Marge Never Stood A Chance

JA from MNPP here - René Clément's Purple Noon played at MoMA here in New York yesterday and those lucky enough to get in to the sold-out show had a giant wall of that staring at them. SIGH. Can you imagine? I love Matt Damon's performance in Minghella's 1999 Talented Mr. Ripley, but it for me it never quite had that... this. The sensation that "Okay yes Tom I am completely hypnotized now I will do whatever you say eyes eyes eyes oh my god eyes yes whatever you say." I like that this.

Red Carpet: "The Help", Teen Choice Awards

NATHANIEL: For this episode of Red Carpet Convos, I'm joined by our resident fashion-obsessive Jose and Kurt. We begin with ... oh help me. It's THE HELP. I feel like I have done nothing but talk about that movie this week.
KURT: 'The Help Experience'.
NATHANIEL: Which would work as that movie's title... were it not for that pesky Emma Stone ;). It's totally overthrown Rise of the Planet of the Apes already in conversation.‬

Aibilene, Celia, Skeeter, Minnie and Hilly

poll by twiigs.com

JOSE: ‬ Confused by Ron Howard's kid and Jessica Chastain again, which one's which?‬

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪The pregnant one is always Bryce Dallas Howard‬

KURT: ‬ ‪Is that to say she's perpetually pregnant?‬

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪I feel like she's had four children already. But i think this is just her second.‬

JOSE: ‬ ‪She's still pregnant? She and Natalie Portman gestated like elephants. I thought she was just wearing a bad empire cut‬

KURT: ‬ ‪well since we seem to be working backwards, let's talk about Ms. Howard. Jose are you very familiar with her red carpet looks? cuz i'm not‬

JOSE: ‬ ‪actually no, though somehow I happen to be a big fan of her underrated-ness.

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪She went very patriotic for this red carpet.‬  Perhaps to counterbalance how dastardly Ugly American her character Hilly is?

KURT: ‬ ‪she should have worn a confederate flag‬

JOSE: ‬ see what I can gather from her look is that color blocking is already hard for the skinny starlets, so pregnant ladies should stay away from it, this reminds me of Uma's yodeling costume from the Oscars a few years ago‬

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪Ah, I think it's lovely or would be without the primary colors.‬

KURT: ‬ ‪agreed about the color blocking. reminds me someone a few seasons ago of Project Runway - can't remember her name.

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪reality show contestants fade in memory practically instantly -- celebrity meat grinder that. I love Project Runway and I can never remember people's names after the next cast has replaced them.‬

JOSE: ‬ ‪oooh nice connection Kurt, since freaking Heidi Klum is always pregnant as well‬

‪KURT: ‬ ‪word‬. Bryce should have worn a variation of that floral thing that makes it into all the promo stills. i kind of love that look.

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪Octavia Spencer. This is a lovely color I think but the clutch is cracking me up. It's so flat and shiny that what could you keep in there other than maybe all the movie contracts you're thinking of signing now that you've had your breakout role.‬

‪KURT: ‬ ‪yea its weird‬ like a trapper keeper

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪ ‬ ‪Omg. maybe she's got homework or a slambook inside?‬

JOSE: ‬ ‪Love the cut and the cleavage, since bigger ladies usually go for huge priest-robe like dresses, the mid-length cut is absolutely perfect‬

‪KURT: ‬ ‪yes the dress is pretty. is the wrap too much?‬

NATHANIEL: ‬ ‪‬ ‪I like it. But then I like gossamer loveliness in general.‬

‪KURT:‬ ‪well at least it's not draped over her like a JLo doilie‬ and i wont say anything else about Jlo -- i promise!

"I ❤ _____", Viola Davis vs. Angela Bassett, and Teen Choice after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Box Office: The Rise of the Rise of...

