It's OK to be Takei!

I grew up watching Star Trek. Not by choice exactly but my parents and siblings were all totally into it so it seems like it was always on the television. Damn you syndication! My favorite character was Lt. Sulu (George Takei) with Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) as runner up. Apparently, I was all about the lieutenants. And the tribbles... but that was, like, one episode.

Not that I was a Trekkie. But those Lieutenants got me through since I didn't otherwise care.

George Takei officially came out in 2005, though he hadn't really been technically "in" per se, and since then he's become such a witty and adamant champion of human rights that he's made me so proud in retrospect for my good childhood taste to have dubbed him "favorite".

What's more, if you stop to think about it, his championing of human rights and his own history as the first Asian hero on US series television is in beautifully synchronicity with Star Trek's progressive diversity way back in the 1960s with its depiction of a peaceful multi-ethnic future.

You've probably seen this already -- Rachel Maddow featured it last night in her "best new thing in the world today" segment -- but here he is offering up a witty solution to Tennessee's homophobic legislation.

That is soooo Takei.

Fighting hatred not with more hatred but with humor and heart? What a class act. You can buy "It's okay to be Takei" merchandise if you're so inclined.

How Badly Do You Want To Sit In This "Inception" Chair?

 
I KNOW, RIGHT?

It's so awesome and I don't even like Inception very much.

This week I actually got off my ass and started working out and refusing to be wholly sedentary. Yay, me. Who knows if it'll stick because when I saw this Inception chair all I wanted to do is sit in it until my ass went numb and I grew old WatanabeWhiskers and prosthetic wrinkles.

Technabab called it "nesting dolls for your butt" which is hilarious.

The End.

Antonio Banderas, Ham. Ryan Gosling, Driven.

Gee, do you think Antonio Banderas is glad to be back in an Pedro Almodóvar picture or what? Here he is posing for photographs at Cannes with his The Skin I Live In co-star Elena Anaya (Talk to Her) and Pedro himself (cutest director/muse picture of 2011?). Photos via Zimbio via Getty Europe.

In other Cannes news, Off LVT that is, though we haven't yet seen premiere photos, Ryan Gosling's vehicle Drive, has been seen by critics. Which prompted this hilarious tweet from In Contention's Guy Lodge.

Ryan Gosling in DRIVE

DRIVE (A-) I won't lie to you: I pretty much want to have sex with this movie. Hot, clipped, nasty, beautiful. Best thing in competition.

I told him if he'd only film that, he'd take fanfic to a whole new level.

In just a few more days we'll know who takes Best Actor, Best Actress and the Palme D'Or. Any bets?

Links: Slayers, Ringers, Tomatoes, Beavers

The blogging police have informed me that if I don't post the "first look" at Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) from Hunger Games I shall be banished forever from the Billion Kingdoms of the Internet. Satisfied? I guess I should read this book. But how to join the rest of the world in loving teenage killers? It's a gene that skipped me by. Except Buffy. But her victims were vampires so that was always kinda fun.

Tom Shone "An Argument Not Worth Having" via the topic of comedy via Bridesmaids.
Acidemic has a wonderfully fluid train of thought piece on Angelina Jolie's career trajectory and Demi Moore's apocalyptic 80s drama The Seventh Sign.
Go Fug Yourself is happy to see Jodie Foster out and about at Cannes with The Beaver. Except for that one accessory that's always attached to her hand.
The Advocate  enjoyable interview with Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation and Our Idiot Brother)
Awards Daily Sasha says goodbye to another Cannes

Gallery of the Absurd has a 100% accurate portrait of Stephen King when a new novel idea hits him.
Movie|Line It's true. The Dark Knight Rises has begun filming. Commence endless disposable blogging about what it might be like. Oh wait, that startedback in summer 2008.
Zap2It Buffy or rather Sarah Michelle Gellar is back to series TV on the CW. Ringer, about identical twin sisters and mob targets, has been picked up. First photos follow.

Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in RINGER

Throwing Tomatoes...
Serious Film does not much love Thor. It's one of the more scathing reviews you'll read.

Cheering these movies is beginning to feel like cheering a PowerPoint presentation at a meeting of Marvel stockholders.

Ouch!
Slant Magazine is even more vicious to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Melancholia Fallout

I really hope that all the press conference controversy surrounding Lars Von Trier's Melancholia doesn't hinder its awards chances if it had any to begin with. Ioncinema's critics panel loved the movie but at least one distributor has already bailed. I am usually quite amused by Lars Von Trier's ease at manipulating the press with his outrageous comments -- everyone falls for it every time! Suckers -- but this time, sadly, his mischief may affect his film's chances to be seen. Which... argh. It's so anti-art to be offended by someone's peronality and therefore reject their work in its entirety and, worse, prevent others from seeing it.

Lars is always making his actresses uncomfortable

This type of moral outrage at bad-taste humor can often snowball in uncomfortable ways. I'm already worried that The Five Obstructions project with Martin Scorsese, which sounds thrilling, will end up derailed as well. Lars Von Trier has apologized but because he is also Lars Von Trier he's been making inflammatory follow up comments as well about enjoying the persona non grata designation.

I haven't been reading Melancholia reviews other than skimming blurbs. I'm most intrigued by IndieWire's description of the film as Von Trier's Rachel Getting Married because, well, who wouldn't want to see that? I was also intrigued by Hollywood Elsewhere's comment about Kiki's lead performance:

She's never operated in such a dark, fleshy and grandiose realm.

Though maybe you can disregard that one, since Mr. Wells doesn't seem to have a sense of how accomplished Dunst's filmography actually is. The Spider-Man trilogy sure did pull the wool over everyone's eyes in terms of her versatility and the general strength of her filmography. Rich at FourFour hasn't yet seen the movie but he sure loves Kiki's performance at the press conference.

ANYWAY... My increasingly anti-review stance is getting uncomfortable for me as a blogger/pundit/critic/loudmouth. I tend to talk more about movies AFTER their release and the world has definitely trended away from me (gulp) there, preferring to exhaust conversations before moviegoers can join in. I haven't decided quite how to work around this yet. See, I knew way too much bout LVT's Antichrist -- to connect this train of thought back to Melancholia -- before seeing it and it was very frustrating for me. What should have been a shock-fest instead was just "oh, here comes that part. I see what he did there." I know in my soul that the modern habit of digging for all and every piece of information for each new movie before experiencing it beforehand (a kindred spirit to the now commonplace Oscar-fanatic trend to take adamant Oscar sides before seeing the performances in question) is detrimental to the magic of the movies. But how to stay informed without spoiling your own capacity for surprise and joy?  Are you also struggling with this? It's been getting progressively worse over the past 5 or so years. I wonder if this will cycle back culturally to valuing secrets or if it will just get worse?  

My favorite shot in the Melancholia trailer. So evocative and childlike

If you released The Crying Game (1992) in today's moviegoing climate, for example, I bet it would never have taken off and nagged several Oscar nominations. (Oscar nominations that were completely deserved, mind you.)  Its whole campaign was about keeping the secret (which wasn't exactly a last minute twist) and by the time people staring knowing the secret before seeing it -- thanks to one of those Oscar nominations -- it was already a "must see" film.

My train of thought has jumped the rails. Back to Melancholia. Do you think the jury will dare give it any prizes, if they were already so inclined, given that Lars von Trier has been expelled?

Related: Yes No Maybe So Melancholia
Interview: The Return of Kirsten Dunst, A Very Good Thing