but on the other hand I believe art should be judged without interference from the personality of the artist.

"Thelma, don't you litter."

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JA from MNPP here. At this point in Thelma & Louise, our girls have just robbed a convenience store (not to mention that whole shooting a rapist thing slightly earlier). In fact that tiny bottle of Wild Turkey that Thelma's contemplating chucking out of the car is amongst the stolen goods. And yet even the fiercest lady outlaws must have their standards. No littering!

Watching some of T&L this morning - it'd been awhile - the friction between the ladies they were and the criminals they're becoming is played for laughs a lot more than I'd remembered and this is one of my favorite throwaway moments. Although Louise is closed-off at the start she's hardly a schoolmarm, yet she keeps getting forced into the position with the newly rebellious Thelma, and Sarandon plays these moments with a really funny dose of bug-eyed bewilderment, unsure how she's found herself in the position of Mom. I wish she and Geena Davis had done a comedy together at some point, they would've been great at it. They still could...

Point being, happy birthday, Susan Sarandon!
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Susan & Eva

Susan Sarandon and Eva Amurri in 198? and in 2010

The picture on the left I just found in a old box from my parent's house. Was it from a Rolling Stone or a Premiere? I do not know. I'm guessing it's from 1988ish... Eva's just a wee toddler. The picture on the right is from the Emmys one week ago. (Eva turned 25 earlier this year). Hug your little loved ones right this instance. Before you know it they'll be taller than you.

I thought Eva was quite good in The Life Before Here Eyes (2007) but I haven't seen much of her work. Did anyone catch her on Californication... verdict? At any rate, she's got plenty of time to make her mark.


Susan had only done 3 films and a few TV roles at Eva's age. Sarandon's mega career was a gradual uphill walk rather than a meteoric rise. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) hit when she was 29 years old but even that wasn't really the key; the midnight movie classic was a famously a late bloomer.

We'll see Sarandon next in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps as Shia Labeouf's mom and then in the Duplass brothers Cyrus follow up Jeff Who Lives at Home. Amurri has the lead role in the upcoming horror flick Isolation.
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Streep Nom #10: The Bridges of Madison County

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

When The Bridges of Madison County premiered in summer (a rare Eastwood berth, indeed) it seemed like Streep might finally win her 3rd Oscar the following Spring. She'd been away from the awards race in what seemed like forever. Hilariously, that "forever" absence had only been four consecutive years (1991-1994) but for Meryl, that's an eternity. In fact, a four year absence had never happened before and has never happened since all these years later. By the end of the 1995 film year, a really actressy one, the story was a lot different and the race was suddenly all but sewn up for Sarandon with only Streep and Stone as dark horse possibilities.

1995 the nominees were

• Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
• Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas *Nathaniel's pick. This performance kills me.*
  
• Sharon Stone, Casino
  
• Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County
• Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility
  

Trivia note: With this 10th honor, Streep tied Bette Davis & Jack Nicholson's overall nomination records (at the time -- Jack wasn't done giving Streep a run for #1) making them the collective #2 Oscar favored actor after Katharine Hepburn.

Back to the actual competition. How many times have we heard this almost-win story now? Meryl is flouncing along giddily in the general direction of the podium for her third triumph when suddenly...

But let us not bemoan that elusive third Oscar and instead marvel at how many valid choices Oscar made for 1995 and how good their roster might have been even if it had looked a lot different.

---> Meryl with Tom Cruise at the Oscars in March '96. (Note frosty snubbed Nicole, not yet ascendant, by his side)

Other 1995 women for context: Oscar chose the entire Globe Drama slate which meant that the comedic nominees were snubbed: Nicole Kidman (To Die For), Vanessa Redgrave (A Month by the Lake), Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding), Annette Bening (The American President) and my fav Sandra Bullock perf (While You Were Sleeping). Two critical darlings Julianne Moore [safe] and the eternally snubbed Jennifer Jason Leigh (Georgia) were ignored due to being ahead of their time and upstaged by their co-star, respectively, though Leigh did win the coveted NYFCC prize. Box office queens Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Minds) failed to scare up awards attention outside of MTV.

Other female leads that year included: Angela Bassett (Waiting to Exhale), Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise), Lori Petty (Tank Girl), Winona Ryder (How to Make an American Quilt), Elizabeth Berkely (Showgirls) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Miami Rhapsody) getting her first taste of romantic comedy lead stardom to come.

Bassett had a fiery 95 (Strange Days & Waiting to Exhale)

Finally, the year included a few leads who were previous Oscar winners Jessica Lange (Rob Roy), Geena Davis (Cutthroat Island), Holly Hunter (Home for the Holidays) and Kathy Bates (Dolores Claiborne) none of whom were received as warmly as had often previously been the case.

See what I mean about the year being actressy? And so many fine examples of different flavors of it, too.

Nathaniel's List: It's a tasty Oscar vintage for sure -- they done good -- but I'd have to remove Stone's effortful hot mess and Thompson's sensible sister to make room for two redheads who staked their first unmistakable claims to genius: Moore & Kidman. And though I'll always love "Cher" in Clueless, I can't make room for her in such an abundant year. That said, it's utterly shameful that the Globe Comedy nominations excluded her.

AS IF!

Your thoughts on the year, please. It's so rich, don'cha think?
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