Earth's Linkiest Heroes

Whedonesque okay so supposedly Joss Whedon started shooting The Avengers today. I've long said this movie will never happen so if cameras are actually rolling (do people still say that anymore with digital cameras?) and they don't stop production at some point unexpectaly I'll be totes wrong. And I'll be happy to be wrong (so long as the movie is good.)
Pajiba the ten movies people most lie about having seen when they haven't.
Movie|Line Stephanie Zacharek reveals the summer movies she's most looking forward to... even though she hates writing about trailers.
Acidemic remembered Jesus, via Franco Zefferilli, for Easter. I did such a bad job with Easter at the blog. I didn't even post a bunny picture. What's wrong with me? I'm normally such a holiday-friendly guy. Do you have a favorite Jesus portrayal from film or television?
Gold Derby looks at the possible Best Comedy Actress lineup at the Emmys. Did you know that The Lovely Laura Linney has never been defeated when nominated?
Coming Soon Johnny Depp to cameo in the 21 Jump Street movie.
FourFour writes about Lance Loud, now famous again post-humously due to HBO's Cinema Verite.
Us Magazine congratulations to TFE darling Toni Collette! She had a baby boy.

Just For Fun
My High School Boyfriend Was Gay have you seen this new humor site? Prom photos are the best for unintentional comedy. You woudn't believe mine but, no, I won't ever be sharing it.
The Awl on friendships with the unemployed.
Omaha I'm sharing this link about a tattoo artist just because of his following quote from the tattoo artist to your right on the rise of intricate realistic tattoos.

“You can put beautiful art on the body just as you can put beautiful art on the wall. I spent nine hours putting a tattoo of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman on one guy.

Nobody loves La Pfeiffer more than me but I couldn't wear her face on my body for the rest of my days. Do any of you have tattoos? I'm squeamish about them but I'm always curious as to what motivates others to get them.

Hugo Nominees Or: How To Stop Worrying and Love The Geek

The quickest thing you learn once you become obsessed with awards is that they never end; someone is always handing out prizes for something. And since the eligibility periods are different for everything it takes forever for a single year's entertainment to finally be "old" aka ineligible. Such is the case with 2010 entertainment (mostly the second half of it) which is still eligible for Emmy nods (July 14th), Tony nods (May 3rd)... and The Hugo Awards, which are science fiction based, and newly announced today.

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – LONG
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Toy Story 3

Inception and Toy Story 3 can breathe a sigh of relief that The King's Speech featured neither threatening alien invaders (Wallis Simpson does not count) nor superpowered heroes (Helena Bonham Carter does not count, her super powers being off screen).

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – SHORT
Doctor Who: ‘‘A Christmas Carol''
Doctor Who: ‘‘The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang''
Doctor Who: ‘‘Vincent and the Doctor''
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury
The Lost Thing

I've embedded this "Ray Bradbury" vid once before on the old blog but it made me LOL so here it is again. With Doctor Who cancelling itself out (one assumes) Will The Lost Thing, the animated short, repeat its Oscar win at the Hugos?

Shaun Tan, the Australian illustrator behind that short, is also up for Best Artist, a category which includes Dan Dos Santos, Bob Eggleston, John Picacao and Stephan Martiniere.

Since there are definitely not enough awards for online entertainment (The Film Experience certainly hasn't won any trophies, y'know *sniffle*), here are some webzines to check out if you're into sci-fi. They're all nominated: (Semi-Pro) Clarkesworld, Interzone, Lightspeed, Locus, Weird Tales, (Fan) Banana Wings, The Challenger, The Drink Tank, File 770, StarShipSofa

Here's a complete list of the nominees should you enjoy sci-fi.

"Something's crossed over in me. I can't go back. I couldn't live."

For those who experienced the tumultous "girlpower" ride of 1990s popular culture this Pretty Woman vs. Thelma & Louise essay in The New York Times is wonderfully mnemonic... and insightful.

Love that accompanying illustration by Tom Gauld. Spot on, spot!

Here's a morsel from the article on the narrative transformational journeys of Thelma (Geena Davis) and Vivian (Julia Roberts), the "ingenues" as the narratives go.

