Actors Love "Tootsie". And Other Discoveries

By now you've surely seen Time Out's "100 Best Movies" list. The hook and unusual angle is that the list is comprised solely from ballots of actors. Actors are famously impressionable of course so you get embarrassing things like the barely-out-of-the-oven Whiplash (2014) as one of the 100 best movies of all time but it's still an interesting list. #1 is not your usual Citizen Kane/Vertigo type deal (only one of those two makes the list) but is awarded to the classic comedy Tootsie (1982).

(And, no, we had no intention of posting two Tootsie related articles within the same 24 hours -- don't miss this piece on The Americans since we wanna know what you think of this new series idea -- but blogging can surprise you.)

The complete Time Out 100 list and 10 discoveries after the jump...

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200 Oldest Living Screen Stars of Note

The list is updated and now located here. 

Halfway: Top Ten (Thus Far) and Best of Miscellania

½way mark - part 7 of 9
It's list time. [cue catchy as yet unwritten TFE jingle here]. We're nearly done with our "halfway mark - year in review" festivities so here is the top ten pictures and a few more Oscar-ish lists for good measure this fine Tuesday.

Top Ten (Thus Far)
in order of official release in 2015

-You know there are people in this world who go on first dates that are perfectly fine and then they wait awhile before they engage sexually.

-That's disgusting."

Appropriate Behavior (USA) d. Desiree Akhavan 
Jan 16th (Screened in January 2014)
Laugh out loud funny and encouragingly specific, it's a shame this Iranian American LGBT romantic comedy didn't break out bigger. It's available for full as a purchase/rental on YouTube.

Shhhh."

'71 (UK) d. Yann Demange.
Feb 27th (Screened in September 2014)
One of the scariest movies I've ever seen, full stop. Jack O'Connell wholly believable as a soldier abandoned in the projects during The Troubles, terrified for his life. 

Of Horses and Men (Iceland) d. Benedikt Erlingsson
Mar 11th (Screened in November 2013 - Iceland's 2013 Oscar Submission) 
It only took a year and half to make it to the States, but this extremely strange tragicomedy (?) about men and their horses is totally memorable. Somehow, despite expert direction and a unique fully formed sensibility, it's a debut feature?!?

7 more pictures after the jump...

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Happy Nicole Kidman Day !

Proposal: Since Australia (grew up there, family and friends) and the US (born in Honolulu, lives in Nashville) share the one and only Nicole Kidman with citizenship and residence, a national holiday won't do. We propose an International Nicole Kidman Day, each June 20th to mark the birthday of one of the big screen's bravest and best and most beautiful.

Herewith a few lists to mark the day...

SIGNATURE WORK
The roles with which she'll arguably always be most associated

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001) -which speaks to her bonafide movie-star charisma
2. The Hours (2002) -which boldly underlined her cool (divisive) persona and intelligence
3. To Die For (1995) -her breakthrough and which initially and ungenerously clung to her rapid rise as a star on another star's arm

BRAVEST PERFORMANCE

1. The Paperboy (2012) - the psychic sex, the skanky past her prime makeup, the death wish
2. Birth (2004) - "you're a little liar, aren't you?"
3. Dogville (2003) -Here are some chalk lines, hyper stylized dialogue, and precious tchotchkes. Action!

SEXIEST PERFORMANCE

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
2. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
3. Batman Forever (1995)
4. To Die For (1995)
5. The Paperboy (2012)

FUNNIEST PERFORMANCE

1. To Die For (1995)
2. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
3. Herself... on talk shows

MOST AWARDS LOVE

1. The Hours (2002) - Oscar & Globe & BAFTA & Silver Bear wins, SAG nom
2. Moulin Rouge! (2001) - Globe & MTV win, Oscar, SAG & AACTA noms
3. To Die For (1995) - Globe & BFCA win, BAFTA nom
4. Rabbit Hole (2010) - Oscar, Globe & SAG noms
5. The Paperboy (2012) - Globe & SAG & AACTA noms

IT'S ALL IN A NAME 

1. "Grace" 3 characters: The Others (1995), Dogville (2003), Grace of Monaco (2014)
2. "Isabel" 2 characters: Bewitched (2005) and Portrait of a Lady (1996)
3. "Julia" 2 characters: Wills & Burke (1985) and The Peacemaker (1997)

