The New York premiere of Black Swan was held last night at the Ziegfeld which is the theater for premiere's here in Manhattan. I have so many fond memories of the place. All the stars were in attendance including Darren Aronofsky, Vincent Cassell and Barbara Hershey. Plus the deliciously dark rival ballerinas Mila, Natalie and Noni.
I think it goes without saying but I'll say it: Winona Ryder is still one of the most beautiful women on the planet. Those eyes. That coloring. Gah.
Why Noni is wearing a tux we can't be sure but we love that she did. Why Aronofsky refuses to shave that Flynn mustache we can't be sure but we wish he would. Why Natalie is carrying around Nabokov's Lolita* we... wait, what?
There's got to be a story there. I hope it does not involve obsessive fans of The Professional.
*Okay, it's apparently a clutch by Olympia Le Tan - thx Dom - fashioned as a replica of the literary classic. The replica costs only $1,321.00more than the real thing. But can the real thing hold your lipstick, keys and money?
The Golden Horse Awards were held last night. They're often thought of as the Chinese Oscars because the tradition goes back the furthest and honors a wide pool of Chinese language films from multiple countries (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, etcetera). Though neither Monga, Taiwan's submission for Oscar's Foreign Language Film competition, nor Aftershock (China's submission), were nominated for Best Picture they both had multiple nominations .
Monga, a popular youth crime drama we've mentioned before,won Best Actor for 28 year old Ethan Ruan (left), who amusingly brought a cardboard cutout of his co-star who was not nominated. And yes he brought the cutout with him onstage when he won. He said...
Woo! Sorry, I brought my buddy along. [mimicing his co-star] 'Hi everyone. I'm Mark Chao'
...to big laughs from the crowd.
Here's the Best Actor presentation. The clips begin at 2:25 after Li BingBing and Tony Leung Ka Fai (yes, the other Tony Leung) are done with their banter. Oh, awards-show banter... you are truly the universal language.
In case you're wondering about that gayish clip in the reel, that's the Cannes prize winner Spring Fever which is from China but was banned there so it's major release was in Taiwan. It won three awards. You can see the film instantly on Netflix.
But back to Monga... look how surprised Ethan is by his win! Sweet.
Leading Actor Nominees from left to right: Ni Dahong (Judge), Hao Qin (Spring Fever), Xueqi Wang (Bodyguards and Assassins) and Ethan Ruan.
In his acceptance speech he says that he joined the business with the hopes that he'd win this prize in 20 years time. He didn't have to wait that long. His movie career has barely begun.
Complete list of 2010 Golden Horse Winners
<--- PICTURE When Love Comes
[Please note: When Love Comes, which had 13 nominations (!) was released after the Oscar submission deadline for Best Foreign Film. It's possible we'll see When Love Comes as Taiwan's Oscar submission in 2011.]
OUTSTANDING TAIWANESE FILM The Fourth Portrait
DIRECTOR Chung Mong-Hong, The Fourth Portrait
OUTSTANDING TAIWANESE FILMMAKER Lee Lieh, Monga
[Please note: I'm not sure why Taiwan gets extra special treatment but they really cleaned up in the awards since When Love Comes, The Fourth Portrait and Monga are all from Taiwan.]
NEW DIRECTOR Ho Wi Ding, Pinoy Sunday
ACTOR Ethan Ruan, Monga
ACTRESS Lu Li-Ping, City Monkey
SUPPORTING ACTOR Pen-Fon Wu, Seven Days in Heaven
SUPPORTING ACTRESS Lei Hao, The Fourth Portrait
SCREENPLAY Liu Jie & Gao Shan, Judge
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Essay Liu, Seven Days in Heaven
ART DIRECTION Peng Weimin, When Love Comes
CINEMATOGRAPHY Chang Chan, When Love Comes
EDITING Robin Weng, Jian Zeng, Florence Bresson, Spring Fever
MAKE-UP & COSTUME DESIGN Dora Ng, Bodyguards and Assassins
[Note: How strange is it that these categories are combined?]
VISUAL EFFECTS Yong-Gi Lee, Xiang Yu Nan, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
[Note: As an outsider I'm kind of surprised that the Chinese Oscar submission Aftershock did not win this battle since it's such a mammoth hit overseas.]
FILM SCORE Peyman Yazdanian, Spring Fever
ORIGINAL SONG Summer Lei "Taipei Exhcanges," from Taipei Exchanges
SOUND EFFECTS Duu Chih Tu, Monga
ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY Sammo Hung, Ip Man 2
NEW PERFORMER Chien Na-Lee, Juliets
DOCUMENTARY Hip-Hop Storm
SHORT FILM Magabahai
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Hsu Li-Kong
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION Sun Yueh
Red Carpet Lineup Some memorable outfits. You have to go there if you're talking awards shows. It's the law.
