movie starsI Need My Fix Jude Law in the Czech Republic. Apparently Sadie Frost is writing a book about their marriage. Uh oh.Old Hollywood Ernest Hemingway to Marlene Dietrich. Awesome quote.Diva Asia Apparently Gong Li is now divorced. I'm not that concerned with her marriage. I just want her in some incredible movies again. Like something as good as Ju Dou? That's too much to ask, right? I can dream.
a Buffy momentFlickr Holy Hellmouth, this "Buffy Alphabet" is awesome thus far.Low Resolution has a three-part incredibly detailed interview with one of the writers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you love Buffy you'll want to read it.just for funpop licks "Best Headl! ine Ever?" Maybe it is. It is pretty vivid.Chateau Thombeau "B! een Ther e" hee x several.....and because it's just amazing, the video "Big Bag Big Boom" by Blu.BIG BAG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
Great classic films, best all time movies
"No Time for Comedy" is an odd romp featuring James Stewart and Rosalind Russell that I wish worked a little better and had a little more fun.This 1940 film is based upon S.N. Behrman's popular 1939 Broadway play and is about Broadway itself. Russell is successful stage actress Linda Paige, who's toiling away in a new play that no one likes. When the unknown playwright Gaylord Esterbrook (Stewart) shows up in NYC, his first trip to any big city, his small-town demeanor puts off most people except for Paige. She's willing to continue in the play and convinces others to do the same, despite a questionable third act. The play is a hit, Esterbrook and Paige marry, and the two form a successful union -- both professi! onal and personal. However, after a number of successful collaborations, Esterbrook is wooed by a benefactress (Genevieve Tobin), who loves to take talented men under her wing and try to impress great art -- and love -- upon them. The men end up demanding that they be taken more seriously, and Esterbrook is no exception. This was the only time Russell and Stewart worked together, and it's a shame on two levels -- they clearly have chemistry and this piece doesn't give them enough to do. Considering that this was released in the same year that Russell made "His Girl Friday" and Stewart made "The Philadelphia Story," "No Time for Comedy" is a featherweight and almost dull by comparison. Which is a shame, because the elements are there. Perhaps this worked best on stage. After all, it was a hit with Laurence Olivier, who was on Broadway with this piece between making "Wuthering Heights" and "Rebecca." And you can easily dissect the film into three parts. But somehow the discus! sion in the opening part of the film about Easterbrook's first! play, i n which everyone loves the first act but wonders about the next two, applies to this movie. The first act is genuinely funny. Stewart plays the fish out of water role so well, giving Esterbrook a child-like excitement about seeing a subway or being in a skyscraper. Stewart is charming all the way, and it's easy to see why Russell falls for him. But in the second act the laughs fade away. Tobin is initially fun but her Mandy wears thin, and it becomes hard to see why Stewart is so enamored with her. If I were Russell, I'd kick him out and say "good riddance." It's interesting to note that Tobin is the wife of the film's director, William Keighley. This is her last film appearance, and the two were married for nearly 50 years. And, it's surprising to see how one of the movie posters (pictured above) features Stewart and Tobin, with Russell nowhere in sight. I'm guessing the character of Mandy is supposed to be a scene-stealer, which is why she's more prominently featured. Actu! ally, the best supporting player is Louise Beavers as Clementine, a bit actress who then becomes Russell's maid. Beavers has the best lines and continues to be funny when the story hits its bumps. 
The climax is no real surprise, and by the end I was wanting more. Not more of this film, but more of Stewart and Russell and another pairing of these two. "No Time for Comedy" is pleasant enough, but these fine stars had already proven that they could do better. 
