Playbill Julie Andrews and Dolly Parton are both getting special Grammys this year. Pixar Blog another FYC ad for Toy Story 3 as Titanic. Hmmm. I gotta say, I am not sure about the taste level on this one. What'cha think? BBC Anne Hathaway discusses that Judy Garland biopic. There's some hesistancy about the singing. Here's a clue. If you can sing as well as Anne Hathaway (very well) star in a musical, not a biopic with one of the most famous voices of all time that you won't be able to replicate. Argh. Old Hollywood, my favorite tumblr, gives a rooftop view of the filming of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931). IndieWire The Year of the Actress. 60 Women FYC.
Off Cinema THR whoa. Broadway stars are on the attack after injuries on that Spider Man set. But wait there's more... AV Club heated meetings and cancellations follow latest injury. Wet Asphalt on "slipstream" and the continuum between genre fiction and mainstream fiction. I'm linking up to this because I read my first China Miéville novel earlier this year and am still... uncertain... about it. Playbill HBO will film Pee-Wee Herman's current Broadway show for broadcast. BlogStage actress audition alert: wanna be Kathleen Turner's understudy?
TowleroadFar From Heaven being adapted into a stage musical. I've been burned on this sort of thing too many times but at least it's by the composer of Grey Gardens and that had a few lovely tunes.
And would make a good stage-to-movie candidate actually...
NYT the latest injury from the set of the Spider Man musical on Broadway. Wednesday matinee cancelled. I am 100% certain that someone will one day write a bestseller about the behind-the-scenes of this disaster prone production Cinema Blend Peter Weir not interested in a sequel to Master & Commander. Awww. Maybe they should just adapt it for a stage musical instead. Kidding.
Movie|Line has a jolly interview with Mike Leigh on the eve of the release of Another Year. I love this bit on why he'd never make a superhero film (no, really. the question was posed to him in a way that's not as crass as it sounds)
I use film to make a personal kind of film in a very specific, particular way. And there is no more reason for me to do what I think you're suggesting than there would for me to give up being a film director an become the pilot of a jumbo jet flying across the Atlantic. Or a brain surgeon or, indeed, a coal miner.
I love thinking of Mike Leigh as coal miner. Tee hee. Come to think of it. He would make a GREAT director for a coal mining movie or a... wait a minute. I have it. Topsy-Turvy demonstrated that Leigh can sell a musical number. So... Mike Leigh, directing the acclaimed musical Floyd Collins about that explorer trapped in a cave!
Floyd Collins is so pretty. Let's listen to a couple of its songs.
Her Awesomeness Audra McDonald & Hair's Will Swenson doing "Through the Mountains" from Floyd Collins.
Matt Doyle (Gossip Girl) doing "How Glory Goes" from Floyd Collins. This song is perfection but it must be hard to sing because there are a lot of bad versions on YouTube. This version gets better as it goes.
My brain does like to wander. Obviously needed a break from thinking / writing about Oscar Oscar Oscar Oscar Oscar...
Moving On... Pop Eater have you heard this crazy story about 80s star Marilu Henner? Seems she has something called "superior autobiographical memory" - fascinating story really and totally unrelated: I've always thought Marilu was a hilarious celebrity. Go Fug Yourself Fug or Fab Style: Mila Kunis In Contention Jafar Panahi banned from making films. So terrible. As Guy says, this puts the silly annual Oscar bitching into perspective. AV Club Will Smith and Mark Wahlberg offered $1 million to box each other for charity cuz they both starred in boxing picture, see? This story cracks me up on so many levels. Like, no movie stars would risk their billion dollar faces for charity. The only risk movie stars take with their moneymakers is plastic surgery.
Tired of critics awards yet? You can say so if you are. The London Critics Circle have offered up nominations. Sadly, The King's Speech -- the only British film that doesn't need any Oscar boost -- is the only one they're willing to back for crossover attention; it shows up on both their "Film of the Year and "British Film of the Year" lists and doubles up on Helena Bonham-Carter and Colin Firth in two acting categories, too. (sigh) Whew... I thought Colin Firth was in danger of losing his Oscar momentum there for a second. Thank god, they threw their weight behind him.
Barring the movie going to cable (these things happen) of failing to get distribution (these things happen, too) will Glenn Close finally be back in the Oscar race next year at this time? She was last nominated for 1988's Dangerous Liaisons over twenty years ago. Since that Oscar regular heyday (5 nominations all within the 1980s) she's gone on to win 3 Emmys, 1 SAG and 2 Golden Globes for television roles.
