Interview: The Return of Kirsten Dunst (A Very Good Thing)

at the NYC premiere
of All Good Things.

It might sound silly to say, but seeing her in the flesh is something of a shock. Kirsten Dunst has been in the movies for many years, and she's made such indelible mark in them, whether as a child vampire, an unknowable teen dream, a disciplined cheerleader, a superhero's better half and so on; one half expects her to flicker when one meets her,as if she's being projected still. But there she was earlier this month at a New York City luncheon honoring her heartbreaking work in All Good Things. Her image did not fade or dissolve but remained steady in medium shot. She ate, she sipped, she walked around the room talking with reporters, friends and peers.

There was, however, a close-up. We shook hands and exchanged a few pleasantries. Then she was whisked off, not by a sharp edit, jump cut or a quick pan, but by her people taking her to the next reporter. Imagine it!

I remind her of the busy luncheon a few days later over the phone. She's already thousands of miles away.  This time, she's a disembodied voice which is surprisingly more familiar, like a movie image. "You were so in demand," I say, reminding her of the crowd and well-wishers.

"You know...," she says, and I do having been there, "A lot of babies to kiss. A lot of hands to shake."

Katie (Kirsten) fixes her husband's bow tie in All Good Things.

It's good to hear the smile in her voice and remember her amiable presence in the room that day. Especially considering the sadness that lingers from her fine work in All Good Things. People have won Oscar nominations for giving much less to their films than she does here, in one of her finest performances. She starts out sunny and delightful, the girlish woman we sort of recognize from numerous other films but she's soon torn apart by her husband's (Ryan Gosling) dark almost alien soul.  The film is based on a true story, the unsolved mystery of the disappearance of Katie Marks (Kirsten), the bride of the heir to a wealthy New York family.  I've followed her career enthusiastically for many years, once even referring to her as "the future of the movies" but naturally we start with the present and the subject at hand.

It's not the first time she's played a real life character but how did she tackle someone who isn't easy to research, someone who went missing? Here Kirsten cedes most of the credit to her director, who knew the case inside and out.

Kirsten: Everything that we knew about [Katie] is in the script. She's not a public figure. Yes, she's a real person but not someone that we know her mannerisms. It was really about making her feel like a whole person that was unravelling, as he was in a way, someone with her own strong motives so it wouldn't just be The Victim of this crime.

Doomed Love

Nathaniel: You have to have the full range of their romance.

Kirsten: That was so important. You have to believe these people were completely in love with each other in order for her to stay and to excuse the behavior.

Nathaniel: Did anything change a lot from filming to the finished movie?  You're acting piecemeal and the movie takes place over a really long span. Did anything surprise you about the finished product?

Kirsten: With every movie you kind of never know how exactly it's going to come together. I had an idea but obviously I wasn't there for the last half of the movie. [She pauses briefly, considering] ...I only saw Ryan in drag once on the set so I wasn't sure how all that was going to come together.

While we were working we played things very differently; we improvised a lot. The scene where he asked me to marry him was very different in the script. We got to play around a lot which was exciting. But you never know what it's going to end up being.

Nathaniel: I thought it was interesting that this movie  opened so close to Blue Valentine, another unravelling Ryan Gosling marriage, and then I remembered that you've worked with Michelle Williams before on Dick. Hollywood is a small world.

[more on All Good Things, Eternal Sunshine, and her favorite films after the jump]

Ryan's Disastrous Screen Marriages

Kirsten: It is a small world. I'm friendly with Michelle. That's funny. [Pauses considering the two movies]  Ryan... he loves a good love story, that one! [laughs]

Nathaniel: With some movie stars chemistry is a hit-and-miss thing but I've always felt from your films that you have a dependable connection to your co-stars and scene partners. What do you attribute that to?

Kirsten: That's nice of you to say but it isn't always as organic as it can be. You get lucky sometimes. With Ryan, it felt very natural. The way he works as an actor is similar to me. We don't stay in a box like 'We did it this way so that's how we're going to do it for the rest of the scene.' We're both very open to change and were very perceptive of each other. With Ryan it was really easy. You do have to fall in love with them a little [your co-stars]. In this movie it was especially important because otherwise, why does this woman stay?

It's not always easy to have that chemistry but you find things in the person you can connect with.

Nathaniel:  When it's harder with actors -- I'm not going to ask you to name names of course -- is it because the processes are different or is it just a lack of a personal connection?

Kirsten: I think it's -- I do think it has to do with the the process. When you work with someone who you can be inspired by, it elevates it. When you don't have that it kind of dies in a way and then you have to put more effort into it. You're lucky if you work with actors that it feels truthful to respond to, not forced.

