Drag Race: Big Opening Pt 2

Sorry this is so many days late! I promised we'd play along this year. And by play along I don't mind dress up in drag while typing but you can't see me so you'll never know but weekly posts on the best reality show on television (the Emmys sure are missing the boat float with their exceedingly conventional and stale nominations). Unfortunately "The Big Opening Part 2" which brough us another set of 7 queens, was much less cinematic in its shout-outs, so I made one up myself: Darienne Lake and June Squibb have the same designer. Pass it on!

 

Oh. my. god. Revelation as I typed: June Squibb would make the best Guest Judge on this show. Make that happen, Ru.

Not that no queens were compared to queens of the screen. Milk was told to "flash that Lauren Hutton smile" and Trinity K Bonet decided to go with 'something between Star Wars and Buckingham Palace for her look, citing Princess Leia as inspiration. The actual runway look skipped that generation and went straight for Princess Amidala. It worked for the judges.  

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"Nominations for Everyone!" - Saturn Awards

I maintain that a lot of "special interest" awards bodies would instantly be more respectable if they'd limit their number of nominations in a category. The Saturn Awards, who've been handing out prizes for sci-fi/fantasy/horror films for 40 years now, are one such group. When you narrow your field of eligibility -- as all special interest awards bodies must to still fit within their special interest boundaries -- why then should your nominee list be larger than the standard model (that'd be Oscar. pay attention). Despite what seems like a neverending barrage of pictures released that are catering to the comic-con community, there are actually less movies like that than those that are eligible for other prizes which only have "release date" as criteria. And yet the Saturn Awards feel the need to have six-seven nominees in all the acting categories and multiple Best Picture awards. If you combine all of their Best Film categories, they have 34 Best Picture nominees! though Gravity and The Hobbit: The Smaugening are the nomination leaders.

It must be so insulting for any picture that was not nominated... though I can't think of any that weren't offhand. Hundreds of nominations with brief grumpy commentary are after the jump. 

Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture:
“Iron Man 3″
“Man of Steel”
“Thor: The Dark World”
“The Wolverine”

The only snubbee I can think of here is Blue is the Warmest Color but those lesbians have no superpowers beyond very limber bodies and the ability to eat huge amounts of food without gaining a pound. 

30 more Best Picture nods after the jump...

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Tues Top Ten: Sex and the City Episodes

Jose here to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the end of Sex and the City. That's right, this weekend marked a whole decade since that last time we tuned in to HBO for a new episode. In the ten years since it went off the air, the show has inspired a myriad of copycats that ranged from the terrible (hello Lipstick Jungle) to the wonderful (hi Girls), as well as more think pieces than you can shake a stick at. And while the popularity of the Cosmopolitan as a drink of choice, has completely dwindled (what are successful women drinking nowadayas?), elements of the show's lingo and their bits of wisdom ("he's just not that into you") have become part of our daily life.

I am very aware that many people out there absolutely loathe the show but as a teenager I dreamt of nothing more than moving to NYC and pursuing a writing career like Carrie Bradshaw. I also dreamt of quitting cigarettes, finding a wonderful apartment and a great man to go with it. During the decade the show's been off the air I made some of those dreams come true and the following Top Ten is a celebration for those who, like me, found their inner "fabulous" because of this show.

READ THE TOP TEN SEX AND THE CITY  AFTER THE JUMP!

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Drag Race "The Sixening": Half a Premiere

Each year I think about covering RuPaul's Drag Race, so I'm finally doing it. Like Mad Men (and I bet this is the only time you'll hear them compared!) it's awash in fun movie references. Highlights from the past have included Raja's bucket of blood Carrie dress to Raven's "I'm giving Michelle Pfeiffer bitch" to Jinkx Monsoon's Grey Gardens fetish to Tammie Brown's demented Old Hollywood persona to numerous truly terrible movie star impersonations (I've never seen a worse Marilyn or Joan Crawford, for example, than this show has provided) and so on. I know. I know. It's the sixth season, "the sixening". The library is open if you'd like to read me because these books are overdue!

Four movie references to start us off... 

During the mini-challenge, a photoshoot where the queens lept across boob-tube color bars to a pile of foam below sees rubber limbed LaGanja Estranja compared to Goldie Hawn in Overboard. "I get that a lot," she said awkwardly pulling herself out of the foam. Laganga is obviously not in Goldie's comic league but, to be fair, Goldie Hawn did look like a drag queen in Overboard... 

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25 Years Since "She's dead... Wrapped in plastic!"

Diane, 11:30 AM, February 24. Entering town of Twin Peaks. Five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line. Never seen so many trees in my life. As W.C. Fields would say, I'd rather be here than Philadelphia. It's 54 degrees on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Weatherman said rain. If you could get paid that kind of money for being wrong 60% of the time it'd beat working. Mileage is 79,345, gauge is on reserve, I'm riding on fumes, have to tank up when I get into town, remind me to tell you how much that is. Lunch was $6.31 at the Lamplighter Inn, that's on Highway 2 near Lewis Fork. That was a tuna fish sandwich on whole wheat and a slice of cherry pie and a cup of coffee. Damn good food. And if you ever get up this way, Diane, that cherry pie is worth a stop."

If you're like me and are a bit of a Twin Peaks nerd, then today is a big day. It has been exactly 25 years to the day since Laura Palmer was murdered, to be found some hours later amidst the lonesome sound of a foghorn, wrapped in plastic and washed ashore on a pebble beach in the town of Twin Peaks. Furthermore, just three days ago on the 21st was the 25th anniversary of David Lynch and company starting directing the scene. Although the famous pilot episode (which I maintain is better than 99.9% of films released before or since) wouldn't air for another year in April of 1990, it's February 24, 1989 that Twin Peaks mythology tells us is the day everything changed.

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