My name is Andy and Kate Winslet is my favorite actress.
From the moment I saw her walk across the rain-drenched moors to see Willoughby's house in Sense and Sensibility, I was hooked. (I watched that movie nearly once a week in high school - a fact I mentioned to her years later when I met her.) After catching up with her mesmerizing film debut in Heavenly Creatures and seeing her follow-ups to Sense and Sensibility, 1996's Jude and Hamlet, there was no question in my mind; Kate Winslet was the greatest actress of her generation. I wasn't the only one that thought so. [More...]
French Toast Sunday 5 best summer movies? Confession: I have never seen Crooklyn but always wanted to. Gawker on Cher's wiggy performance on The Voice The Local did you hear this story about how a French teacher an 11 year-old class Saw? WTF? At least pick a classic horror with artistic historical merit. Guardian the next Star Wars sequels are looking for a teenage female lead? Whoa. I guess Hunger Games and Twilight are even more influential than they appear to be
VarietyMiss Saigon is returning to the boards but I'm personally still curious as to why the movie version has never happened? My New Plaid Pants the three things you need to see from the Anchorman 2 trailer Los Angeles Times Show Tracker the women of Mad Men speak about the impending end Film Flare awww, I had totally forgotten about "Elizabeth Taylor" on Sex & the City The Cinematic Katzenjammer Shailene Woodley cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (ahem, 5). What, no Mary Jane? Seems odd to cut her just as her star is rising Empire speaking of which. Here's more on her Hunger Games which is called Divergent Hark, A Vagrant! takes on The Secret Garden
On Leo... Awards Daily asks why Leonardo DiCaprio is so often ignored by the Academy (brought on by TheWolf of Wall Street trailer). I know he has many devout fans and I am often criticized for not adoring him wholeheartedly these days but I disagree (and muchly) with the notion that his work has improved with age. I still think he has beautiful moments in several of his recent star turns but as a whole from film to film he is not pushing himself and is deeply repetitive in his acting choices (not just in the surface role similarities I've mocked like his run through The Dead Wives Club).
But I harbor no illusions that the Academy shares my opinion of his gift...
I think it's as simple as this: Leading Men who are considered beautiful always have to fight harder for Oscar love. That's all there is to it (well, that and them preferring five other people each time he's missed out). Paul Newman and Jeff Bridges, two of the best screen actors of all time, didn't win until their 60s and Leo isn't nearly that good! Plus he's only 38 years old. Leo has the same amount of acting nominations as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp and the similarities are instantly noticeable, aren't they? Good looking marquee value men who are often viewed as STARS first, ACTORS second (whether or not that's an accurate description). I have no doubt Leo will eventually win -- and I think nominations will be much easier to come by in his 40s after whatever hiatus he plans to take -- but I think if it doesn't happen for him with Wolf, he'll have to wait until at least his mid40s and possibly much longer as many desirable leading men have had to in the past. I'm not sure why everyone expects the rules to be different for this one actor. The question of why not yet is as simple as the male dominated Oscar's completely obvious binary gender standards: they usually like to award female actors for being young and hot and, to some extent, new; and they usually like to award male actors for their bodies of work when they have stood the test of time (and are less sexually threatening).
This Sunday... Oooh, I totally wanna watch this. Oprah is talking to four black actresses on their unique struggles in Hollywood on her new network. (Do I even get this network? I do not know)
Alfre Woodard (that's enough right there!), Viola Davis (YES), Phyllicia Rashad (makes sense) and Gabrielle Union (Bring it!) which is a classy lineup, don'cha think?
The Broadway Blog reviews Smash's "Bombshell" CD and Megan Hilty's solo album "It Happens All The Time" Blouin Art Info Christopher Doyle, one our our favorite DPs who ought to have plentiful Oscar noms by now but has none is disgusted with the Academy for continually choosing visual fx heavy movies in the cinematography category (we heartily agree that it's a huge "how is that cinematography?" problem) Bryan Singer behold the cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past. I'm happy that Fan Bingbing is in it but who on earth will she be playing? The Guardian will Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby spark a 20s deco & flapper revival?
Empire The cast of Divergent, a female led dystopian sci-fi drama (yes, they are a dime a dozen these days thanks to Hunger Games - Divergent's jacket cover even purposefully tries to look like a Hunger Games sequel) is coming together with Theo James & Aaron Eckhart joining to support Shailene Woodley in the lead Empire (again) Willow's Warwick Davis gets his own podcast to celebrate the anniversary of that fantasy landmark /Film apparently Ennio Morriconne is not as big of a fan of Quentin Tarantino as the director is of him Salon on Justin Timberlake's week-long media blitz WSJ on the return of the beard with male celebrities -- no, not that kind! -- and with civilians, too. i09 argues that historical anachronisms are better at recreating history than historical reenactments in movies. Via A Knight's Tale
Monday, February 3, 2014 at 1:15PM 