...only Thelma transitions into a new, more independent self, while Vivian finds a way to be preserved as a wide-eyed child-bride forever.

It was precisely this happy ending that made people love “Pretty Woman,” just as it was the flying-off-the-cliff part that made some people object to “Thelma and Louise.” But while Vivian was happily giving herself to a callous oligarch who would purchase her personhood (as she chirped inanities about “rescuing him right back”), Thelma was saving herself by holding up a gas station and locking a cop in the trunk of his car. As every moment of Vivian’s transformative love story — from buying new outfits to subsuming herself to her Pygmalion husband — is transactional, every step of Thelma’s transformation is about evolving from chattel to free agent. In fact, you can make the argument that it was actually Vivian, not Thelma and Louise, who ceased to exist at the end of her film.

Guess which film predicted the next two decades of pop culture? Sigh.

In the magazine version (alas not online) the sidebar features Susan Sarandon Haikus by Adam Sternbergh. These were the two funniest:

Kind Sister Prejean
Bravely faced down injustice
And Sean Penn's Acting.

Nun, hooker, stepmom,
Your only regret, no doubt:
"Mr Woodcock," yes?

Teehee.

Come back to the five and dime Susan Sarandon, Susan Sarandon. And by five and dime, we mean "good movies."

Take Three: Jérémie Renier

Craig from Dark Eye Socket here with another Take Three. Today: Jérémie Renier

Take One: Private Property/Nue propriété (2006)
Joachim Lafosse’s beautifully-crafted French family drama Private Property, starred arthouse doyenne Isabelle Huppert alongside Renier and his brother Yannick (also an actor). They're just about getting on in a country house that non-identical twins Thierry (Jérémie) and François (Yannick) don’t want to sell, but Mater Dearest does; the live-away father/ex-husband backs the twins – and it’s his house. The drama is all about the to and fro of this looming possibility, the elephant smack bang in the front room and pregnant with the biggest pause imaginable. Lafosse curiously shapes his narrative with inharmonious tension between the three: it’s sometimes sexual, sometimes queasily thick, and most times unavoidable. Freud would’ve loved a visit with this Gallic clan.

Renier plays the pivotal character; an invisible finger seems to poke us into scrutinising him more than the others. Though the twins share a bond and personality traits, hes' the independent one. The connection between these adult brothers is still very adolescent (computer games, play fights etc) and  proves to be part of the family’s undoing. Everyone is excellent (come on, it’s Huppert!), but Renier has the most baggage to haul. In a scene where his childishness is on full display he hides from the family in nearby woods. Renier's face goes blank and he seems to be disappearing inside himself. It's incredibly powerful but he handles extensive complex, quick-fire dialogue just as maturely as an actor. Thierry is one of his strongest recent roles.

Take Two: In Bruges (2008)

Martin McDonough’s In Bruges holds a small, throwaway role for Renier, an elevated cameo if you will.

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Easter Egg Movie Madness

Happy Easter TFE readers. I ran out of time this year but I had totally planned to create Black Swan Easter Eggs to add to my previous collections of movie-themed easter eggs. The visual has to be iconic and easily reduced to oval form, see. Nina Sayers and her scary eyemakeup totally work. In order to be somewhat festive today, anyway, here's a reprint of a classic post. If you haven't read it before it's new to you!

Movie Themed Easter Eggs

Time for Arts & Crafts! All holidays lend themselves to movie obsessing and Easter is no exception.Plus, who doesn't love brightly colored edibles? Here are a few movie themed easter eggs you can make with your kids, godchildren, nephews, nieces or your adult friends who behave like children.

Materials needed: eggs, food dye, vinegar, water and the ability to measure and boil it, spoons, glasses, white crayons, black crayon or black marker, red candle, hand/eye coordination and some degree of artistic ability.

Get started! Boil water. Insert eggs (leave boiling for 10-12 minutes). Take water off stove without burning self. Rinse eggs in cold water. Put eggs on cooling rack. Leave for a few hours. Return. Mix different colors of dye into glasses (1/4 tsp food coloring / 1 tbsp white vinegar / 3/4th cup hot water) into which you can dip zee eggs. Ready... and GO.

Superheroes and Salmonella after the jump.

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