Happy Groundhog Day

You wouldn't know it to look outside here in New York City where it's been a wintry wonderland (or horror show depending on your point of view) but we're supposedly due for an early spring. Which is to say that the groundhogs trotted out for this occassion each year are reportedly not seeing their shadows this morning.

Only Peter Pan has a more complicated relationship with his shadow. (Free Association so I went with it.) I love Peter Pan. This year I think I'm totally going to give animated films their due. They've gotten short shrift here at The Film Experience. A few moments with Pixar starting tomorrow.

Link Shop

Fandor Sheila O'Malley on Melissa Leo's career and her ship coming in.
Movie|Line 5 Ways The Social Network can reclaim its Oscar mojo.
Observations on Film Art Facial acting "less with the eyebrows" in The Social Network.
Playbill Actress Jane Lynch releasing a memoir in the fall. Fun.Vulture Harvey Weinstein's canny talking points to win The King's Speech votes. Not to be an ass but should anyone really hold up John Travolta as a taste-maker with a straight face? Yes, that filmography sure shows hisimpeccable taste in movies!
Movie | Line Sundance 11's Most Likely to Succeed

Self-Styled Siren "For the Love of Film Noir" blog-a-thon and restoration fundraiser in mid February
AV Club asks if they'd ever really give Banksy the doc Oscar for a heavily fictional oddity like Exit Through the Gift Shop
Pop Matters - Interesting piece on the fallible businees of naming "bests" and awardage in general.

We don’t sort art, it sorts us. Which piece of art tops the list says less about the quality of the art than who made the list. The shiny statuettes are shaped like human beings, because they signify the very human process by which they are awarded.

Finally, JA at MY NEW PLAID PANTS has begun to announce his annual Golden Trousers honors which includes "moments of awesomeness" like this one from Sofia Coppola's Somewhere...

My favorite part of SOMEWHERE

They're always good wacky fun to be had peering into JA's inimitable fever-addled brain.

Red Carpet: Matchy-Matchy, Swans & Sweet Revenge

Previously: SAG live blog and SAG screen shots.

Final SAG Post!
Aren't you relieved? When people say the verb "sag" do you think automatically think of unionized actors? Glam Overload especially after that Vanity Fair cover. But we can't wrap up SAG discussions without a quick fashion run-through, can we? It wouldn't be right. I'm dying to talk about actual movies again. Funny how movie awards season shoves the movies into the background. Must watch some actual movies that don't have awards on their mind this week so that we can better appreciate all the sleek beauties and shiny gowns again by BAFTA & Oscar time.

Amber Riley, Paz de la Huerta, Angie Harmon, Throwback Goddess

Too Matchy-Matchy
Let's start with the TV girls because we never do and this was their last chance in the season to shine. This group is way too frustrating. I didn't know that Amber Riley (Glee) was rooming with Julia Stiles. How else to explain this saloon girl in mourning gown that we just saw at the Globes. Angie Harmon is wearing something that's very suspiciously Penélope Cruzesque and if you're not Penélope... Christina Hendricks remains a goddess but I don't know what to make of this.

Paz de la Huerta from Boardwalk Empire... matching lips with dress? Must she? Is that ever a good idea outside of maybe classic reds and even then. A little bit of red goes a long way. Aren't you glad other actresses didn't do this?

BEST DRESSED (TV Division)
Cara Buono (Mad Men), Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Edie Falco (Edie Falco!), Juliana Margulies (The Good Wife), Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)

The Pretty. The Unexpected. The Vivid. The Classy. The Va Va VoomLove that Bowen managed to pull off pants at a glam event; risky means big pay off if it works. When Modern Family first started I worried that Julie Bowen would have the boring "straight man" role among comediennes but...

(more after the jump including Best Dressed and the Black Swan girls)

Click to read more ...

Say What, Winona?

Amuse us by adding dialogue or caption to this tete a tete between Black Swan's Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey at a SAG party.

Noni & Babs at SAG after party

You know you want to!

Vanity Fair 2011: "The Young and Beautiful"

Cover shot by Norma Jean Roy

The annual Hollywood Issue cover of Vanity Fair has been revealed with. It's called "The Young and Beautiful"

After the jump I've broken it down into sections so you can see it more clearly... still waiting for a super hi-res version though you can see a fairly good image at Vanity Fair's site. But nothing hi-res enough to print or see faces beautifully large. VF's site links are  malfunctioning so you can't yet read about the making of the cover just yet.

But here's blown up images for you... I'm a giver.

Click to read more ...