The film is directed by Rodrigo García (pictured left with Close) who specializes in the actresses, most famously in television or in films like Mother & Child, Nine Lives and Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her. We hope he finds new inner fire as a writer/director this time. The talent with actors is obviously there but the energy of the filmmaking, some sort of electric spark is missing. So far. Will this project be the game changer?
The movie is based on the short story turned play The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs which the diva actress previously played on stage... before she was ever in a movie! I couldn't find a photo from the play but here's a review from 1982 (!) of Ms. Close's performance, the same year she first hit the big screen in The World According to Garp. Michael Gambon and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers co-star.
Oh hello there. You're back? I'm just basking in the beauty that is this new Rabbit Hole poster. I loved the first one, too. What is happening? Posters are supposed to be terrible and they keep doing right by this film. This one visually gets at the disconnect between two people who are still very much connected, physically, legally, experientally and emotionally. I love it.
We're down to the finish line on major Oscar hopeful 2010 releases now.
Dec 3rd: Black Swan
Dec 10th: The Fighter
Dec 17th: Rabbit Hole
Dec 22nd: True Grit
the dread last split second of eligibility strategy: Another Year, Blue Valentine
I'm still awaiting The Fighter and True Grit (both within the next week). [Silly tangent: People were making fun of me mistyping Rabbit Hole on twitter and facebook. I keep typing Rabbit HOle or Rabbit Hold --- wtf? -- squeeze those slutty bunnies! [/tangent]
Earlier this year I wrote a Best in Show column for Tribeca Film on the wonder that was John Hawkes in Winter's Bone. Now that he's up for a Spirit Awards, can he become something more than a longshot for Oscar? Why is it that some terrific performances have such difficulty getting traction and other adequate ones sail through to Oscar nominations? Let's not give up hope yet. Matt Singer at IFC wrote up a fine tribute to Hawkes
VYou "What Shall I Draw" fufilled my request to draw an actress winning an Oscar, but managed to impugn my actressexuality at the same time. Check it out...
"If it weren't for Nathaniel R and his support, I don't know where I'd be right now. Probably not chained in his basement..." LOL.
Oh relax, WSID, I only keep them in chains for a week or two, tops. After the actress has dutifully read her latest script pile and chosen her next project I release her back to the studios to provide all of us with more cinematic pleasures. Everyone thank me!
P.S. If you haven't checked out vyou yet, you should. A lot of fun over there. I have an account but I'm having trouble with my mic. I shall answer your questions as soon as I fix. Or maybe I shall have to learn mime.
Finally, ... Broadway.com reports that Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, the irreverent historical emo rock musical political satire (yes all those things) is closing in just one month on Broadway. A lot of shows are closing actually - tough season. If you're in NYC during December try the lottery for BBAJ. That's how I saw it. You end up front row, way too close to the flying spittle but it's very funny and fast. Major selling point: Meryl Streep's future son-in-law Benjamin Walker has total star charisma. He turned down the role of Beast in X-Men: First Class to stay with Bloody Bloody so see him before he gets more famous. If casting directors are wise (always a risky "if") he'll be flooded with offers once he quits with the live bloodletting.
Because sometimes, taking a wee break from the silver screen, helps you appreciate the movies more.
EW Lady Gaga is insane. Promises "Born This Way" is 'best album of the decade'. So no sophomore slump then, Gaga? YouTube Madonna opening her Hard Candy gym in Mexico. I wish I could work out there. I obviously need some sort of dominatrix to push me if I'm ever going to get in shape. (sigh) AV Club Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark first preview "no one broke their wrists or feet or died." Seriously, why do people keep hiring Julie Taymor and throwing money at her? How long will this Broadway musical have to stay open to even break even? 2018? Band of Thebes best LGBT books of the year? Vulture Hilary Swank developing a reality tv game show? Bizarre.
Or you can just consider this an OPEN THREAD. Lots of movie awards news popping up, yes, but WHAT ELSE are you thinking about right now? I'm watching Pee Wee Herman on Broadway as you read this! I know you are but what am I? *
Two "Yelena"s: Cate (on stage) and Julianne (on film)
It's a worthwhile rental so long as you give it your full attention as it's full of intricacies and performances of quiet but potent dramedic depth. If you're in Australia, though, you can see more than a rehearsal. You can see the real thing on stage.
