Curio: Myrna Loy, Cover Girl

Alexa here. Today is Myrna Loy's birthday, so to celebrate this supremely unique, intelligent, plainspoken goddess, I dug up this vintage Picture Play magazine of mine from 1940 with Myrna on the cover.

Myrna goes nautical

Myrna appeared in this 1940 issue in pictures only, ostensibly to promote her upcoming film with William Powell, I Love You Again (their ninth film together), a Regarding Henry-esque amnesiac light romance that was just another opportunity to get the two of them together.  Every time I see a film with them I think of their real-life meet cute, so perfectly described in Myrna's autobiography.

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Tilda Androgyne

Tilda Swinton is on the cover of W's August issue with a mess of hot photos inside. And by hot I mean cool and by cool I mean sickening or whatever word is the new aspirational one to indicate people who are better than us.

Tilda is very tall but she's that much higher because we're always placing her on pedestals. But just look at her! Who can be blamed for building said pedestals, altars or shrines. 

This next photo totally screams Victor/Victoria. I doubt Tilda could sing as well as Julie Andrews (but then, who could?) so maybe they should reinterpret it as a minimalist art film.

In addition to playing the woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman entertainer at the center, Tilda could play every role? I will now spend the next seventeen hours imagining Tilda in the Lesley Ann Warren / Norma Cassidy role. In fact, let's repurpose one of Norma's grandest quotes to speak of Tilda right now.

With you it's like 'Pow!Pow!Pow!' like the Fourth of July, every time!

Well it is with Tilda! You never have to fake it with her. She's orgasmic.  

More photos after the jump...

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Matthew Ludwinski in "Going Down in La La Land"

There's a new gay film from Casper Andreas (Violet Tendencies, Slutty Summer) making the festival rounds. In fact, it's currently playing at Outfest in Los Angeles. The film is an adaptation of the comic memoir novel Going Down in La La Land which chronicles the adventures of a naive young actor who gets mixed up in porn/hustling when he tries to make it in Hollywood. As one does. Model/actor Matthew Ludwinski has the lead role.

Matthew Ludwinski photographed by David Waage for Mate Magazine

I recently interviewed him for global queer culture magazine mate (previously known as "winq") and that's the splash page for the start of the article above. Interviews can be tricky -- especially if the interviewee doesn't have a big resume to talk about -- but Ludwinski and his photographer David Waage for this profile were very friendly and fun. [Clicking on the image will take you to the magazine where you can sample bits or purchase.]

an Oscar Party scene from the filmI thought I'd share a bit that I couldn't squeeze into the article. There's an Oscar party scene in the film, where the staff is naked and painted gold (Hey, I had that idea like ten years ago... but alas, my parties are not that well funded). So when I sat down with Ludwinski at the hotel, given this Oscar party scene, I had to ask him about working with the Academy's favorite joke writer Bruce Vilanche, who plays a porn director in the film.

We ended up discussing the Franco/Vilanche Oscar night fallout kerfuffle very briefly.

Was Vilanche funny in person?

Hilarious. For a couple months afterwards he would send me dirty text messages. I always appreciate that.

Two of my favorite photos from the shoot after the jump...

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Zoinks! Nicole + Cate, Holly + Anna

Aussie actresses Nicole and Cate are fans of each others. We shouldn't be surprised and perhaps we already knew but have forgotten. The March issue of In Style asked four Oscar winning actresses Nicole Kidman, Anna Paquin, Hilary Swank and Susan Sarandon to name their "Oscar Inspiration" and they chose Cate Blanchett, Holly Hunter, Jessica Lange, and Vanessa Redgrave respectively.

This photo has a certain imaginary Film Experience spark as it's an actress (Kidman) that readers tend to think I'm rather too scarily devoted to combined with an actress (Blanchett) that I tend to think readers are rather too scarily devoted to. ;) Not that they both aren't great actresses, mind you.

The article may well have been titled "Airbrushed Inspirations" because all of the photos are way way glossy. But it's a fun concept. Here's what Cate said about her Oscar win for The Aviator.

I was frankly relieved when I won -- relieved I wouldn't have to answer all the questions about what it feels like to lose, and relieved because, playing Katharine Hepburn, you can't but disappoint some people. You have to throw caution to the wind when you take on those real-people roles; you can't think of the outcome.

I don't see this info at In Style's official site but here is a photo-set. The Hilary Swank/Jessica Lange photos are fun but the one that just thrilled me, for the sheer nostalgia, was seeing The Piano's mother and daughter Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin reunited.

The Piano (1993) is among my all time favorite movies and who wouldn't want such a reminder. Anna is apparently now taller than Holly! Although one reason I object to the super processed/airbrushed photo shoots that are the norm these days is that in the age of Photoshop when a photo looks too plastic, I just assume no one was in the room together. Let me see an errant hair or a wrinkle or a weird pucker of cloth, or some PROOF that these are flesh and blood people in a room together.

The other thing I think of when I look at this photo is: DOES HOLLY HUNTER WATCH TRUE BLOOD? Heh. I do. I wonder.

Super Glut

Entertainment Weekly introduces Henry Cavill, our new Superman, on the cover of their Oscar prediction issue. Cavill, for what it's worth, has been in the running for several super-people but this is the first time he's actually been cast. But shouldn't the cover be something more Oscariffic?

The hit whores were out in force this morning labelling this photo Official First Photo of Cavill as Superman. Hilarious. Especially since they haven't even started filming -- and rumors abound that the studio is still not happy with the script -- and there's no way the new superhero costume is a pre-faded t-shirt ;)

It's always this way with superhero films. There are generally about 731,000 "exclusive" everythings and 11 or so "first official" everythings. For example, we've already had two instances of "official first photo of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man." and I'm willing to bet we get a third given that the other two are more promotional and not "actual" shot from the movie! The first he was in the costume with the mask off. The second also labelled "first official photo of Garfield as Spider-Man" is the one where he's masked. If all things are cyclical when is the superhero craze going to die down? Right now it seems infallible. Even movies people don't end up liking open well and get sequels. Will the upcoming barrage finally be overkill?

Here's what's (supposedly) coming our way after this new Thor trailer which is quite a bit different than the original sneak and seems to be leaning more comedic (Hi, Kat Dennings!)

May 2011 Thor
June 2011 X-Men: First Class (further reading)
June 2011 Green Lantern
July 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger (further reading)
May 2012 The Avengers (not filming yet. I have always doubted this movie will ever happen. Too many contracts. Too many characters. Too many schedules having to lined up. Too much. Too much.)
July 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man (filming)
July 2012 The Dark Knight Rises (in casting mode)
Dec 2012 Superman: Man of Steel (pre-production)
TBA 2012 The Wolverine (pre-production)

Nine in the next 24 months. And that's just the high profile ones. I have a feeling I've forgotten something. There are umpteen more in development not to mention superhero projects that are coming to the small screen like Wonder Woman (which sounds completely confusing/messy). But can the market really sustain all of those at the grosses they've become accustomed to? If it can't -- and I doubt it can; no "Most Popular Genre" lasts forever as any perusal of screen history will tell you --  expect several of the other ones in various stages of development including but by no means limited to The Flash, Iron Man 3, Luke Cage and Doctor Strange, to be aborted.

The only one of the future maybes after 2012 that I would be thrilled to see is Doctor Strange, IF and only if Pixar does it as has been rumored. Still dying to see Pixar try a different genre altogether than the adventure comedies for families.