And I've definitely felt that way in the past. But I think that certain directors are better at choosing actors that match well with each other. And I have feelings about actors and who I think I'd work well with better moreso than others.

Nathaniel: So who would you love to work with?

Kirsten: [Amused, like she's been caught] And then you ask me that question!!! I can think of directors more. [Curiously, she pauses and doesn't offer up any names.]

I'd like to work with Leonardo DiCaprio. I've known him throughout the years and I feel like we'd be good together. Even as brother and sister. I feel like I'd work well with him.

Nathaniel: I have a silly question for you. I'm going to name my three favorite single moments from your filmography. You tell me which one you would reshoot right this second if you had to.

Kirsten: Ummmm... okay.


 Nathaniel: Here we go.

1. Dancing in your undies with Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine)
2. Kissing Tobey Maguire upside down in the rain. (Spider-Man)
3. Brushing your teeth with Jesse Bradford. (Bring It On)

Kirsten: [laughs] Funny question. Definitely dancing in my underwear with Mark! That was fun. That [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind] was such a loose set. It felt like whatever we did, wherever we went, the camera followed us. It was practical lighting, natural lighting. It felt very free, like we weren't even acting at all. When that happens, you know it's going to be good. You don't always feel that way but you get glimpses of it in certain movies. When it feels like you're just in it with someone, it's the best.

I felt that way working with Lars Von Trier, too.

Nathaniel: [Surprised] But they say he's very hard on his actresses.

Kirsten: I did not experience that with Lars. I had a great working relationship with him. I trust him.

[Thinking about it...] I think that if you close off your actors you're not going to get what you want. I don't think. I never felt that... well, I didn't have that experience. Also: he's very funny. Even if he didn't like like a take or whatever it was, he doesn't berate you. There's nothing like that. He wouldn't get the performances he gets if he did that. People usually shut down in that environment.

Nathaniel: Weren't you going to work with Michel Gondry again after Eternal Sunshine. You were going to do a Debbie Harry picture?

Kirsten: Yeah, yeah. No. That was definitely happening at one point. It's difficult. Debbie was, I think.... [trails off] It kind of went away. [Referring to Debbie again] "I don't know if i really want to tell my story." You know what I mean?

Nathaniel: So it was her hesitancy?

Kirsten: I think so. It was awhile ago. I can't really remember why. But I think that that's only natural. Usually that stuff happens, biopics, after someone has passed away. It's a weird thing. But I'd still love to do that if she wanted to do that.

Nathaniel: The reason I bring that up is that I love your singing voice. Last time i heard it was in that "Turning Japanese" video.



Kirsten: [Very animated] Oh god. That was so painfully difficult. I HATED doing that. Not the dancing around Tokyo but singing the song.  It's the hardest song. It's a cockney dude who sings the song and it's very specific to his voice and the way he speaks. It's a personality song, not an easy cover song.

I hated singing in the sound sutdio. I was singing to myself. I could hear myself. Oof that was not... it was not... [laughter]

Nathaniel: I don't know if you know this but your wikipedia page describes you as "an actress, model and singer"

Kirsten: That's hilarious.

Nathaniel: Are those the three words you'd use to describe yourself?

Kirsten: No. Not at all! [laughter] That's funny. I did some kid modelling when I was younger. I've only sung for parts; a singer is someone who puts out an album. That's a very generous description. [Sarcastically] It sounds like I've mastered it all!

Nathaniel: You've done some directing, too.

Kirsten: I did a short film. I'm playing around with a screenplay with two friends right now. Not something for me to direct but to be in. I definitely want to direct some day. I need to have -- I think when I do that I need to block out a year of just  thinking, writing, reading. You can't be focused on which role you're taking next -- I personally can't -- and then be "I want to direct. What should I do?" You know what I mean? I've had ideas but i'd have to really focus on just that. That won't be for probably a few years. We'll see what happens.

Nathaniel: So no Ben Affleck then for you; everything at once?

Kirsten: That's... I couldn't do that the first time out. That would be very stressful. I'd just want to direct.

Nathaniel: You started out as a child actress and you're next film is with Chloe Moretz, right? Hick.

Kirsten: I'm not committed to that film, actually. That's a rumor.

Nathaniel: Oh, okay. But do you ever look at these young actresses like her, Elle Fanning, and think  "that was me."

Kirsten: Yeah, I do. It's weird. Yes.

The first of many little girl vampires.

Nathaniel: You and Chloe have both played teenage vampires.

Kirsten: Even Dakota [Fanning] played a vampire in the Twilight movies.

Nathaniel: It's a running theme.

Kirsten: It is.

