Joseph Gordon-Levitt Doo Doos

Today in overachieving adorableness, Joseph Gordon-Levitt sang with his mommy over at hitRECord, to mark his birthday. He says:

it was 30 years ago today, my mom started cleaning up my doo doos

He hints that fans should remix their harmonized birthday doo-doo'ing. I imagine someone(s) will take him up on it, given the online devotion.

Up next for JGL: It's quite a full slate. There's Hesher, a Sundance 2010 drama offering that's finally getting a release this spring; September's Live With It, a comedy about cancer with a great cast including Anna Kendrick and Angelica Huston; Premium Rush an action movie about a bike messenger that's aiming for January 2012; Looper his sci-fi tinged reunion with his Brick director Rian Johnson; and then a micro-indie called The Dark Knight Rises. I believe there's a kickstarter campaign you can donate to somewhere.

On a scale of 1-10, where are you in JG-L fandom?

Hesher (still); on the set of Live With It; on the set of Premium Rush

What would you give JG-L for his big day?

Academy Presenters & Our Annual Academy Nudging

Will Anne & Hugh sing together again this year?UPDATED WITH NEW PRESENTERS
We're getting so close to the big night. Here's who we know will be lighting up the Oscar stage on February 27th thus far for various reasons, mostly as presenters.

Alphabetically speaking...

• Annette Bening
• Halle Berry
• Cate Blanchett NEW
• Russell Brand NEW
• Jeff Bridges
• Sandra Bullock
• Celine Dion (perforrming) NEW
• Robert Downey Jr.
• Florence and the Machine (performing)
• James Franco (host)
• Tom Hanks
• Anne Hathaway (host)
• Hugh Jackman
• Nicole Kidman
• Jude Law
• Zachary Levi (performing)
• Alan Menken (performing)
• Helen Mirren NEW
• Mandy Moore (performing)
• Randy Newman (performing)
• Gwyneth Paltrow (performing)
• A.R. Rahman (performing)
• Marisa Tomei
• Oprah Winfrey
• Reese Witherspoon NEW

Some of those names are gimmes of course. We all knew this time last year that Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges would be asked back and more power to them. They're fun celebrities and completely worthy of our collective eyeballs. The inclusion of both Marisa Tomei and Jude Law fills my heart with joy. Not only because I love them both but because they belong to that small class of celebrity that are far more famous and far more talented than people ever remember them to be. When people (i.e. Academy producers) think on the Household Name set, they don't often go to this unique group of perpetual surprises like... 'oh yeah, THEM, love!' As we've seen in several previous years, the Academy is loathe to have only mildly famous people on the stage unless there is a very very specific reason that they're there (usually performing or because they won an Oscar the previous year.) They'd rather have someone who has no business being equated with the movies who happens to be very famous than someone like Pedro Almodovar or who contributes so much to the cinema.

When they announced the Hallowed name of Hanks two weeks back my heart sank a little. Not only because it's so so predictable but because I immediately assumed that that meant "Best Picture" and as I've stated annually and will continue to state annually in the absurd hope that someone in the Academy will listen just once, they really and truly need to break out of their ruts when bestowing this particular honor. Other awards shows sometimes throw a curveball or allow a woman to do it but the Academy is notoriously samey-samey in regards to Best Picture, regularly choosing the same people year after year hoping perhaps that their dwindling viewing audience will be so comatose with boredom that they are physically unable to change the channel.

Herewith a completely sensible generous reminder /suggestion list of Household Names that have never had the honor so how the hell you gonna have Nicholson-Hanks-Streisand-Spielberg do it AGAIN? There's no excuse for such laziness when Hollywood has abundant glitterati available!

THEY'VE NEVER PRESENTED BEST PICTURE

Kidman, Cruise and Streep at the Oscars in the 1990s. None have ever presented Best Picture.

• Meryl Streep
• Jane Fonda
  
• Michelle Pfeiffer 
• Julia Roberts
• Nicole Kidman
• Tom Cruise
• Kate Winslet & Leonardo DiCaprio
• Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
  
• Dame Maggie Smith (give the Harry Potter fans, the anglophiles, the Oscar buffs and the cinephiles a thrill! You've covered a lot of audience base there.)
• Goldie Hawn
• Jodie Foster & Anthony Hopkins (20th reunion of Silence of the Lambs, why not?)
• Will Smith
• George Clooney
• Liza Minnelli
• Drew Barrymore
• Johnny Depp
• Susan Sarandon
• Matt Damon with Ben Affleck

George & Julia have never presented Best Pic either.I could go on. But do I need to? The point is Step Away from the Nicholsons, Hanks, Spielbergs and Streisands who have all done it multiple times.

ENOUGH.