"Cesar is home"... at the top of the box office charts for a second week. The Help's first week bow is nothing to deny though, particularly as it's bound to have legs at the box office since it skews adult. And adults aren't as likely to storm theaters on opening weekend. Expect The Help to leap frog The Apes next weekend as Conan the Barbarian, Fright Night and One Day fight it out for dominance as newbies.

Box Office Dozen (estimates)
01 RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES $27.5 (cumulative $104.8)
02 THE HELP [review] $25.5 (cum $35.3)
03 FINAL DESTINATION 5 $18.4 
04 THE SMURFS $13.5 (cum $101.5)
05 30 MINUTES OR LESS $13 
06 COWBOYS AND ALIENS $7.6 (cum $81.4)
07 CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER [review] $7.1 (cum $156.8)
08 CRAZY STUPID LOVE [your take]  $6.9 (cum $55.4)
09 HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO [review] $6.8 (cum $356.9)
10 THE CHANGE-UP $6.2 (cum $25.7)
11 GLEE: THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE [review] $5.7 
12 HORRIBLE BOSSES $2.4 (cum $110)

Talking Points:
Our 'Star Spangled Man' has entered the top ten of 2011 just behind a movie nobody seems to think was a hit: Kung Fu Panda 2. But how high will the Apes rise? After two weeks it's the 18th biggest grosser of the year. Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, now on its last legs, will probably cross the $50 million mark this week. Well done Sony Pictures Classics!

What did you see this weekend? Or do you wait 'til Sunday night to hit the theaters?

Take Three: Max von Sydow

Craig (from Dark Eye Socket) here with another Take Three. Today: Max von Sydow

Take One: Hour of the Wolf (1968)
It goes without saying, of course, that a von Sydow Take Three wouldn’t feel right unless one of them was an Ingmar Bergman film. All three could’ve been, but the aim is to err on the side of variety whenever possible. They made 11 films together: The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Magician, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Shame and The Passion of Anna are all classics. But Hour of the Wolf, in which von Sydow plays a painter losing his grip on his sanity, doesn’t always get the high mention it deserves. It contains some of von Sydow’s best work in any film, for any director.

With his handsomely regal face, von Sydow boldly dominates the film. His sinisterly unhinged stillness and almost unreadable presence cement the notion that he’s a tormented artist uncertain of his place in the world. He's visited by people, possibly demons in human disguise, who embody his trauma, his shame. In a possibly imagined, probably symbolic, but definitely surreal dinner scene von Sydow’s deathly wan countenance crumples in extreme close-up. His mind seems to deteriorate due to the inane banter of the chattering souls surrounding him. (No one said Bergman’s personal parables were cheery.) Von Sydow masters depression and disgust like breathing and underplays his scenes like a covert pro. With complete skill von Sydow does as much as an actor can to attempt to place the viewer inside his character’s brain.

Take Two: The Exorcist (1973)
I don’t think it’s via Jeez himself, but, Christ!, the power of character acting compels me... to write about Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist for this Take.

Demonic Possession and Demonic Behavior after the jump

Click to read more ...

Melissa Harris-Perry and "The Help"

I fear that I may have to retitle the blog "The Help Experience" but that's okay. This kind of happens when Oscar contenders show up and get everyone talking. Soon there will be more of them and The Help won't hog so much attention.

If you haven't yet read my review, do that please (they don't write themselves!) but today I wanted to discuss Melissa Harris-Perry's righteous fury at the movie (There is a lot of this going around which Sasha Stone discussed recently though Perry was never mentioned).

For those of you who don't Perry she's a professor of political science at Tulane University, her new book "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America" just came out, and she's regularly on political programs as a talking head.  She's also one of the smartest people alive. Every time she's on television I swoon. When her segments are over I often feel as if the fog has cleared from the subject under scrutiny, her commentary is so perceptive and accessible. Gender, race and politics of the South are kind of her thing so, naturally, she HATED The Help. But she was amusing about it so I thought I'd share her disgruntled tweets.

They're not as incisive and genius as her political commentary but 140 characters, y'know. Read on!

Click to read more ...