Red Carpet Convo: Glamour Casual, Festival Orgy, Namesake Pets

Nathaniel: It says "Jose is busy. You may be interrupting."
Jose: I'm lying about my status.
Nathaniel: Pants on fire! You are never too busy for fashion. This week's red carpet lineup is kind of scattershot. That's how I feel right now with four festivals seemingly happening simultaneously this week.
Jose: That we know of. Film festivals are the Starbucks of the movie world.
Nathaniel: One for every zip code. 

Nathaniel: So...this first batch is a mix of Deauville (Kate Bosworth, Shirley Maclaine, Emma Stone), Venice (Keira Knightley) and a regular ol' boring premiere somewhere (Marion Cotillard). 
Jose: I recognize the dress so it was NYC.
Nathaniel: See. I'm not even here I've already fled town mentally if not physically... yet.
Jose: I have always wondered how movie stars lose their baby fat so freaking fast. What has Marion been eating after petit Marcel was born?
Nathaniel: She's no longer eating for 2 but ‪½ ... actresses, you know.
Jose: Hopefully Guillaume is feeding the wee lad tons of baguettes and souffles but then again said baby isn't the face of Dior and Mommy is.

Nathaniel: Kate Bosworth eats for ‪⅕ so lets start with‬ her. 
Jose: lol. Remind me again, why is she famous for?
Nathaniel: I can't remember... OH the worst Lois Lane. And a surfer movie, I think.
Jose: Oh true. Also for bicolored eyes and for dating Alexander Skarsgård. 
Nathaniel: If you have to live on next to nothing there are worse things to nibble on.
Jose: She's totally doing a Pam face. He should get her a gig on his show.

Nathaniel: I think this dress is kind of pretty but she is soooo tiny and the dress so delicate that it gives the impression that the tiniest gust of wind -- even something as little as the wind currents coming off another speeding luminary passing her on the red carpet -- would all but knock her over.  
Jose: Kate is pretty but god am I bored trying to say something about her.
Nathaniel: So let's talk about Shirley Maclaine. She was there to be honored for her entire career. I think they showed the ballet epic The Turning Point (1977) of all things. This outfit looks appropriate glitzy and shiny and I love Shirley Maclean Beaty but how can she not afford a better wig? 
Jose: lol. Blame her colorist? This totally reminds me of that Sex and the City episode when Samantha follows her ex BF in disguise wearing a wig from the Raquel Welch collection.

The Many (Great) Faces of Shirley Maclaine

Nathaniel: Jose, it needs to be asked. In the cable system of your mind, are Sex & The City repeats running on like 400 of the 1000 stations? 
Jose: No, but Shirley and I both own the DVDs.
Nathaniel: Anyway, she looks really happy and she certainly deserves lifetime achievement plaudits. It's really a wonder to me that more young actresses don't hold her up as an icon. Her career was stellar, longlasting, and full of interesting movies and classic. And there are so many pixie types. But I guess none of them have a personality even remotely as large as hers. Which is maybe the problem. You can be merely elegant and fashionable and pretend you're the next Audrey Hepburn and people will go along with it for 5 minutes but to try Shirley Maclaine...
Jose: Amen. Anne Hathaway maybe when she grows up? 

Nathaniel: So Emma Stone. Stunning again. This color is gahsome on her. But I have to say... I still don't have a bead on her personal style at all. 
Jose: Her style is "Go with the greatest working designers and blow mortals' expectations every single time."
Nathaniel: Way to narrow it down.
Jose: Remember when I complained about Kate Winslet's structural obsession *fashion nerd alert*?
Nathaniel: Yes?
Jose: Well Emma is doing it right. She went with Roland Mouret, known the world over for his love of structure BUT he does structure with delicacy.
Nathaniel: I'm assuming "the world over" meaning "fashion nerd world"?

KEIRA, GWYNETH, "GLAMOUR CASUAL" and JOSE'S DOGGIE (!!!) AFTER THE JUMP.

