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Entries in Sarah Paulson (69)

Saturday
Oct032015

NYFF: 10 Best Things About "Carol" (First Impressions)

Todd Haynes' highly anticipated Carol screened a week ago for NYFF press and I immediately began marking time P.C. "POST CAROL". It was that impactful. For something that appears so delicate it breaks with immeasurable force. Carol recounts the relationship between a posh 40something society wife (Cate Blanchett), no stranger to lesbian affairs, and a curious 20something photographer/shopgirl (Rooney Mara) who has never been in love. Haynes's sixth feature is one of his best and thus both a marvel and a relief since he had gone AWOL from movie screens for eight years. The film which began the long drought, I'm Not There, is the only one that this longtime Haynes fanatic doesn't cherish.

Herewith 10 favorite things (in no particular order) about Carol right after meeting her. This infatuation is too potent to think clearly at this point for a traditional review. A word of caution: exciting first dates don't always lead to fullblown rewarding relationships but this one appears to be a (celluloid) romance for the long haul. 

1. Gifts & Gift-Wrapping
We like to think of final quarter movies as "gifts" since so much of awards season is centered around the holidays. This one is beautifully wrapped (the production values are breathtaking on literally every level) and even better once you start tearing the careful packaging apart to see what it's gifted you with. Carol also takes place during Christmas just like Tangerine so in one single cinematic year we've received the best Lesbian Christmas movie and the best Trans Christmas movie. How about that? More...

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Sep222015

List Mania! Frances McDormand and all the "Triple Crown" Icons

Since I'm on record as being annoyed that all anyone cares about is the EGOT and since Steve asked in the comments of the Emmy post-mortem about my preferred obsession (The Triple Crown of Acting) to date only 21 actors* have accomplished this, two of them within this very calendar year (Dame Helen Mirren and Frances McDormand). Of course this has become more commonplace than it used to be given that actors no longer feel like they should be solely a movie star, or solely a tv actor, or only a thespian of the stage. With more and more people willing to do all three, sometimes consistently, these ranks will likely swell in another 20 years.

Currently the rarified list of actors who've won The Tony, The Oscar and The Emmy for their acting reads like so...

Frances McDormand is your latest Triple Crown Winner. From Fargo (1996) to Good People (2011) to Olive Kitteridge (2014)

  • Jack Albertson (Tony: 65, Oscar: 69, Emmy: 75)
  • Anne Bancroft (Tony: 58, Oscar: 63, Emmy: 99)
  • Ingrid Bergman (Oscar: 45, Tony: 47, Emmy: 60)
    Our Ingrid Bergman Centennial was fun wasn't it? You're welcome. Ingrid is the youngest performance to complete the trinity at age 45. 
  • Shirley Booth (Tony: 49, Oscar: 53, Emmy: 62)
  • Ellen Burstyn (Oscar: 75, Tony: 77, Emmy: 09)
  • Melvyn Douglas (Tony: 60, Oscar: 64, Emmy: 68)
    Did you know that this Hud star was Illeanna Douglas's grandfather? I certainly didn't.
  • Helen Hayes (Oscar: 32, Tony 47, Emmy: 53)
    (Though IMDb does not state what her Emmy was for so who knows if she's a special case or not)
  • Jeremy Irons (Tony: 84, Oscar: 91, Emmy: 97)
  • Frances McDormand (Oscar: 97, Tony: 11, Emmy: 15)
    The most recent inductee to this hall of fame. 
  • Helen Mirren (Emmy: 96, Oscar: 07, Tony: 15)
    And yes she won all three for playing Queens named Elizabeth! Though she has multiple Emmys so she's won for other roles, too. 
  • Thomas Mitchell (Oscar: 40, Tony: 53, Emmy: 53) 
  • Rita Moreno (Oscar: 62, Tony: 75, Emmy: 77)
    The second youngest to the Triple. She was 46 when she completed it with the Emmy for The Muppet Show
  • Al Pacino (Tony: 69, Oscar: 93, Emmy: 04)
  • Christopher Plummer (Tony: 74, Emmy: 77, Oscar: 12)
  • Vanessa Redgrave (Oscar: 78, Emmy: 81, Tony: 03)
  • Jason Robards (Tony: 59, Oscar: 77, Emmy: 88)
  • Geoffrey Rush (Oscar: 97, Emmy: 05, Tony: 09)
  • Paul Scofield (Tony: 62, Oscar: 67, Emmy: 69)
    The youngest male actor to the Triple. He was 47 when he completed it with the Emmy for Male of the Species 
  • Maggie Smith (Oscar: 70, Tony: 90, Emmy: 03)
  • Maureen Stapleton (Tony: 51, Emmy: 68, Oscar: 82)
  • Jessica Tandy (Tony: 78, Emmy: 88, Oscar: 90)

Weird Statistic
The Emmy, which seems like the easiest to win since they have so many damn categories, is actually won last by the majority of Triple Crowners. How about that? 

Eddie Redmayne is very young to have already won two of the big threeWho do you think will join the list next?
Of currently working stars Viola Davis, Cicely Tyson, Neil Patrick Harris, Ellen Barkin, Hugh Jackman and Bryan Cranston are just missing the Oscar which is obviously the hardest to win.

Overachiever Glenn Close has three Tonys and three Emmys but (sigh) zero Oscars. Kevin Spacey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dame Judi Dench, Denzel Washington and Marcia Gay Harden are just missing the Emmy. The youngest immediate threats are Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne: she is only 32 and just needs a Tony; he is only 33 and just needs an Emmy... though he isn't currently doing any TV so the Triple Crown will probably have to wait. 