What: My "Ingrid Friedel Bergman-Lindstrom-Rossellini-Schmidt Addiction/Fandom" How/Who: I discovered Ingrid Bergman purely by accident, well I'd say more, the stars aligned and new light was shed in my life, but less dramatically-- by accident.I have always been a fan of classic television and film. My parents influenced and encouraged this, as well as, participated in the hobby. I was watching TCM one night and came across this film Gaslight. As most of us know, this was Ingrid's first Oscar win, Angela Lansbury's first film, Charles Boyer's (looking handsome as ever) and Ingrid's first (of many) paring and directed by the fabulous George Cukor.When I saw it, it was just a really creepy movie that kept getting better and better. I consider myself lucky to have seen this as my first Ingrid film. She is spectacular. I mean her singing and jovial natu! re juxtaposed with her screaming and insanely amazing "knife s! cene" at the end. Brilliance in a can (literally, since film was canned in those days... hehe... film nerd joke!). I, then, decided that I was going to find all of Ingrid Bergman's films. With research and breaking my former thoughts of her just being a blown up icon-- how wrong was I!? I do want to say "Thanks Dad" for helping me feed my Classic Film addiction, day in and day out. :)When: This was, embarrassingly, 3 years ago. I was just coming off an Anne Bancroft bender. Why: Ingrid Bergman was devoted to her work and was described (by her daughter Pia) as "a train on the tracks" so I think if you weren't going the same way, look out. I feel that I am the same type of person. I think she was a woman who lived to act and did it well. She was incredibly human and made many mistakes, but never regrets. She seems exciting to me and I think she is one of the most beautiful creatures ever printed on celluloid.Her career was beautiful as well... her history is thick with d! rama, adventure and interesting as hell. For these reasons, and many more, I follow the book of Ingrid.Where: I originally discovered Ingrid Bergman in Easton, Maryland. I continued my research from the Eastern Shore-- but now I discover her wherever I go. Including...
My School, 
the MoMA in NYC and everywhere!
You'll notice that the top grossers are from Bollywood -- have they usurped France's spot as most reliable in the US market? -- or are Oscar holdovers. A few of these used the Oscars as a platform rather than risking regular release. Secret only showed itself in theaters once it could use the Oscar win as advertisement but that's a risky strategy since you can't guarantee a win. The two rather robust contenders it beat on Oscar n! ight, France's A Prophet and Germany's The White Ribbon, had t! win buzz trajectories: hot ticket Cannes debut, Cannes trophies, well regarded auteur at the helm, rave reviews. Ribbon opened with only those things to guide it last December. A Prophet, like Secret, banked on Oscar love for ticket sales, only opening after the expected but not guaranteed nomination. Box office result: Slightly smaller box office for Prophet than Ribbon.What does it mean? Interpret as you will. I prefer to interpret things as "open when the film is ready" and stop making audiences wait! This is the age of gimme it now and film distribution is lagging compared to tv and music, which both seem to be (slowly) adapting to the instant gratification / 'on my terms' culture.But then numbers are highly interpretable. It might simply indicate that Oscar means nothing unless you win.
FWIW: The Milk of Sorrow, Peru's first Oscar nominee, is the only 2009 Foreign Film nominee that never opened in the US. Such a shame. Sorrow's director Claudia Llosa was just invited to join AMPAS's directors branch.My favorite foreign release of 2010?Italy's I AM LOVE improved remarkably on second viewing and I was fond enough of it the first time. It's just ravishing and my only real concern about it the first time through was what seemed like a sexphobic denouement. On second viewing, I believe I misread the film initially, taking the narrative happenings too literally when the images were the key. Most of the film is shot, designed, scored and acted with a more symbolic, sensual, operatic mindset in mind. I suddenly have a lot of things to say about it but it feels like the kind of movie you only discuss once people have seen it. So I'll wait a bit more.
[box office note: It's currently grossed just under over half a million in limited release but it should end up as one of the top foreign grossers of the year when the year wraps.]Oscar buzz for 2010? Those Oscar nominees we've just discussed are ineligible for further honors -- they already had their Oscar year -- so we look to Cannes buzz to guide us in predicting the Best Foreign Language Film Submissions for 2010. As for I Am Love... I think it's probably not so Oscarable (despite exquisite craftsmanship) but if it catches on in theaters, you never know. Oscar likes an arthouse hit.**