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Review: "Beginners"

Have you ever found yourself wincing in premonitory fear that a gay character or theme will be mishandled by filmmakers or actors? Set those worries aside when approaching the expressive charming BEGINNERS. Though the story about a lonely bachelor artist Oliver (Ewan McGregor) and his newly-out dying father Hal (Christopher Plummer) is fictionalized, it has the stamp of the exquisitely personal about it. It's handmade, in other words, never to be mistaken for a movie made by committee. Writer/director Mike Mills' (Thumbsucker) own father came out of the closet when he was in his thirties and the film is an obviously loving tribute from son to father.

Gay characters in the movies are sometimes little more than caricatures and depictions still largely fall into "types". Older gay men have it especially rough in media representations; if they aren't altogether invisible they're desexualized or depicted as lonely and pitiable. Beginners won't have it like that. One could argue that it's practically heroic in its willful embrace of wholly human characters, no matter their age or sexual preference. Hal is played with lively curiousity by Christopher Plummer with that customary dark twinkle in his eye. It's actually brilliant casting since Ewan McGregor is such a kindred spirit when it comes to those mischievous undercurrents...

Read the Full Review @ Towleroad

50½ Thoughts on 101 Dalmatians

Woof! Guess which Disney classic is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year?

Yep, that's One Hundred and One Dalmatians which debuted fifty years back, January 25th of 1961 to be exact. Let's discuss with 50½ quick thoughts as 101 would send most of you clicking immediately away. The Film Experience shan't ask that much of your patience though perhaps you could share the article with 3½ friends if you enjoy it, or leave 1½ comments behind before you go. The more the merrier, you know? And doesn't the movie wag its plentiful tail at that very motto?!

01 The first charming thing is its sketchy, spotty, doggy opening credit sequence. It's a prime candidate for "Art of the Title Sequence" if only they'd do more classics.

02 The movie was released in the early 60s and takes place in London. I can't think of another animated Disney feature off the top of my head that's this British but then,  "The British Invasion" was just around the corner so maybe America's Anglophilimaniac phase was already in the air in the late 50s when Disney started storyboarding this feature?

03 One can't help but notice the immediate resemblance to the palette and cityscapes for Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist.

04 Pongo, the first (of many) dalmatian narrates and refers to Roger as "my pet". Animated movies have anthropomorphized animals since the creation of the form but one wonders when people started joking about the inner lives of animals? Maybe Adam & Eve even chuckled about how bossy the garden creatures were?

05 Though the movie feels more leisurely than today's animated features, from its opening frame, it's giving you the narrative and characterizations pretty quickly.

06 Pongo wants Roger to settle down. The scene where he's judging human/dog pairs from the window is like one of those now cliché comic audition scenes where you see a few obviously unsuitable candidates before you get to the real goods, the final auditioner, the one you're supposed to root for.

07 Poll Time.

poll by twiigs.com

08 If you give it more than a second's thought you realize it's an odd cliché since it doesn't really occur in real life. You can take it from someone who used to do corporate recruiting. You can't really stop the auditions as soon as you love someone. There are these pesky things called politeness, appointments, and bosses who'd like a few options later on. Sometimes you end with a real dud, not the superstar! And it's not true of dating either. Most people don't settle down with the first person that isn't totally unsuitable ;)

09 Although maybe it's truthy for cutthroat Hollywood? Perhaps casting directors boot out every starving actor in the hallway as soon as they get their first wow?

10 This post: Too fancy? Much too fancy?

11 The pan around Roger's apartment is so evocative, funny, super detailed and gorgeous. It's busy and messy and bachelor chaos without being overbearing. Those background painters really outdid themselves back in the day.

12 This post is set to publish at 5:14 by Pongo's request.

13 If you haven't left work yet maybe you should right now? The weekend is upon you. Take your furry friend for a long walk in the park.

14 Wait, do you even have a dog?

15 Poll time.

poll by twiigs.com

16 How adorable is it that Pongo talks like a dog when he's with humans and we only get the translation with the animal-only scenes. The sound work is pretty strong. You can actually distinguish between the "voices". The movie is full of strong line bark deliveries.