Nathaniel: One of things that was remarkable about meeting you -- maybe because I've seen you in movies for a long time -- I'm not sure how to phrase this. You're very womanly in persona and your screen persona is very young. When you take a part like All Good Things do you think about it as a transition role. Do you plot out your career like that?

Kirsten: I don't. I'm older now is all. I don't think I grow up in that film but what you emanate is different as you grow up. That'll continue to happen. It's more prominent because you've seen me young, as a teenager, adult. This role is pretty adult even though she starts out young. But I'm not like "Now is the time to play adults." It's just more prominent because I was a child actor.

Nathaniel: Yeah, I can see that. The scene that really impressed me the most [SPOILER] you're looking in the mirror after the abortion. You can feel Katie as a character aging. Not makeup effects. Just you as an actress conveying the weight of that. That's my favorite beat in the performance. [Recognizing Kirsten is displaying some hesitancy about this 'now you're grown up! thing...] I'm not saying that this is your coming out ball -- I mean you've been famous for a long time now -- but it felt like a transition to me.

Kirsten:  I'm older now and It'll be different from now on, for sure. This is the first movie -- well, it's hard for me because... [Reconsidering]  In The Cat's Meow I had to play someone older but she was kind of a childlike adult. I feel like [All Good Things] is definitely a transition into a different way of people looking at me. I think you're absolutely right but it's hard for me to look outside of myself in that way.

Nathaniel: I'm sure you're experience from the inside is very different than ours.

Kirsten: It is.

Nathaniel: Well, All Good Things... it's a beautiful performance. My favorite performance of yours was always Crazy/Beautiful and I just love Marie-Antoinette. It's a grossly undervalued movie.

Kirsten: You know, people who love Marie Antoinette really love it so I feel like it'll stick around.

5 Best Performances: Virgin Suicides, Crazy/Beautiful, Eternal Sunshine,
Marie-Antoinette, All Good Things. Do you agree?

Nathaniel: Those are the ones for me, personally, but how about you? Are there any you feel more connected to?

Kirsten: [No hesistation] The Virgin Suicides. That was a different thing for me at the time. I was allowed to not talk and not be the bubbly girl. I was allowed to show another side of myself that I was even discovering at the time. That was a really cool moment for me to look back on. [Pause]  Usually I see these things more in retrospect than when they're happening.

And I loved doing Eternal Sunshine. [Delighted voice] I'm just so proud to be in that movie. It's so many people's favorite film. To be in someone's favorite film is just -- that's what you want. You want to be in great films that are memorable. It's nice when the movie is not on your shoulders, too. It's fun to do a smaller part sometimes.

Nathaniel: Well, you've already racked up several great films. Good luck adding to that list.

At this point, we wrapped up our interview. Kirsten mentioned Melancholia  (the Lars Von Trier picture) again and amusingly we both expressed curiousity about what that final movie will be like. There is only a little bit of information about the movie out there, though Lars did famously mischievously joke that there would be "no more happy endings" (As if the rest of his filmography is rainbows and bliss!) Still, like she said, you never know what something is going to end up being. When I called her 'the future of the movies' years ago, I had no idea exactly what that future would hold, for her or Hollywood. It was a vote of confidence and faith that this gifted natural would flourish. She did. There were a few rough spots, sure, as there are in any career. But after a short break, All Good Things marks a major return to a career that's already had more dizzying heights than most 28 year-old actors could dream of.

Kirsten might not want to call All Good Things a transition, and perhaps it is the wrong word. Transition implies something unformed and her Katie Marks is a fully shaped character. It's not a comeback either since she hasn't really been away, but just stuck in that spider web. Let's call it a reminder, then. Let it serve as a reminder to Hollywood of what she's always been capable of doing. May she keep on reminding them.
*

Eight Links: Unhinged Women, Union Protests, Unctuous Celebrity

Awards Daily "Women Unhinged" fun piece on all the bat-shit crazy lady characters fighting for Oscar recognition. We're glad to see Lesley Manville (Another Year) getting some attention in her week of snubs.
Movies Kick Ass sees and loves Paprika Steen in Applaus. What a performance that is.
Disney Blog I hadn't heard of this but apparently there's a union protest against Toy Story 3 outside of Academy screenings. Ruh-roh.
I Need My Fix whoa mamma. Check out this slit in Gwynnie's Country Strong dress.