To your left is 30 year old star actor Nicholas Tse (nominated for supporting actor for Gods and Assassins) who came to the awards show without a shirt underneath his suit. To your right are the evening's hosts, who know from fashion statements, and didn't let the audience forget he wasn't wearing one.
Left: Lu Li-Ping (City Monkey) who won Best Actress. Apparently the local fashion police were not pleased with her outfit, comparing it unfavorably to seafood (?). I guess I can see the undulating clam motif?; Right: Jingchu Zhang who was nominated for the disaster drama Aftershock.
From left to right: acclaimed actress Kara Hui (a winner last year at multiple ceremonies for At the End of Daybreak); Sandee Chan (those half gloves always remind me of Lady Gaga now) is a musician and performer who was nominated for composing the score for Monga. TFE reader Tony (who helped me immensely with this posts - thanks!) tells me her score is brilliant; and Chiling Lin who some people called "Best Dressed" for the evening (she's wearingValentino). If she looks familiar to you that's because she was recently the plot-turning obsessively tea-making wife of Tony Leung Chiu Wai in last year's lengthy action epic Red Cliff.
That's all for now. Even if you don't know the films do you like the awards show reportage from far away lands? If you speak Chinese and are more familiar, do you think the deserving players won? *
Toronto kicked off last night but before we get to our coverage there -- we'll be hearing from the same folks who covered Toronto for The Film Experience last year -- Venice is starting to wrap up. Awards will be announced before you know it.
The most 'Hollywood' Venice premiere was probably The Town which brought out the happy familiar faces of Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and last year's Best Actor nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).
Is it just me or is it always a bit odd to see Jon Hamm smiling? He's smiling so much lately and with that career you'd be smiling too. But it's so UnDraper! These townies had prophetic reason to be happy. Reviews were kind. Here's a sampling:
Cinema Blend "bigger by nearly every measure" [than Gone Baby Gone]
Newsweek "Affleck’s heist movie is part of a career turnaround so amazing that he looks like the new Clint Eastwood"
One of the most exciting things for cinephiles about film festivals is that they tend to be more auteur-focused than any other movie event.
Tykwer, Miike, Ozon and Guadagino
Tom Tykwer was promoting his latest Drei, a film about a bisexual love triangle between a long time couple and the man they both fall for (unbeknownst to each other). Obsessed With Film called it "punchy and inventive" but wasn't completely bowled over. Tykwer has yet to recapture the type of international enthusiasm that greeted his breakthrough Run Lola Run (1998) but every few years or so we get another good looking movie like Perfume or The International. Takashi Miike makes a new movie as often as I write a blog post. At least it seems that way. He's twice or thrice as prolific as Woody Allen. The man behind violent sensations like Audition and Ichi the Killer (and many others with less staying power) was premiering 13 Assassins.
François Ozon is one of the best directors of eye candy movies in the world with a gorgeous filmography that includes 8 Women, Water Drops on Burning Rocks and 5x2 among other gems. He's also sweet to look at offscreen. I'm just saying. The gay auteur was in Venice to premiere Potiche, his latest confection starring a starry buffet for hungry francophiles: Catherine Deneuve, Karin Viard, Sergi Lopez, Gerard Depardieu, Judith Godreche among others. Yum yum. Ultimate Addict was totally entertained citing its "snappy, hilarious dialogue" and calling Deneuve "a joy to watch" though you can cut and paste that description into every Deneuve review, n'est-ce pas?
Luca Guadagnino, Tilda's I Am Love director was also in town. He's on Tarantino's competition jury. I include him because I am nuts for I Am Love and his proposed Auntie Mame remake with Tilda in the lead is the greatest movie ever made that doesn't actually exist yet. Ohmygod I want to see that like three years ago. Please make it. If only I were a multi-millionaire and could fund the project myself. This is why I should have been born rich instead of poor. I could have supported so many worthwhile creative endeavors. (Sigh)
Michelle, Tilda, Paz and the immortal Deneuve
But we mustn't forget the actresses beautifying the red carpet.
Michelle Williams is sharing a closet with Carey Mulligan? They're like twin pixie fashionistas. Michelle was in town for her role as Kelly Reichardt's (Wendy & Lucy) main muse, this time in the western Meek's Cutoff.
Time Out London "just as rich, nuanced, mysterious and low key as anything she's made."
Guardian "far from action packed, but still gripping."
