Academy Mixer? Nat! Liz! Audrey!

I can't even remember where or how I found this photo -- I think it was during the rush of web activity mourning Elizabeth Taylor's passing. And I think it must be from 61/62? But how insane is this?

Elizabeth Taylor and Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn all awkwardly dancing with their men friends within bumping distance of each other? It's so "It Movie Stars of the 60s". CrazyHotNostalgia. That'd be like if you could find a candid shot of Meryl, Kathleen & Michelle dirty dancin' in the 80s or Faye, Jane & Diane boogieing in the 70s or Kate and Cate and Nicole letting loose in the 00s or, ah, ... well, you could play this game for hours. Gah! Wonderment.

Best New Favorite Old Picture of Infinity!

Anne Hathaway, a 'Hotsy-Totsy Bitch From Jersey'

Last night on Conan O'Brien, Anne Hathaway decided she needed to react to all that Catwoman mania on the web, much of it not positive due to the Batgirl like motorcycle photos, and composed a rap.

This is 95% my favorite part

Don't act so hotsy-totsy bitch I know that you from Jersey.

The other 5% is where she admits that she's a needy ham (which I just realized is cut from the clip below). Conclusion: The Princess Diaries (2001) is a terrible movie but I'm so glad it exists and brought Anne Hathaway into our (film) world.

Here's the clip.

'said everybody's gonna link today, link today, link today'

Pop & Hiss Reeve Carney, who previously appeared in Julie Taymor's Tempest and Julie Taymor's Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, has signed on to play Jeff Buckley in a biopic. Sure he looks right enough for the part, but sadly, at least thus far, he doesn't seem to be much of an actor. 
In Contention loves the motion picture soundtrack cover for Drive more than the movie posters. Fair enough... but omg what's inside!!!. I'm buying the crap out of that CD when it becomes available. I kept wishing the songs were originals so that I could be incensed when Oscar ignored them.

Reeve Carney as himself. Ryan Gosling in fetishized scorpion jacket.

Time Out HK has a good lengthy interview with Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu of Bishonen fame. He's starring opposite fighting Russell Crowe (literally) soon in The Man With the Iron Fists
Cinema Blend has a funny thought. What if Channing Tatum's stripper movie Magic Mike is the first film wherein Matthew McConaughey (who just signed on as the boss man) doesn't take his shirt off? 
Cineuropa Lars Von Trier's next picture Nymphomaniac will detail a woman's sexual life from birth til she's 50. Good luck with the, uh, casting of that one Lars. 
Playbill Cyndi Lauper & Harvey Fierstein's stage musical adaptation of the drag movie Kinky Boots (yes you read that sentence right) will get a big workshop in September. I didn't even like the movie and I'm so excited for it.
Via Twitter omg. Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse) is in The Avengers. Yay! I have no idea how this photo is supposed to prove it but it is.
Hollywood Reporter Oscar buzzing Viola Davis (The Help) may star in a new HBO series. First Julianne... now Viola? Pretty soon no actresses will be left for the movies ;) 
The Cut the cast of Glee is in Vogue. Why no Mercedes or Santana?  

Music Video Break
Do you like Mika? I do muchly. Here's his latest music video "Elle Me Dit" but I only share it on this film blog because he's moved on from Grace Kelly to... Frenchsuperstar Fanny Ardant (8 Women, Ridicule, Roman de Gare). The video seems vaguely inspired by Wes Anderson (does Fanny then equal Anjelica Huston?) divided by François Ozon because if he was going for Wes, there's not enough center frame closeup.

What'cha think?

Two Beauties

Yesterday morning, before that evening's NYC premiere of Vera Farmiga's Higher Ground (pictured below) I had the opportunity to sit down for a chat with these two knockouts, Dagmara Dominczyk and Vera Farmiga. I somehow ended up seated between them so my head was ping-ponging back and forth and dizzy from beauty. Beauty to the left. Beauty to the right. 

You all know Vera, only one of the screen's very best working actresses. If you're unfamiliar with Dagmara, her main claim to fame was back in 2002 (The Count of Monte Cristo, female lead opposite Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce) but she essentially took a really long break from career-ing to have Patrick Wilson's babies. (Wouldn't you?) She's terrific as Vera's best friend in the film. They're adorably chummy in real life, too.

That interview is coming soon. Here's another premiere photo of the cast. Yes, Donna Murphy is in the movie; Vera has good taste.

Tony nominee Nina Arianda, Two time Tony winner Donna Murphy, Oscar Nominee Vera Farmiga and Mrs Patrick Wilson Dagmara Dominczyk.

Q&A Leftovers: Oscar Madness, Black Actors, Carrey & Kunis

Okay, before I decide how to reconfigure the fun but exhausting new Q&A series, I thought I'd answer 5 Oscar questions I stubbornly avoided before.

Ellen Burstyn in "Resurrection" (1980)

Michael: Going back to 1980 out of the five nominees - who would you have handed the Best Actress Oscar to?
Nathaniel:  I can't vote on 1980 because I've never found an opportunity to see Ellen Burstyn in Resurrection and I don't vote without seeing all five. Or at least I don't vote without all five if I really love the missing actor... which, in this case, I do. (Also: regarding 1980. I've heard the pleas for me to talk about Gena Rowlands since I never do. I just have to decide how to attack that large subject.)

Philip: Why do you think Oscar never took a liking to Jim Carrey?
Nathaniel: He was trying too hard when they weren't ready for him yet. The Truman Show (1998) was too close to his comic persona for people to get how brilliant he was in it. By the time he'd work up to "due" and gave his best performance (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004) he happened to do it within a romantic masterpiece. Alas, it's only women who ever get Oscar credit for those. Sexist but true.

Two Actors. Beloved by Plant Life. Not by Oscar.

Adam: What sort of project do you think Mila Kunis should tackle for Oscar recognition? Comedy or drama? Any roles in particular?
Nathaniel: I talked about this briefly last month, not in the context of Oscar but in the context of a wise career move. I wrote:

My basic feeling is that she should ditch the comedies briefly for something E-V-I-L. That vaguely sinister erotic charge that she gifted to Black Swan and the way you could read it as playful one minute and agenda-filled the next, suggests that she has an untapped capacity for darker roles

But what's good for the career isn't always good for Oscar favor. But wait there's more!

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