DListed is thrilled that Tom Cruise still has hard nips. Um... okay. You know what I think is the real disturbing fountain of youth magic? That head of hair. Cruise is bothersome in so many ways but that hair? Still perfect.
Towleroad Kevin Spacey still refusing to come out, "never" will. Makes unconvincing case that asking him to do so is equivalent to bullying gay teens. Even threatens to record an "it gets better" video. (Please don't. Kinda too ironic like). Ah well, at least we have better braver less selfish celebrities emerging each year to change the world.
Sociological Images Have you been wondering what Geena Davis' organization "Institution on Gender in Media" has been up to?  Here are some charts about gender imbalances in family movies.

Just Him and His Shadow

GQ Cover boy Ryan Gosling dresses like a movie star. I love this bit on why he got a regular ol' job briefly after The Notebook

" 'I'd never had a real job,' he says. The problem with Hollywood, he goes on, is that nobody works. 'They have meals. They go to Pilates. But it's not enough. So they do drugs. If everybody had a pile of rocks in their backyard and spent every day moving them from one side of the yard to the other, it would be a much happier place.' "

I always thought this was a problem. I always find myself wondering how some famous actors who rarely work, kill time. You know they're not working at delis.

Jeremy Renner. Kirsten Dunst. It's "All Good..."

Here's some worthwhile reading today: a top ten list from Tom Shone. It's a performance list rather than a movie list and it's crowned by Jeremy Renner's dangerous ex-con in The Town. Shone goes so far as to compare Renner's gift to Steve McQueen's which is an interesting comparision but begs the question: Will Renner start getting major lead roles after his back to back successes with The Town and The Hurt Locker? Or has The Town - Hollywood not Boston - already fixated on him as a major supporting character actor? Either way, continued employment is assured which is a very good thing.

Shone prefaces his list claiming that he doesn't believe in "great acting" at least not the way it's commonly defined by the Oscars.



But then he goes on to name 10 performances half of which are in the hunt for nominations (ha!). I think he's out of his gourd when it comes to his take on which Mark Ruffalo performance is awards-worthy but maybe he's on to something with his other expectation switcheroo (Sam Rockwell).

Finally, I absolutely love his single sentence description of Kirsten Dunst's work in the mystery All Good Things.

Kirsten Dunst's dawning horror in All Good Things felt like a rip in the side of her heart.

I can't vouch for the movie (which is...uh, unwieldly) but she's marvelous in it. In one devastating sequence you can practically watch her age ten years without the help of makeup effects. Her Supporting Actress Oscar campaign has just recently started to heat up. The timing might be a few weeks late and the film has a definite obstacle in that other Ryan Gosling December picture which is easy to confuse with this one. [SPOILERS] In both movies, which never should have been released in such quick succession, Ryan grows from sexy young man to a complete wreck (aging makeup!) and his courtship with a gorgeous blonde (happy) results in marriage (miserable). It doesn't stop there; Blue Valentine and All Good Things both have doomed pet dogs and abortion subplots! [/SPOILERS]

Kiki has been so good so often (The Virgin Suicides, Bring It On, Marie Antoinette, Eternal Sunshine, The Cat's Meow, Crazy/Beautiful) that it's easy to root for one day seeing her in an Oscar lineup. Still, it may take a turning point or stepping stone performance to renew media love and interest in her before that can actually happen. Maybe All Good Things is just that.

*

*Live Blog* The Hollywood Reporter's Actors Roundtable

Y'all remember when I did this for the ladies so I figure it's twin-time. You have to have both pieces of a matching set. Not that I'm looking forward to this one as much. Impress or surprise me fellas! You're not actresses so you have to work harder to provide Film Experience jollies. (If you have time to watch the full video it's at the bottom of the post.)

1:00 Robert Duvall (Get Low) tells a rambling story about becoming an actor and reveals "my brothers were both professional singers." The Duvall Brothers, eh? I so wanna hear that record. Would it be like the Osmonds except with less smiling?

3:00 The discussion turns to acting as a rewarding profession. Colin Firth (The King's Speech) picks up this Duvall baton.

"You get to play all your life. Most people have to grow out of it. The fantasy thing stays alive which is wonderful. It can be a little hard on the people living with you..."

  He then reveals the dangers in staying a child when you're a grown-up. Those who do get very susceptible to external matters of fame; they become needy about attention and far too giddy if someone pats them on the back.

4:00 The first laugh of the hour comes from Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) who pats Firth on the back. Right then.

Blazing young star and seasoned professional.

 6:03 Firth is still talking three minutes later but the thing that struck me here is realizing how young Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) is. He just turned 30 two weeks ago. I never think about this but seeing him in this context I'm suddenly like 'oh, yes. baby star' Sometimes I forget that though actresses are regularly giant stars in their 20s, the male actors take longer to ascend. 

7:00 This is funny. The reporters try to lead Firth to name projects he hated.

Reporter: Have you done a film or a role where you really felt it wasn't quality and you knew it?
Firth: Have you glanced at my CV?