Tilda Swinton appears magically wherever there are A list festivals. It's a rule of the cinema nature ...a benevolent one, too.
Paz Vega. Remember her? Would Spanglish jog your memory or have you tried to forget it? She's in town with the Italian drama Vallanzasca.
Anyway... we could do this all day. But the question is now who will take the prizes from Tarantino's jury? Guy Lodge has predictions. Will Natalie Portman's psycho ballerina win her the Best Actress prize? Will a non-English language picture rise to the top, forcing the media to note that not all movies are from Hollywood? Venice pulls the curtains closed tomorrow.
I couldn't sense excitement out there for my weekly random celeb lineup posts but, all the same, I have to commemorate the Tonys one last time since they were practically Golden Globe-esque last night with the TV & Film stars.
<-- Exclusive Unretouched Photo! Tonyless veteran Laura Linney congratulates newbie ScarJo on her Tony win.[Apparently Scarlett has never seen Mystic River or The House of Mirth. Ice cold blood puts the rose in those dimpled cheeks. Beware.]
I do want to say though, just as a corrective for what I'm seeing on the web, that The Lovely Laura Linney and Viola Davis don't fit the 'screen stars slumming it inbetween jobs' group situation that Tony voters love but stage aficionados rage against. Viola and Laura are both bonafide stage troupers. They've been doing it for years and if the movie roles ever dried up, it's likely that they'd be perfectly content to hit the boards full time. Linney, by her own admission, prefers it to screens big or small. It's just lucky for us that she can adjust her scale to fit any medium. That's not something just any actor can do. Many have tried but few are as adept at all three as she.
So let's get to dresses...
Best Dressed!
I'm not trying to be cheeky putting the original Wicked stars Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel together in best dressed, I just think they deserve it. Cheno looks great in white and can work a micro dress with the best, even somehow managing non obscene pratfalls in them. Speaking of obscenity: Imagine how much Wicked could charge for tickets if Cheno & Idina were to return however briefly after their post-Wicked fame? Idina, of the less flashy personality, makes up for it with this intricate dress. I hope they took a photo together last night, but I haven't seen it if they did.
Update:They did and here it is (Thanks Emma!)
♪ ♫ It well may be That we will never meet again In this lifetime So let me say before we part So much of me Is made of what I learned from you You'll be with me Like a handprint on my heart And now whatever way our stories end I know you have re-written mine By being my friend... ♪
And let's hear it for two women who have decaying portraits hidden in attics on their estates: Bernadette Peters, 62, who stepped out of some greco-roman sculpture garden complete with curls, and Dame Hotness, 64, in a super flattering dark blue scooped neck gown.
One of the best moments last night was when Mirren shouted out to the people "in the gods". I had somehow never heard this expression before but it's apparently a reference to the balcony (i.e. the cheap seats).
Not So Much
I understand that Jada Pinkett Smith is a relatively fierce woman... but divatude aside, do you really wanna risk comparison to that icy hotness of one Vera Farmiga on Oscar night of all things. It's the same dress in the same color family but chopped in half for a woman who's 7 inches shorter and needs to show leg for the illusion of length. I think Blanchett is auditioning in character as DAZZLER for the next X-Men film. (Yes I made that up. Marvel still has some B list characters left before they get to Alison Blaire.) Sherie Rene Scott seemed to forget that when movie stars are invading your domain you have to pick it up a notch. I mean this is pretty but it's awfully casual when you're celebrating a personal success like Everyday Rapture at an awards show. And finally whenever I look at ScarJo's gown -- which I want desperately to like -- I hear Heidi Klum saying "It looks cheap, no?" Maybe it's the color that's making me think of a glittery dress that some young Vice President of Marketing might wear to her corporate Christmas partay.
You know Cate was all like...
'I have lots of gold but not this kind. Gimme.'
I should note that men were also walking the red carpet last night including 'Canadian Who Lives With Me' and 'That Man That's a Movie Star That I Get To Sleep With Every Night.' It's been nearly 24 hours since the Tonys and I'm still reeling at all the new ways the actresses have found to say "my husband" at awards shows. I only wish we could have heard Helen Mirren's new way of describing Taylor Hackford.
Ricky Martin, who no longer needs any euphemisms, was also present.
Ricky & The Canadian That Lives With Scarlett Johansson
Last night was ... odd. Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, RYAN REYNOLDS
He's in Cannes with his Babel follow up Biutiful starring Javier Bardem. Gael García Bernal (also being manhandled above) is not in that forthcoming motion picture but he's a jury president this year. He'll be influential in deciding which director wins the Camera D'Or which is given for first features. (Here's a pic of Gael with his jury.)