VANYA ON 42ND STREET
VANYA ON PIER 4, HICKSON ROAD
Andrew Upton (Mr. Cate Blanchett) has adapted the play for the Sydney Theater Company. The cast is full of familiar Australian movie faces like Cate herself, Hugo Weaving, Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!) and this year's Best Supporting Actress hopeful Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom). I expect a full report from Australian readers who get a chance to see it. Do as I say! The production is currently playing and runs through January 1st, 2011.
Can Cate's "Yelena" measure up to Julianne's sublime take?
And when is Hugo Weaving going to get another worthwhile film role? Lately the movies have reduced him to a disembodied voice or cameo player in noisy "event" movies (V For Vendetta, Lord of the Rings, Transformers). His next big role is the villainous Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. But given the role, we still won't really be looking at his face, will we?
And what's wrong with his face, I ask. It's got real character. Stop hiding him, moviemakers!
I was actually just discussing this with friends recently who had all seen the play and were kind of annoyed that John C Reilly will be playing Kate Winslet Jodie Foster's husband. He's not... handsome. Hollywood loves to pair anything from average to ugly men with ridiculously beautiful women, but it's clearly audience pandering to feed male ego fantasies: i.e. I can have / deserve to have a supermodel in my bed, no matter what I look like. It's okay once in awhile of course but all the time? Not realistic. Reilly is a very good actor but it's kind of silly when you stop to think of his screen conquests; he's already had (implied) movie sex with Julianne Moore, Renée Zellweger, Marisa Tomei, Jenna Fischer, Melora Walters, and Jennifer Aniston! Has he ever been paired with a homely woman? He's like a less cocky/noisy version of the Philip Seymour Hoffman phenomenon.
But mostly I'm just annoyed that...
...Matt Dillon never got a prestige gig or a meaty role as reward for that Oscar nomination. Most people do. And I'm also still slightly weirded out that even this play -- that was mounted with name stars -- got a complete cast overhaul. Usually when they replace a stage cast, it's because the stage cast are largely unknown to the public outside of theater fandom. You knew, for example, that Cherry Jones wasn't going to get her Doubt role on the screen or that the August: Osage County originals weren't going to transfer but Marcia Gay Harden (Oscar winner), Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels (longtime film regulars) and James Gandolfini ("Tony Soprano" himself)? These aren't unknowns.
Moving on...
I liked the comment conversation in the Silkwood post (thanks Tim) though I don't remember the bumper stickers that Deborah does from the 70s "Who Killed Karen Silkwood?" -- I was completely unaware of the politics surrounding that movie and first saw it only by way of combined Meryl/Cher fever 'round about '87/88, the next time they were both nominated. (I still find it odd that Silkwood missed a Best Picture nomination in 1983). Another controversy-friendly post from Erich ("Chicks of the Assimilated Animus") also provoked some interesting reaction and I liked Erich's defense of his own amusing/provocative list-making
Even the old and sexist templates of Freud and Jung have value as stepping off points, especially when dealing with the way our love of film icons intersects with unconscious archetypes... dreams lag notoriously behind reality when it comes to updated social mores..
True that.
Manuel, who must have been searching that Cate Blanchett label, wonders when the great actress will try directing-- has she expressed an interest??? -- and if we'll ever see a new film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire which Cate did on stage (I doubt anyone would dare. Oh god, please tell me no one would dare?) and he even free-form rhapsodizes thusly...
Though Cate is not really one of my favorites, I appreciate obsessive actressy devotions in all their diverse manifestations. If you love any actress this much, peace be with you!
DJ XRay loved Paprika Steen's performance in Applaus. You may remember I went wild for the Danish film earlier this year. UPDATE: Oscar qualifying run begins December 3rd. [thanks to Kyle for the info]. I hope it's opening in NYC in time to qualify for the Film Bitch Awards but I doubt it. Those Oscar qualifying runs usually only bother with LA. Pity that. But if you don't play in NYC -- the place for American cinephilia-- you are dead to The Film Experience.