17 The heavy ink lines around the characters are a thing of the past. When I was a little kid I bought "how to animation" books and I remember that the ink lines had something to do with the outlines for cel animation being one job and the painting of color being another entirely. Different people did different jobs though I don't remember what the various positions were actually called although one was named "inbetweeners" I think, which is such a great job title. In some scenes the heavy ink lines are much more prominent than others which I can't quite figure. Was it a quickie production? Did it change hands? Were there different teams for the different "chapters" of the movie? Any Disney historians reading?

18 Is this one of the best "meet cutes" in film history? Pongo wraps the leash around the humans and sends them tumbling into the pond. Pongo thinks it is. He's very proud. It's a sly move and he gets his own wife (Perdita) in the bargain. There's a double wedding... and soon Perdita has 15 buns in her oven.

19 Speaking of ovens... "Nanny" is the stock plump "help" Disney character -- it's like they don't even redesign them at all between movies but for their clothes -- but she's adorable.

Read the full post. THAT DEVIL WOMAN is coming right up.

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Javier Bardem. His Lips Are Busy!

Sunday February 13th was quite the awards jam. Nicole Kidman was jamming to Katy Perry at the Grammys, Helena Bonham Carter was being crowned at BAFTA, and Javier Bardem was in Madrid winning The Goya to add to his huge statue haul.

Does Penélope Cruz know where his lips have been? He loves to kiss his trophies.

Javiin 2011 with his Goya; Javi in 2008 with his Oscar

'Oh to be a slab of stone / gold plating!' shriek millions of fans in unison.

Javier has won plentiful awards over the years for his in arguable screen presence and acting gift: one Oscar, one BAFTA, one Golden Globe, one Spirit Award, one "actor" from SAG, one NBR, two Volpi cups from Venice, two European Film Awards, two Gothams, two ADIRCAEs (no, I don't know what that is either) and numerous critics prizes. But it's at the Goyas, the Spanish Oscars, where he reigns supreme. His performance in  Biutiful marks his fifth win. Fifth! He's won Best Actor thrice previously (Boca a Boca, Mondays in the Sun, and the Oscar winning The Sea Inside) and Best Supporting Actor once (Días Contados, 1994). His latest win is so fresh that IMDb hasn't even updated his awards page.  How to keep up with him?

My favorite red carpet look at the Goyas (I'd do a lineup but good full body photos are hard to come by) is this one to your left. Dressing your doggie up in a tux for your big night? Brilliant. The  night's big winner was the post civil war family drama Pa Negre (Black Bread). Some art house distrib really ought to snatch it up if it's this good.

Goya Winners
Film: Black Bread
Director: Agusti Villaronga (Black Bread)
Original Screenplay: (Buried)
Adapted Screenplay: Agusti Villaronga (Black Bread)
Actor: Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Actress: Nora Navas (Black Bread)
Supporting Actor: Karra Elejalde (Also the Rain)  
Supporting Actress: Laia Marull (Black Bread)
Promising Actor: Francesc Colomer (Black Bread)
Promising Actress: Marina Comas (Black Bread)
European Film: The King's Speech
full list of winners

Some art house distributor really ought to snatch Black Bread up if it's this good. Here's the trailer. Warning: contains both brief nudity and less brief very disturbing animal death.

And here's Javier being interviewed on the Red Carpet. I didn't understand a word except that the reporter obviously brings up the fact that he chose to come to the Goyas instead of going to the BAFTAs. And Bardem is all smiles about it. Film Experience contributor Jose and others on Twitter (thanks guys) tell me that Javier made a bet with the reporter that if he wins the Oscar, he'll do a weather report as a musical number. Quick Oscar voters, switch your votes to Bardem! ;)

Have any Spanish readers seen this one yet? Do tell if you have.
Would you take your dog to the Oscars? They do love long walks and some red carpets are interminable treks.