Funny. Firth is still talking. I don't recall any of the actresses hogging the convo this much.

7:40 Linguistic Trivia! Firth claims that English civilians use the word "resting" to describe time off between actor's roles but he says that actual actors don't use the word as there's nothing "restive" about it. Ruffalo says he calls this "rotting."

9:02 The toughest moment in Ruff's career? He's talking about the bi-coastal issue of theater and the perception being if you're doing theater in LA people think you're a loser. It took him forever to get his first movie role. So he's doing theater and bartending (in LA) and going "Where's my Rumblefish?" This leads to an incredibly off moment where James Franco (32) suddenly gets confused about how old Mark Ruffalo is (43). Awwwk-kwward. (From the looks of things, Jesse Eisenberg doesn't know what a Rumblefish is.)

For the record Rumblefish debuted in 1983 when Ruffalo was only 16 and not legally allowed to serve alcohol. He meant it aspirationally rather than real-time concurrently. Duh, Franco!

10:49 Ruffalo says he's from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Wisconsin readers? Are you proud to claim the Ruff?

11:54 Now he is talking about seeing A Streetcar Named Desire on TV and realizing what acting was for the first time. This is the second random reference to Marlon Brando and we're only 12 minutes in. That man casts quite a long shadow with thespians.

14:00 Hmmm. Amazing descriptive nugget of great acting from Duvall "Terrific interior moment that works in the imaginary set of circumstances." I love that. But then he has to go and ruin it by bagging on critics for a split second. I hate when actors do this because it's so short-sighted. I always wish people would stop and ask themselves where the legends of entertainment would be, or rather, how large would their legend be if you removed the perceptive things that have been written about them over the years, the monuments to their performances and such. Not as legendary that's where they'd be.

17:24 Gosling explains that he worked on risky material now because of starting on undemanding television shows. He talks about growing up around a lot of crazy characters and not seeing them reflected on television or the screen.

They were good or they were bad [on film]. The people I was growing up around were everything all the time. They were good people but they were bad people. They were funny but they were doing terrible things. So I think I just naturally gravitated to those kinds or roles

He then talks about superhero films and the like and how he isn't sure he could do them and assumes they'd be hard to do, acting against nothingness rather than another actor. Brief shoutout to Michelle Williams for her difficult role in Blue Valentine.

20:54 James Franco claims that he no longer fights for roles. He thought he wasn't going to get 127 Hours but it turns out that the audition just went awkwardly because Danny Boyle thought he was stoned. The reporter, bless, says "were you?" "NO!" comes Franco's quick shocked response. Oh, Franco. Everyone always thinks you're stoned. It's the sleepy eyelids, glazed eyes and perpetual naughty smile.

21:53 Interesting bit on 127 Hours, where Franco likens the crew to actors since he had no one to act off of. So the cinematographer, director, etcetera felt like fellow actors to him.

25:37 Franco "I can only have one master." [*numerous hands raise for volunteering at computer screens across the world*]

26:15 The reporter brings up the not so uninteresting topic of disagreement with directors but these actors are too cagey to answer. Franco sees through this immediately and here is his silent response.

Firth makes an elusive stab at the question.

If you have faith in this person than you probably give your idea up for theirs. That's exhilarating. But that's awful if you don't trust the person which is not that unusual, really.

The King with the stammer then clams up after that tantalizing confession. So damn cagey. Why will no one answer? You don't have to name names. Speak cryptically to give us some guesswork at home. Think of the audience. You're entertainers, so entertain.

28:04 Ohmygod. It's weird. You know, I enjoyed watching The King's Speech but it's one of those movies that seems boring to discuss. They're talking about the research of playing a kingzzzzzzz. Biopics put me to sleep. Speaking of which why was Christian Bale not invited to this? Is it because he would hate this sort of thing?

34:00 We're still on researching biopics. I'm going to grow old and die while watching this. Cobwebs are growing twixt keyboard and screen. It's rather remarkable that Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) is just now speaking more than halfway into this thing and it's making me realize why the Actress roundtable was so much more interesting. And it's not, I swear, just because actresses are more interesting. I believe if you watched these back-to-back you would quickly realize that the actresses actually talked to each other. Banter sprung forth. This is just a group of six men waiting to be questioned. They're not interacting. Zzz.

Jesse says he was discouraged from researching Mark Zuckerberg but he found it impossible not to.

How could I not meet a guy I'm going to be playing?... I thought it would be limiting to play somebody real and so specific but it turned out to be really freeeing... maybe it would start as mimicry but then it would have some kind of visceral response and ultimately take you into it further.