The Film Pie has an interesting "inside movie journalism" story about being the 'first' review posted on Rotten Tomatoes (re: Paranormal Activity 2). Pink is the New Blog Jude Law on Sesame Street. Awwww. I don't get enough Jude Law these days. Or felt puppets. Both at once? Yes, please. Low Resolution Halloween words of wisdom from Beetlejuice. Speaking of... The Exploding Kinetoscope has some birthday wishes for Winona Ryder. Could her career be back on the upswing? popbytes 'Hottie with a Rubik's Cube'. How 80s and now simultaneously. Everything I Know... is not among the fans of Julianne Moore's Off Broadway musical Freckleface Strawberry. Blog Stage considers the changes made for Rabbit Hole as it shifts from stage to screen. Dear Old Hollywood For California readers: The Arclight is hosting a Steve McQueen tribute event on November 11th.
A Toy Story Moment I thought this was cute. It's a moment of closure for director Lee Unkrich who has been working on the Toy Story franchise forever. If you've ever said goodbye to a long term project that you actually completed, you'll understand.
But this moment would be way cooler if we knew that there'd be no more Toy Story movies after Toy Story 3 which really did close the franchise beautifully. Sadly, Pixar, which once was THE studio for originality, is rapidly becoming like all the other studios when it comes to sequels and franchises and they're going to be beating all their horses way past the time that they're dead (to mangle a metaphor).
Finally, over at Pussy Goes Grrr Andreas made me lol with his love for Cat People. Have you ever seen that movie? There's almost nothing in the world I love more than clever people obsessing over movies. To this day I lol (literally) every time I think of the time Nick, hearing I had just watched Nashville, said "I want to rub that movie all over me." LOL. See, I did it again? It's too bad blogs don't have sound so you could hear. I speak the truth.
Live FeedGlee inspired political attack ad. Who knew an attack ad could be cute? Kenneth in the (212) my friend Kenneth will be seen briefly in the new Mindy Cohn gay flick Violet Tendencies. When was the last time you heard "new Mindy Cohn flick"... let alone a gay one? Pop Justice "Bad Romance" is one year old today. Kinda. Still love it.
This Leonardo TotallyLooksLike double got saved on my computer months ago. Every time I notice it I start giggling. So I must finally share.
Vulture worries that Thor's Frost Giants will battle for the home tree in Avatar. Please. Thor should be so lucky to be (favorably) compared to Avatar. I'm guessing. I am just sensing a terrible terrible movie coming our way. IndieWire assures us that the Spirit Awards are returning to their Saturday afternoon by the beach tradition. ArtsBeat Broadway cools down its celebrity lust... for the current moment at least. Popbytes Speaking of... can you believe that The King's Speech is already planning its Broadway bow? It hasn't even opened in movie theaters yet! MTV Ang Lee's Life of Pi gets one step closer to production by casting its lead actor 17 year-old Suraj Sharma Just Jared Tom Hardy for Snow White and the Hunstman? I'm in. Just please let some of these new fairy tale movies NOT view Tim Burton's hideous Alice as something to emulate.
...and some artwork for you Y'all don't comment on the art related posts but you're going to keep getting them because Nathaniel likes to draw and he loves the artists out there making the internet a more beautiful / whimsical / imaginative place. Deal! Becky Cloonan "Sluts of Dracula" omg love these sketches. And the title is to undie for. Austin Translation "Bitter Moments with Count Chocula" a wee Twilight dig.
Movie|Line offers up pre 1970s horror movie suggestions for Halloween /Film James Franco making another poetry film. From behind the camera this time. MCN Halle Berry's Frankie & Alice to get Oscar qualifying release. Have I ever told you how much I hate the one week qualifier rule? "YES. SHUT UP," the readers shout in unison. I'm just sayin' movies should be eligible only if the year of their real release. It's the only way a calendar year 'future history!' eligibility system actually means anything. Serious Film wonders where the critical bar is set for Best Picture nominees in the wake of the cool response to Hereafter. As some of y'all know I don't put much stock in rotten tomatoes scores as Oscar signifiers (partially because all positive or all negative scoring (the dread thumbs!) is an inherently flawed system for reflecting worth and even true opinion. Unless of course everyone is all "A"s and "F"s these days and I realize that's the sad way it's been heading. The Spy in the Sandwich reviews an interesting-sounding film I hadn't yet heard of called Le Fil (The String), a gay film with Antonin Stahly and Claudia Cardinale (!) Hell on Frisco Bay looks at the explosion of film festivals over the last decade. I suspect this is our future since distribution has become so impossible for so many films. My guess: people attending festivals these days are the people that used to frequent their neighborhood arthouses. Paul C wrote a (spoiler-heavy) review of Never Let Me Go that I think is really interesting and perceptive ...though he likes the movie much more than I.