<-- Meg Ryan hits the parties & premieres with producer Lawrence Bender
But on to the tweeting. Before you read these you should read this humorous USA Today article that stars many of these critics -- Jeffrey Wells gets a lot of play because he likes to rumble -- in the rarified atmosphere of this world event fest. It's a shame that Wells has to resort to calling IndieWire writers "effete" though when he is usually so talented at creative descriptives like "hot dog eating humans". heh.
@mattnoller"BIUTIFUL sucks, but I'm not gonna punch anyone to get that point across. Weak arms, is the thing." @ICSFilm Buitiful makes Precious look like a Disney princess movie. Unrelenting misery porn, to be sure, but committed brutal performances by all. @AwardsDaily "The five hourCARLOS looms. Not sure I can deal." @Laremy "My festival is a wrap. Final rankings: 1. Another Year 2. Certified Copy 3. The Housemaid" @ebertchicago "Werner Herzog: 'For me Godard is like intellectual counterfeit money when compared to a good kung-fu film.' " @benkenisberg "I bet Godard is a fiend for magnet poetry." @jamesrocchi "I'm less interested in seeing Godard 2010 than finding Godard's 2010 equivalent." @phillipstribune "At Cannes, you go from the new Godard to writing about Jennifer Hudson in a controversial biopic she hasn't made yet." [link]
Other than the catfights over Biutiful and the Godard business it's Abbas Kiarostami's enigmatic Certified Copy starring Juliette Binoche and William Shimell that seems to be stimulating the most excitable pronouncements since Mike Leigh's new picture hit the croissette.
William Shimell, Abbas Kiarostami, and the divine Juliette Binoche
@benkenisberg "Never thought Kiarostami would be the one to defibrillate the competition. Breathed a huge sigh of relief when the actors got out of the car" @gemko "Kiarostami's CERTIFIED COPY is the first film I've seen get booed this year. Perhaps not coincidentally, it's the best film so far" @awardsdaily "The Kiarostami was enjoyable enough - laughs here and there. But surreal - you see what you want to see, as deep as u want it 2 be.I would have loved it twenty years ago. Now it feels a bit like a waste of time, something I am running out of fast." @guylodge "Juliette Binoche just walked past. Now THAT, as they say, is a star."
Let's end with fashion. Here are four fab foreign ladies we like to look at.
from left to right:Sandrine Bonnaire (France) I don't think I've seen Bonnaire headlining a movie since the Oscar nominated Est - Ouest (which I recommend if you like epic sweep to your woman-as-survivor dramas) and that was a decade back. She's always good; Do-yeon Jeon (South Korea) who I fell so hard for in Secret Sunshine (still unreleased in the USA). I'm eager to see her Cannes entry The Housemaid... even though people didn't love it; Rossy de Palma (Spain) is blessed with one of cinema's most impossible-to-believe faces; and superstar/jury member Aishwarya Rai (India) is blessed with... everything.
I frequent Zimbio for many of the red carpet photos I use and one of the things I find hilarious about paparazzi coverage is the random insert shots that focus on someone's body parts (look at Meg Ryan's calf!) or hands (jewelry alert!). Aishwarya, for example, is much bejewelled but I'm not sure why this is a big zero-in-on-it detail since she married fellow Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan three years ago.
Do we really need to focus on a three year old ring when Fan Bingbing is holding her own wedding on the red carpet of the Biutiful premiere?
It's unclear who Bingbing plans on marrying. The world?
'Shut up about this sound effect woman I've never heard of' you say. But I cannot, testy reader. Even actresses with whom I am largely unfamiliar can sometimes bewitch me into transitory super fandom obsessiveness. I shall recover... for all Cannes-induced fevers break on May 23rd.
from left to right:Tim Burton (Jury President and Johnny Depp's #1 Fan), Alberto Barbera (Italian film festival biggie), Victor Erice (Spanish Director of the acclaimed Frankenstein picture The Spirit of the Beehive), Giovanna Mezzorgiorno (Award-winning Italian actress, Vincere recently boosted her international profile), Emmanuel Carrere (French writer), Alexandre Desplat (composer and last minute juror... this man must never sleep or have several clones of himself given his workload), Benicio del Toro (Oscar winning Puerto Rican actor and werewolf), Shekhar Kapur (Indian director of Elizabeth fame), and Kate Beckinsale (British hottie, vampire who hates werewolves).
Danger! Benicio's getting way too close to Beckinsale.