36:50 Jesse talking about reading the script from Zuckerberg's point of view and feeling he was completely justified in everything. God, being an actor would be so weird, right? Constantly removing yourself and embodying other ethos and personalities.

38:40 There's a split second where I think we're going to get a good back and forth. Jesse glances at Mark and mentions that they've both worked for him (David Fincher though he is weirdly not named) but Ruff' doesn't respond. Duvall seems totally confused by Eisenberg's description of filming The Social Network ... since he keeps talking about 50 takes.

41:00 Gosling and Ruffalo are totally laughing about Eisenberg's candor and obsessiveness. He's telling about a director being pisssed at him for keeping track of which takes he thought he was terrible in and sharing his notes about which to use. (Not Fincher)

Duvall speaks his mind. He has opinions, this one.

42:05 Finally something interesting! It seemed like Duvall was deaf or confused by the Fincher discussion but it turns out he was listening. He says he turned down a role in Se7en (!) -- but mentions that he thought it was a great movie -- but is not happy to hear about Fincher's fondness for endless takes.

"Can I say one thing? To me 'The great Stanley Kubrick' was an actor's enemy. He was an actor's enemy. I can point to movies that he's done, the worst performances I've ever seen in movies. Terrible performances. Maybe great movies but terrible performances."

We'd probably have a spirited throwdown right then in a roomful of critics or chattier actors but these are polite hesistant interviews so he then trails off into discussing Brando again who has now been mimicked twice. Both Duvall and Ruffalo have done Brando during the first 42 minutes.

43:05 Finally some interaction. It took Duvall's Kubrick smackdown to wake them up (even if they didn't join in the fight) and they're actually talking to each other. Sometimes conflict on the set is good they all agree.

44:00 Franco says he's never had a director like that (hundreds of takes) but thinks that Fincher makes great movies.

45:00 God, I love Mark Ruffalo. He seems to be enjoying this the most (or is at least the most laidback of the six) and is describing those excruciatingly long days on Zodiac. 'You hit your stride and you're on take 25 and He starts walking toward you. You're thinking to yourself 'I hope he's coming over here to fire me' [laughter in room] And then he just walks past you and moves the extra behind you an inch...'

First there was no interaction and now physical interaction. Will there now be slash fiction involving Ryan & Mark? I offer this picture up for inspiration.

Ruff' says it's in moments like this that you realize that Fincher is a director who is always thinking of the entire frame and you are just happy to be taking up your small percentage of it. If this subject intrigues you and you're new to the Film Experience you might want to check out these recent comments from Jake Gyllenhaal on the same issue.

48:00 This leads to a bit about Gosling being fired from The Lovely Bones. Funny story about Peter Jackson and Gosling not seeing eye to eye on the character. "He hired me at 150 lbs and I showed up weighing 210 lbs" His diet consisted of melting down Häagen-Dasz and when he was thirsty he would drink it instead of water. YUM. Anyway, they had different ideas about the father and he was fired. "So I was unemployed and fat." He seems glad that he got fired which can only lead me to believe that he has seen the finished movie. The Häagen-Dasz saved him!

52:00 A question about expectations versus actual experience in Hollywood is asked but doesn't get traction. Jesse talks about his experiences as a child actor and trusting your own instincts about which projects to say "yes" to. He alludes to a horror movie (I'm guessing that'd be Cursed) that his agent and his dad were at odds about whether he should do and he went with the agent's advice but says his Dad was right.

56:00 The reporter tries to end with a "great takeaway from your life/career?" proudest moment type round table question.  Duvall brings up The Godfather but it sounds like he's bringing it up just because it's expected of him. What really gets his emphasis is the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove.

58: 21 Colin says he can't do it, can't answer this question. Colin is pissing me off. He talks so much but he won't answer the questions. Yet his refusals are complicated and verbose. Shut it Darcy.

59:00 Oh! Sorry. I didn't mean to force the issue. The video shut off on me just as I typed that. No joke. It's a sign from the blogging gods that I've gone too far; shut it Nathaniel.

Here's the complete video if you have a full hour free.



Footnote (just for the helluva it)
Movies/TV & Stars Name Checked

• Duvall: Marlon Brando, The Great Santini, Eleanor Dusa, Sarah Bernhardt, Sandy Meisner, Othello, Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Lonesome Dove, Se7en, The Godfather, American Buffalo
• Firth: Christoph Waltz, Nostromo
• Ruffalo: A Streetcar Named Desire, Marlon Brando, Stella Adler, Rumblefish, Zodiac
• Gosling: Young Hercules, Michelle Williams, Peter Jackson, The Lovely Bones, Blue Valentine
• Franco: Danny Boyle, Milk, 127 Hours, James Dean, Alfred Hitchcock.
• Eisenberg: Adventureland, The Social Network

Spirit Awards. What They Do and Don't Say About Oscar.