(P.S. My guess as to who it's going to be? I think Michael Douglas. He's done it before and they love the repeats. He'll be a sentimental favorite.)

Link in Sixty Seconds

Carpetbagger Oscar envelopes get a makeover. Er... it looks like McDonalds is handing out the prizes.
AV Club Michel Gondry is adapting Philip K Dick's Ubik. I predict that before the end of civilization every sentence Philip K Dick ever wrote will be put on the big screen.
The Wrap Adrianne Palicki will be TV's next Wonder Woman. I wish nothing but happiness and success for everyone who has ever been on Friday Night Lights. I do.
Just Jared another collaboration for Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. They just won't stop!
i09 Zach Snyder's Superman may be in trouble.
fourfour "wagon wheel watusi" Oh, Burlesque.
My New Plaid Pants the moment I fell for.... Andrew Garfield
Scott Feinberg is still pushing Melissa Leo for the gold. Here are some statistics to consider.

Finally Empire Online is hosting a "Done in 60 Seconds" contest in which readers have submitted one minute films spoofing some of hte greatest movies of all time. There are 20 finalists, one is even made by a regular Film Experience reader (who alerted me to the contest -Congrats!). Quite a few of them show real ingenuity but my favorites are the ones that don't merely recreate but remold the film in some other image. There's a spoof of The Terminator that cleverly uses Toy Story characters. It obviously cost nothing but, then, neither did the original Terminator. Ghost is similarly lowfi with teddy bears but totally works and I loved the voicework even if it did seem to be taking its cue from those 30 second bunny films.  The Wizard of Oz short is really more of a redo of a trailer of a hugely popular 90s movie (I'll leave you to guess which one). And there's two Social Network films. One of them (contestant #9) is an amusing send up of Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher rather than the movie itself.

Did you like Benjamin Button? Do you wanna go back to that?

It totally had me giggling. The last musical cue is hilarious. So, that's the one I voted for. Are you going to vote?

The Interviews, Goddesses and Craftsmen Alike

A big "thank you" to readers who commented on the recent spate of interviews here at The Film Experience. We don't do too many of them but you've been quite complimentary about the ones you do get. If time allows and other variables improve this year we'll do more for 2011. But in case you missed any of the interviews covering the 2010 film year, here's the rundown:

AND THE OSCAR NOMINATION GOES TO...

Jenny Beavan, Costume Designer, (The King's Speech)
Roger Deakins, Cinematographer (True Grit)
Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, Editors (The Social Network)
Eve Stewart, Production Designer (The King's Speech)
Jacki Weaver, Actress (Animal Kingdom)

...FROM THE OLD BLOG: Four of Nathaniel's 100 favorite actresses in one calendar year? Too rich! And a couple of talented men for good measure.

Kirsten Dunst, Actress (All Good Things)
Alexander Desplat, Composer (The Ghost Writer, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
Javier Fuentes-Leon, Director (Contracorriente aka Undertow)
Juliette Lewis, Actress (Conviction)
Patricia Clarkson, Actress (Cairo Time)
Julianne Moore, Actress (The Kids Are All Right)

Beloveds: Juliette, Patty, God and Kiki

Who should we pursue relentlessly in 2011 until they're on the phone or grabbing a cup of joe?
Which Old Hollywood legend would you like to hear from?

"Chan" Tatum

Do any of you read GQ? I can't say that I read any magazine religiously anymore (my how things change) but I read this cover story. It's one of those celebrity profiles that makes you wonder why the star's personality offscreen doesn't transfer more to the silver screen.

One of the problems with The Eagle (full review) I think is that Channing Tatum is so serious in it that there's not a lot of tones to vary the star turn. Except, that is, for the tail end in which he cracks a smile and it suddenly feels like a different movie entirely. And one set in 2011 no less. But my point is that he sounds funny and loose and uninhibited in person -- here and elsewhere -- if not quite "wild" as the cover suggests and those things don't seem to be transferring to his performances.

I'm hoping some director can tap into this other engaging fun side of him in a future performance. But unless a male actor is a genius and adds lots of colors on their own to their performances, Hollywood rarely asks for the kind of emotive range from them that it regularly expects of the women. So for now masculine good looks and the ability to hold the camera will have to do.

Maybe his team is keeping him to buttoned up? I don't mean that literally since he still takes his shirt off with generous frequency. On his stripper past for example he says.

"I had wanted to tell people. I'm not ashamed of it. I don't regret one thing. I'm not a person who hides shit."

I'm not sure his people will be pleased with the copious alcohol imbibing in the article, but his delight in giving the journalist plenty of crazed details to work with is pretty funny. As is his virtual boasting at the article's end that the interviewer is not going to find a celebrity to top him any time soon.

More photos here.  I totally want this striped shirt so the advertisement (aka the photoshoot) worked its consumerist magic.