You know Tim Burton wants to direct this battle. Or at least art-direct the buildings and landscapes surrounding the battle. And though Desplat sorta already scored it (The Twilight Saga:New Moon) he'd have to toss that out like a temp track and find Danny Elfman for the real thing.
This jury is positively supernatural... frankenstein, werewolves, vampires.
<--- But monster mash aside, Kate Beckinsale knows how to make an entrance, doesn't she? It looks like she's stepping out of a technolor musical and floating seamlessly onto the most prestigious of film festival red carpets. Or like she's a model in one of those color fashion interludes in a black and white comedy like The Women (1939), maybe.
red carpet lineup. random celebs who've been out and about this week...
With Tribeca handing out their awards last tonight and me coming back to life (things have been crazy) I thought we'd talk about some people attending New York's glitzy festival. I'm asking a comment question in red for each of them because I'm "reader discussion guide" annoying like that. Maybe I should have been a T.A.? Tribeca doesn't have the same prestige or art-driven mentality as the far older New York Film Festival (always in the fall) but it does pack theaters all over town, offer up a diverse 'something for everyone' slate and bring out the celebrities in droves. To hawk their films. Though I did see Ben Stiller and Denis Leary as audience members at the religious satire The Infidel.
from left to right
Ellen Barkin plays a sullen drug addict in The Chameleon and she'll start her Shit Yearat Cannes next month in the Directors' Fortnight lineup. Is her career revving back up or is this another Oceans 13 false alarm. Do you care?
Mark Ruffalo seems to be letting himself go. Maybe it's just a 'between projects' kind of thing. Though, when is he between projects? Always working. I'm already stealing myself for disappointment if he doesn't get the credit he deserves for sly great work in The Kids Are All Right. Will he ever be Oscar nominated?
Kirsten Dunst is on the comeback trail despite being only 28. Today is her birthday! She was at Tribeca because she directed the short film Bastard. Are you rooting for her comeback?
Melissa Leo can't say no. That's my theory because she's made 15+ movies since Frozen River (2008) -- no joke -- and she's in two miniseries this year too (including Todd Haynes' Mildred Pierce). Should she be saying yes to everything? Riding that Frozen River momentum til it stops paying dividends.
from left to right
Andy Serkis came to town with his BAFTA nominated star turn in the rock bio sex & drugs & rock & roll. I wondered a few times if he could get any Oscar traction for it. Pro: there's the disability factor AND the biopic factor. Con: It's probably an unfamiliar rock story to most AMPAS voters and they like familiar. I admit I didn't know the story either. Do you know Ian Dury and The Blockheads?
she who must not be named was in NYC for My Own Love Song. You know how I felt about the trailer but believe me I don't want to be this frightened to go near her work. In all honesty I was really hoping to get back on board but then came that trailer. I even tried to give her a new nickname Zeéeeee which is vowel-accurate and friendly-like. Are you rooting for her comeback?
Christy Turlington is my favorite model of all time. But I realized sitting in the audience of her new documentary that it's weird to have a favorite model of all time. Because what can you do other than look at them? With favorite actors there's all sorts of imagination connection, storytelling, catharsis, etcetera. There I sat thinking "she's pretty" and my thoughts pretty much ended there. Unlike many of her supermodel peers from the 90s, she didn't try acting. But after marrying Ed Burns she is trying filmmaking. For a good cause though! Visit the website every mother counts. Have you a favorite model of all time ever?
Patricia Clarkson starred in a travel drama called Cairo Time in which she misplaces her husband in Egypt. Somehow I missed it even though I love my Patty and also enjoy her co-star Alexander Siddig. Bad planning me. Why do people go to the desert on vacations?
from left to right
Amanda Seyfried was starting her Letters To Juliet tour. Dominic Cooper walked her down the aisle -- I mean the red carpet -- for the premiere. Do you like them as a couple or do they give you painful flashbacks to Mamma Mia?
Guy Pearce should maybe be hired for Christian Bale's health scare roles. I'm just sayin'. He was in town for a special screening and discussion of Memento. Do you love Memento?
Sissy Spacek was promoting Get Low. I didn't like the movie -- which I saw before the festival and which most people do like for Oscar noms -- but it sure was nice to see her again in a substantial role. Still waiting for another In the Bedroom, though. What's your favorite Sissy? Other than Carrie I mean.
<---Brian Geraghty was the unofficial poster boy of the 9th annual Tribeca Film Festival. He was a home invader in the erotic thriller Open House, a muscley redneck brother-in-law in The Chameleon and he also appeared in Kiki's short Bastard. It's like Melissa Leo's Frozen River longtail... only with The Hurt Locker. Thoughts?