Now that I've had a day to think over the Spirit Awards (nominee discussion) and what they reveal and obscure about the Oscar race, here's a deeper look for my Tribeca Film column.

Eligible "Best Feature" Snubs
Blue Valentine, Get Low, Somewhere, Rabbit Hole
Not eligible for "Best Feature" or Acting Prizes
The King's Speech, I Am Love, Another Year, Animal KingdomNot eligible for anything
Toy Story 3, The Social Network, True Grit, The Town, Etc...

Remember last year when Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire swept the Oscars, becoming the first... oh, no, wait, that didn't happen at all. That was the Film Independent Spirit Awards. They take place the day before the Oscars each year. And they take place in a tent. We don't know the square footage, but it’s safe to say that it’s got nothing on the Kodak Theater. 

Generally speaking, the Spirit Awards are a looser, rowdier event. You can even wear jeans. As a group, they’re much more likely to honor African-American abuse dramas (Precious) or intimate character studies of "broken down pieces of meat" (The Wrestler) or teen pregnancy comedies (Juno) than the mainstream Academy is. In fact, in their entire 25-year shared history with the Oscars, the “Best Feature” and “Best Picture” prizes have only gone to the same film once.

...read the rest in my weekly Tribeca Film column.
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The United States of Gosling

Craig here, with a brief birthday big-up.

Ryan Gosling, dressed for birthday (and Oscar?) success

Ryan is the big three-o today. It's a big birthday - I hope he's celebrating in style.

With All Good Things and Blue Valentine both on the brink of release in the US (Dec 3rd and 31st respectively), it's never been a better time for Mr. Gosling. The year ahead, his 30th, could be his best. He's already chalked up one Oscar nom, for Half Nelson in 2007 - could January's nominations see another one for either of the two movies above? What do you think, readers? And whilst you're at it, give your answer to this question as a gift to Gosling today:

What is your favourite Ryan G performance?

LFF 2010: (Self-) Love Gone Blue

David from Victim of the Time, reporting from the London Film Festival.

“Why would I go to London?! No way!”

A wry chuckle greeted this on-screen outburst during my first public screening of the 54th BFI London Film Festival. I may have already sat through two and a half weeks of press screenings, but in that moment I knew the energy had changed now the festival had kicked into gear. Without the abundance of eagerly-awaited premieres and the bidding wars that come with them, Britain's premiere film festival is fuelled mostly by a pure love of the art of film. It’s my fourth festival, my second as a press delegate (follow the ‘London Film Festival’ tag to delve into last year’s coverage), and my first as a resident Londoner, so it’s a strikingly different experience for me. I’ll be rolling out capsules reviews – accompanied by as many full pieces as I can manage over on my own blog – for the next two weeks, and Craig (who writes "Take Three" right here) will be joining the party in a few days. (And if you really want to keep your finger on the pulse, you can track my tweeted first impressions here.)

The Opening Gala film Never Let Me Go already hit and sunk over on US shores (my review) but I won’t dwell. Let’s start with something that’s unfortunately become rather infamous…

"you always hurt the one you love ♫ "

Not a love that has broken, but one that has deteriorated. Blue Valentine never grants us the path of this deterioration, instead splitting the film into two snapshots that mark the beginning and the ending of a young marriage. Despite the different energies to the two narratives, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are perceptive enough to make delicate connections between the two, and director Derek Cianfrance understands the inbuilt doubled effect of his techniques, knowingly entwining the two and cutting between them; the sweet sparkle of their chemistry in the happier earlier sequences will inevitably be coloured by the bitterness of the present tense narrative. Subtle elements of the filmmaking work to deepen the narrative - the camerawork between the juxtaposed narratives doesn't seem strikingly different, but the past is youthfully energetic, the present nervy and cautious. It’s hard, though, to really credit the film’s power to anyone but Gosling and Williams, both stronger than ever, translating aspects of their character that brought them together into ones that, perhaps inevitably, tear them apart. (B+)

There’s something oddly amusing about the catalyst for the admitted derth of events that unfold in Blessed Events; the stiff, awkward Simone (Annika Kuhl) is stiff and awkwardly dancing in a nightclub, and, in long shot, we see a man slowly but surely shuffling his rhythmic way over to her. She’s easily had, it seems, because within half an hour of this dry opening scene, she’s pregnant with Hannes’ (Stefan Rudolf) child and has set up house with him in a little country village. The complete lack of conflict seems intentional, and by the time the stubbornly cycling Simone crashes onto her large baby belly, even the rush of POV camerawork as she hurtles down the hill can’t raise our pulse into considering this a critical rupture. Complete disengagement from its simple characters – never do we plumb beyond the depths of Hannes as a cheerful father-to-be – is all very well, but the abundance of lame visual metaphors, comparisons and contrasts merely exposes the complete sterility of the project here. I hardly dare say that it’s a blessed relief when this is over. (D+)