BIGGEST GLOBAL HITS
*Movies that were far far more successful overseas than in the US

1. The Golden Compass (2005) $372* 
2. Batman Forever (1995) $336
3. Paddington (2015) $259*
4. Just Go With It (2011) $214
5. Australia (2008) $211*
6. The Others (2001) $209
7. Moulin Rouge! (2001) $179*
8. Cold Mountain (2003) $173
9. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) $162* 
10. Days of Thunder (1990) $157 

MOST COMMON ONSCREEN PROFESSIONS

1. Actress - 4 roles: Grace of Monaco, Nine, Bewitched, Moulin Rouge!)
2. Writer - 4 roles: Margot at the Wedding, The Hours, Hemingway & Gelhorn, Genius)
3. Reluctant Sexworker (or thereabouts) - 3 roles: Moulin Rouge!'s whore, Birthday Girl's mail order bride, Far and Away's temporary burlesque dancer)
4. Psychiatrist - 2 roles: The Invasion, Batman Forever
5. Boss Lady Who Moonlights in Kidnapping - 2 roles: The Golden Compass, Paddington

MOST FREQUENT CO-STARS

1. Tom Cruise (Marriage + 3 films: Far and Away, Days of Thunder, Eyes Wide Shut)
2. Colin Firth (3 films: Before I Go To Sleep, The Railway Man, and the forthcoming Genius)
   [tied with] David Wenham (3 films: Australia, Moulin Rouge! and the forthcoming Lion) 
3. Jude Law (2 films: Cold Mountain, and the forthcoming Genius)
   [tied with] Ben Mendelsohn (2 films: Australia, Trespass), Daniel Craig (2 films: The Invasion, The Golden Compass), and Dianne Wiest (2 films: Practical Magic and Rabbit Hole)

WHAT WE'D LIKE TO GIVE HER FOR HER BIRTHDAY

1. More of whatever makes her happy
2. One more classic as beloved as Moulin Rouge! or as Oscar-honored as The Hours or as widely argued over / prestigey as Eyes Wide Shut or as audience-friendly as The Others (we're not picky/greedy... any of those will do)
3. A project to do with her bestie Naomi Watts. It's been since Flirting (1991) c'mon... 
4. A project to do with Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!) or Stephen Dillane (The Hours) because MY GOD THE CHEMISTRY in both of those cases. Why hasn't she worked with either again? 

Naturally, in the comments you'll want to share your five favorite things about this goddess and what you'd give her for her birthday

Random List-Mania: 40 Best Original Movie Songs of the 1990s

I can't let Dick Tracy go quite yet! All that discussion and no tremulous ode to Stephen Sondheim's brilliant song score? It won't stand! Every moment when Breathless Mahoney (Madonna) and 88 Keys (Mandy Patinkin) are in frame together is gold. 

(Eagle-eyed early 90s obsessiveness will know that Mandy Patinkin also pops up briefly in a celebrity-filled party scene in the Madonna documentary "Truth or Dare")

BEST ORIGINAL MOVIE SONGS OF THE 1990s
Beautiful Song Craft and/or Cheesy Epic Ballads For the Wins
* Oscar nominee ** Oscar winner 

1. "Wise Up" -Magnolia (Aimee Mann)
   technically this song first showed up on the Jerry Maguire soundtrack which is why it wasn't eligible for the Oscars for Magnolia but let's make an exception
2. "Sooner or Later"** - Dick Tracy (Stephen Sondheim)
   
   
   
   
3. "Gangsta's Paradise" - Dangerous Minds (Coolio)
   deemed ineligible by Oscar due to sampling -- people were obsessed with the scary new "is this songwriting?" world of sampling back then. What to make of it? 
4. "Stay" - Reality Bites (Lisa Loeb)
5. "Be Our Guest" - Beauty & The Beast (Alan Menken & Howard Ashman)
6. "More" - Dick Tracy (Stephen Sondheim)
7. "You Must Love Me"** - Evita (Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice)
8. "God Help the Outcasts" - Hunchback of Notre Dame (Alan Menken)
   
   32 more tunes after the jump

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