offcinema just cuz Before Glee revives The Rocky Horror Picture Show mania for the next few days, why not a peak at Russell Crowe in fishnets in 1987 playing Eddie & Dr. Scott. Whaaaaa? [hat tip: Cinemablend]
I wish I knew who was playing the other roles. Anyone else famous on that stage?
i09 You have taste receptors in your lungs. Wait... what? Everything I Know a perceptive review of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson which I just saw on Broadway (see "crush of the moment" in the sidebar.) I wish movie biopics had this much irreverent invention. ONTD Madonna to open fitness centers around the world. "Hard Candy"! Ha, I love this idea. Sometimes when celebrities branch out into other fields it's a big "No!" head scratcher. But this one makes perfect narrative sense. Luc Latillipe awesome drawing of Yvonne Craig's Batgirl. There are no other Batgirls if you ask me.
1935 Julia Wells is born to Mrs. Barbara Wells in Surrey, England. Mr. Wells is not the father. Scandal! This bastard child will one day become the icon of squeaky clean family entertainment. She won't always enjoy it. At her christening the good fairy Fauna grants her the gift of song
One gift, the gift of song, Melody your whole life long! The nightingale her troubadour, Bringing his sweet serenade to her door.
(We figure that's the only way you get a voice that lovely.)
1940 Having already recognized the fairy's generous gift, non biological daddy Ted Wells sends Julia to live with mom's new man Ted Andrews (also not her biological father --- so confusing!) who is better equipped to give her the musical education she needs.
1947 Julia -- now "Julie Andrews" -- makes her professional debut at the London Hippodrome singing the aria "Je Suis Titania" (i.e. 'I am Titania' -referencing the Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Nights Dream, no doubt an homage to generous Fauna) from the opera Mignon. She blows the roof off the place.
1951 Does not prick her finger and fall into an unnatural slumber but is, by now at 16, a British star of stage and radio. Waits impatiently, but sweetly, for love's first kiss total world domination.
1954 Start at the top: Debuts on the American stage on Broadway in the lead role of The Boyfriend.
1956 Wouldn't it be loverly if she originated the plum role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and concurrently became a superstar with the live television airing of the musical Cinderella? Statistics vary but her numbers are basically up their with the explosion of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show and the final episode of M*A*S*H. We're talking everyone... or roughly 10 times the numbers that even the biggest "event" nowadays.
1959 Love's first kiss: Marries set designer Tony Walton who she met on the stage in London many years prior whilst playing the Egg in Humpty-Dumpty.
1960 Her eggs produce first child, Emma. Also creates the original Guinevere in the smash hit Broadway musical Camelot.
1962/1963 Julie, already a household name in America, is passed over for the movie version of the role she created in My Fair Lady because Jack Warner, in a typically lazy movie industry move (that we still see every day in 2010) only wants someone "bankable." Never mind that her first two movies become enormous "all time" blockbusters, each outgrossing My Fair Lady (which was also a hit with "bankable" Audrey Hepburn). Nobody can see into the future and most people aren't willing to risk casting based on rightness for a role... even though anyone in the right role at the time can become bankable as Mary Poppins will soon prove.
1964 Kill Audrey, Vol 1: Julie's movie debut Mary Poppins outgrosses My Fair Lady.So much for not bankable.She also stars in the acclaimed adult-oriented drama The Americanization of Emily, a film which she reportedly loves, though few notice in the enormous wake of that flying nanny.
1965 Kill Audrey Vol. 2: Julie wins the Oscar, besting Audrey Hepburn (who actually wasn't nominated but this isn't the way history remembers it. Shut up!).
As follow up, Julie spins around on a mountain top; billions of people all over the world get dizzy, and thousands of fairies are born. The Sound of Music outgrosses every movie that's ever existed including Gone With the Wind (if you don't adjust for inflation).
After defeating Audrey Hepburn, Julie targets Vivien Leigh. 'You can make one dress out of curtains? Amateur!'
Von Trapp play-clothes
1966 Hitchcock, having worn on Tippi Hedren's last nerve, has to find a replacement blonde. He tries Julie out for Torn Curtain. Outcome: Not icy and anonymous enough for Hitch. They never work together again. The film is a big hit. So is Hawaii that same year. Even outside of musicals Julie is beyond bankable.