Self Made. Make a different self. The seven volunteers chosen by artist Gillian Wearing for this intriguing British documentary appear to be from a fairly broad spectrum of British society, but there’s a reason they’ve been selected: there’s damage and insecurities to be exposed. Volunteers are, of course, willing, and the ultimate aim of the method acting workshop they collaborate on is to each make a short film where they can play themselves or a character that takes inspiration from their journey of self-discovery. It’s not the most inspired of filmmaking – inserts with Oxford English Dictionary exemplify the certain lack of imagination – but the main problem is in fact that there isn’t enough of a film here. It’s a tight running time that really needs to have been indulged, to let the individual journeys take on the significance that’s fleetingly seen in them. One participant is, for reasons unexplained, entirely unexplored, and some of the films we see are less inspiring than others. Yet once the nightmarish visions of the final participant start being unveiled, it’s hard not to be grimly fascinated by this glimpse into the sadder, dark side of the human experience. (B-)

To look forward to: Foreign Film Oscar submissions Uncle Boonmee, Of Gods and Men and The Temptation of St. Tony, pretty young people in Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats, a screaming man in A Screaming Man, and demonic twinkletoes in Black Swan.

All Good Links

Before we get to today's link roundup -- I went a little crazy as I sometimes do -- enjoy the heat sensor-like photography of the All Good Things poster. Perhaps Ryan and Kiki were a bit jealous of the ruckus Jake & Annie's nude poster caused online.

P.S. Jake Gyllenhaal is obsessed with Ryan Gosling. Just saying. I would try to quote his answer from Saturday night when the audience question 'who would you like to work with?' popped up but it was so rambling and long and confusing that I can't. But let's just say it began with Ryan Gosling, was jilted by Ryan Gosling via text "I'm busy" and then ended again with a circular non sequitor shout of "Ryan Gosling!" Jake likey. Ryan Gosling is what you might call an actor's actor... since everyone seems to want to work with him.

On to the linkage...
Candy Magazine A double take of pleasure. Yes, that's James Franco to your left continuing his trans formation from one of the great herd of Hollywood pretty boys to an actually interesting celebrity.
My New Plaid Pants is an über fan of Let the Right One In. Doesn't hate Let Me In. Since the response has been so positively muted like "it's good: also, a recreation" I've decided not to see it.
Broadway.com Carrie the Musical being revived. Wow.
Cinema Blend Me pal Katey basically says all I have to say about the trailer for Julie Taymor's Tempest so I don't need to cover it here. What she said, minus the positive bits since I liked the movie even less than she.
The Big Picture Tony Curtis grand sendoff in Las Vegas
Hero Complex Emma Stone will play Gwen Stacy in the new Spider-Man. I'm glad that early reports were wrong. Why do the whole Mary Jane story again. That said, isn't it weird that someone known as a redhead is going to play Spidey's favorite blonde and someone known as a blonde was cast as his favorite redhead. Weirdness.
The Awl Sasha Frere-Jones and Natasha VC on The Social Network. If you haven't read enough yet, it's fun as always to read these two.
50 Best Theater Blogs I'll have to investigate this list.
Just Jared Joseph Gordon-Levitt lost his older brother. So sad.
Towleroad celebs speaking about gay bullying on Larry King Live
Movie|Line offers tips to Renée Zellweger on how she could regain her A list status. I love the suggestion of a brilliant twitter feed. I hope she calls it @Zeéeee after my new nickname for her. Zeéeeee reads me right? *

Double Duty!
Movielicious Have you seen this great mashup poster for Toy Story and Tron? I wish I knew who did it to give them proper cred.
Scott Feinberg "Are Bening *And* Moore All Right." Some smart words on the The Kids Are All Right Oscar campaign.
John Luciano a Calvin & Hobbes mashup with Let the Right One In. Teehee. I used to love Calvin's girlcrush but can't remember her name right now

*Obviously I am kidding. Someone I am acquainted with who works in the industry once told me that every star googles themselves --whether they admit it or not -- and is familiar with their biggest cheerleaders and nemeses online. But I chose not to believe her because it weirded me out too much to think of Beelzebub, She Who Must Not Be Named, La Pfeiff and The Bening reading or even knowing of my puny existence.