1967 Julie stars as wannabe flapper Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie. People remember it today as a misfire or flop but sorry: another huge hit, the biggest in Universal's history up till then. Julie + musicals =box office gold.
1968 Except when it don't. Oops. Star, a bloated biopic of Gertrude Lawrence becomes her first failure. Julie divorces Tony Walton and...
1969 ...marries Blake Edwards after filming Darling Lili (1970) for the director with Rock Hudson.
1970s After five years on the mountain top of global stardom, Julie bows out of the movies, making only two more films over the decade. She has two more children and then adopts two more still. She makes multiple television appearances.
1981 Blake convinces his wife to bare her breasts, which he had undoubtedly seen thousands of times already but he's a sharer. Her boob flash in S.O.B totally scandalizes Mary Poppins fans and my parents (also Mary Poppins fans). I remember the fallout vividly from my youth. They were furious.
1982 Despite her "betrayal" of squeaky clean loving fans, Hollywood and pop culture reembrace the icon when Victor/Victoria hits. Her multi-octave slide in "Le Jazz Hot" shatters glass and thousands more fairies are born. Julie is nominated for another Oscar for her woman-pretending-to- be-a-man-pretending- to-be-a-woman nightclub act wherein she falls in love with gangster King Marchand (James Garner again) or "Fairy Marchand" as his arm-candy girlfriend rechristens him in a jealous rage.
1983 Julie Andrews loses the Oscar to Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice as would anyone from any year in any film under any circumstance.
rest of the 1980s makes a few more movies with Blake Edwards but nothing ascends. Bares her breasts again opposite Rupert Everett in Duet For One (1986) but few notice. You only get a shock from that once.
1990s-1999 returns to Broadway, eventually revives Victor/Victoria in new form, refuses a Tony nomination for their "egregious" snubbing of her fellow cast members. Vocal problems begin. Undergoes surgery for throat nodules and something goes wrong and she is unable to sing again. A special new circle of hell is created for whomever is to blame though...
2000 ...here on earth the matter is settled in a malpractice lawsuit. Julie's Just Rewards: She becomes "Dame" Julie Andrews by order of the Queen.
2001 Speaking of Queens... The Princess Diaries opens, surprising virtually everyone by becoming a smash with non-bankable Anne Hathaway in the leading role of the Princess and non-singing no-longer bankable Julie as the Queen of Genovia. The hit film will win her a new generation of young fans and set in motion a new career in children's films, albeit usually just as voice work. As in...
2010Despicable Me wherein Julie Andrews plays the disapproving mother of super villain Gru. On October 1st, Julie Andrews celebrates her 75th birthday.
Here's to her next quarter century as one of the great entertainers of all time!
The news, which isn't actual news yet so much as 'in talks' talking-points (the bulk of online movie articles), is this: Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts will take the plum Oscar bait roles of the pill-popping abusive matriarch Violet and eldest control-freak daughter Barbara in August: Osage County. The new (to feature directing) John Wells will sit in the director's chair instead of Mike Nichols as previously rumored. It seems quite risky to give a project this complex and fraught with ways in which it could go wrong to a newbie but maybe his debut film (The Company Men) is unexpectedly rich?
One of the most popular posts in the history of The Film Experience was our discussion of the casting of this genius actress-heavy play. It's THE stage-to-screen project to watch for any actressexual out there since the cast that matters is all female and the roles, to a one, are juicy with extra pulp. (The supporting female roles could put Oscars on shelves, too.)This news, if it does become actual news, is a weird sort of exciting/disappointing.
As many of you have gleaned I am something of an über Streep fan but I think she's wrong for this part. Streep has a glorious earthy warmth as a performer and Violet needs the opposite. Streep's most successful "cold" performances were in A Cry in the Dark (which came during the amazing chameleon years) and The Devil Wears Prada (see previous post) which came during her comedic ascendance. To do justice to Violet, she'd need to be as good as she was in both pictures... simultaneously. And sometimes when Streep goes cold (Doubt, The Manchurian Candidate) she pushes too much. Violet is more complicated than either the Prada or Cry roles and requires both jagged comic steel and dormant volcanic drama ... and both need to be channelled through a druggy fog for the entire film. In short: it's an A+ dream role, better than many whole Best Actress rosters combined.
I like Julia Roberts.
If Julia works as hard for August as she did for Erin Brockovich or Closer than she might absolutely nail the role of exhausted controlling Barbara. But how often does Julia work as hard as she does in those two movies? When you're a massive star with more innate charisma than most performers can muster over the entirety of a career, coasting is an ever present danger. If she coasts at all, you'll lose the electricity of the play. The play just crackles with the stuff. Any loss of that and you could have a disaster on your hands.
Streep is such a consummate performer that, whether miscast or not, many people will demand she win a third Oscar because she will be so spectacularly watchable in the end. Even if it's not quite what the movie needs. (We'll see. I can't say how badly I hope to be wrong.)
I watched the 3 hour play from the edge of my seat and loved-loved-loved. I will anxiously await the movie. But both casting decisions feel like the kind anyone could and would make without actually knowing anything about the play, the roles, the tone or what kind of movie it would need to be to be a great one. It reeks of corporate laziness. They are rather inarguably the most famous senior citizen actress and the most famous middle age actress; "STREEP | ROBERTS" will look great on a marquee. But it's sad to cast source material this magnificent with no regard for the actual source material, and all eyes towards some imaginary marquee.
Movies should come first, not their ad campaigns. *
I mentioned very briefly this summer that I was working on a piece about Angels in America for a magazine. (That's why we covered HBO's Angels in the 'Best Shot' series -- multi-tasking!) The magazine is WINQ which covers global queer culture and the issue is out on newstands now. My piece was timed to coincide with the New York City revival. I'm seeing both halves during the Thanksgiving break.
<-- Here's the magazine cover, in case you see it and wanna pick one up to read the piece. There's also some sample pages from their digital edition you can peruse and it's available to download and whatnot. My piece is referenced on this cover near the bottom right hand corner "ANGELS ARE BACK IN FLIGHT: The Great Work Begins, Again."
I'm so used to staring at a computer screen that seeing a piece I've written in print is a different and much rarer feeling.
I also got a chance to speak to Mark Harris while writing the piece -- he's the author of the Pictures at a Revolution that we were all devouring last year -- since the article has a sidebar on him and husband Tony Kushner. Kushner is the playwright behind Angels and an Oscar nominee, too (for the screenplay of Munich). Here's a video from Signature Theater company on Angels 20th anniversary. Tickets are still available for shows in early 2011 as the play has been extended.
Tell me you'll see Angels on stage first chance you get, wherever the opportunity happens to present itself. It's even amazing in tiny regional theaters (which is where I first saw it in the mid 90s) so seek it out.
News this heavy with starry wattage and awarded source material spreads quickly. I'm sure you've heard this morning that Kate Winslet & Matt Dillon will square off with Jodie Foster & Christopher Waltz as the combative couples of Yasmine Reza's hilarious and occasionally disturbing four-hander, God of Carnage. Make that Roman Polanski's God of Carnage, since he's bound to make adjustments in the adaptation. I fear that they'll add characters and scenes and lose the play's intense get-me-outta-here vibe... all in the name of "opening it up" as a movie. But perhaps I worry for nothing. Polanski has shown skill at non-literal claustrophic material in the past. In the play two sets of parents meet up cordially to discuss a school fight between their children and the way it breaks down, everyone basically breaks down. The play is entirely set in the living room of one of the couples and takes place in real time.
James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden and Jeff Daniels in Broadway's God of Carnage (2009)
Polanski is a reliable auteur and all four actors are strong but I still have to worry. It's my nature. I'm hoping that everyone involved understands first and foremost that it's a comedy. This type of material could easily fall apart if it loses its satiric edge and embraces the dramatic too willfully. If it does, people will just be like "ugh. these people are so immature. I hate them!" and you know how the public reacts to characters they don't like.
Pray for Jodie to pull this off!
The most intriguing casting choice has to be Jodie Foster, who I assume is taking on the Tony-winning Marcia Gay Harden role. I would haved loved to have seen Harden get this shot on the big screen but they rarely let people transfer... even Oscar winning people who aren't bankable. Anyway, Foster knows from claustrophic environs (Panic Room, Flight Plan, Silence of the Lambs) but she hasn't spent much time honing her comic gifts and this character is, at least in my experience of the play, the fulcrum point. She's full of abundant pretense and holier-than-thou speechifying and she'd be utterly detestable and annoying if she weren't also so funny and so endearingly a complete emotional wreck. It's just a killer role.
I'm glad the two time Oscar winner will be truly challenging herself for the first time in well over a decade but if you rest you rust and I hope she's up to the challenge. *