And get this: Sally Field, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, Dianne Wiest and Jane Fonda who all have won multiple Oscars and multiple Emmys are all just missing the Tony though they've all worked the Broadway stage!

Depressing Three-Medium Stats: Sir Ian McKellen, a hugely lauded thespian has only won the Tony despite Oscar & Emmy nominations. The gifted Sarah Paulson who works all three mediums with regularity has not won any of the prizes and has only been Emmy-nominated. The Lovely Laura Linney, another regular three-medium threat has only won the Emmy despite multiple Tony and Oscar nominations. Marisa Tomei who works all three has only won the Oscar with no Tony or Emmy honors. Martha Plimptonwho does all three (though movies only occasionally) has only won the Emmy but has at least been nominated for multiple Tonys. Kathleen Turner who only occasionally does TV (unthinkably her work on Friends did not even win her a Guest Actress nomination) but used to be a huge movie star has been nominated for the Oscars and Grammys (once) and the Tonys (twice) but has yet to win any of the big showbiz awards beyond her two Golden Globes. Annette Bening has NONE of the top three prizes despite being nominated for all. The strange thing is that though she now regularly does stage work, she does not do it on Broadway. She could win a Tony if she came back!

* Special Cases: Notable superstars like Judy Garland (her Oscar was a non-competitive juvenile Oscar), Liza Minnelli (her Emmy was for a televised concert), Barbra Streisand (her Tony was a special award) and Whoopi Goldberg (her Emmy was not a Primetime Emmy which is all that people usually refer to when they talk about winning Emmys) won all three statues but they did not win them all in regular competitive categories or for performances exactly so they are special cases.

Saturday
Sep122015

AHS: Hotel Teaser

My name is Manuel and I have a theory:

American Horror Story Marketing > American Horror Story Show

This latest teaser is but a mere 30 seconds but can you imagine the full season of the upcoming Jessica Lange-less American Horror Story season keeping you as enthralled? [More...]

But then, Ryan Murphy has always been better at teasing than satisfying. His newest iteration of the horror anthology series (Hotel) premieres on October 7th and so we got this titillating teaser to whet our appetite. And boy did it! Highlights after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Aug262015

11 Questions For You: This Week's DVD/BluRay Releases

Eleven questions about this week's newly released titles.
Q1: Which of these titles are you planning to catch up with or revisit at home?

Aloha (Reviewed) Cameron Crowe directs Bradley Cooper & Emma Stone in Hawaii.
Q2: Are you the type who rubbernecks at car crashes?
Citizen Four (Oscar Discussion / Podcasted) 2014's Oscar winning Documentary on Edward Snowden
Q3: Do you try to see all nominees in the doc category each year and if so do you succeed?
Iris Albert Maysles is no longer with us but before he left us, he made one last documentary about an eccentric old lady (which you might say is a specialty)
Q4: Do you love Grey Gardens (rhetorical question) and if so did you watch "Sandy Passage" on Documentary Now this week?
Lila & Eve Viola Davis & JLo are out to avenge the murder of their sons
Q5: Has Viola moved into her trashy B-phase with this revenge thriller and How to Get Away With Murder and if so are you eager for something classy again?
October Gale Director Ruba Nadda and Goddess Patricia Clarkson reunite post Cairo Time for this drama about a doctor (Patricia Clarkson) and a man who washes up on her shore wounded (Scott Speedman). Is a killer coming to finish the job?
Q6: Do the words "Patricia Clarkson and Scott Speedman" in combination make you suddenly hungry because that sounds delicious to me?
The Runner Nicolas Cage is a politician with a sex scandal problem. With Sarah Paulson and Connie Nielsen and the BP Oil Spill in supporting.
Q7: What did Sarah Paulson ever do to deserve this?

Save him, Patricia!Action Flickers: Tony Jaa & Dolph Lundgren

Skin Trade Giant powerhouse Dolph Lundgren hunts his family's killer down in Southeast Asia with tiny powerhouse Tony Jaa by his side.
Q8: Dolph or Tony?
Two Days One Night Oscar nominated Marion Cotillard tries to save her job in this wrenching smart drama from Belgium's Dardennes brothers.
Q9: On a scale of 10-10, how utterly amazing do you think Cotillard is in this movie?
Where Hope Grows an athlete befriends a man with Down's Syndrome
Q10: Are you even reading this post?
TV Season Releases
Elementary (3rd), Revenge (4th), The Walking Dead (5th), Good Wife (6th), Criminal Minds (10th)
Q11: Do you still buy TV seasons on DVD or did you give that up with the rise of streaming options? 

Friday
Mar202015

We Can't Wait #1: Carol

Team Experience is counting down our 15 most anticipated. Here's Matthew Eng with our #1 choice, which incidentally also topped this list last year when we used wishful thinking to pretend it would be done early...

Who & What: Living genius Todd Haynes directs playwright and Mrs. Harris scribe Phyllis Nagy’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s gently subversive lesbian novella (originally published under the much grittier-named The Price of Salt) about a sensitive shopgirl (Rooney Mara) who falls in love with the lonely society dame of the title (Cate Blanchett) in lush 1950s New York. 

Why We’re Excited About it: The cinematic “comeback” of Haynes, returning to the big screen a full eight years after I’m Not There (despite a six-hour pit stop at HBO for Kate Winslet’s Mildred Pierce), is obviously incentive enough. But he’s also compiled a cast so charismatic, it basically makes you salivate: Mara and Blanchett, of course, but how about Ace Team Player and Perpetual Dreamboat Kyle Chandler as Blanchett’s snooping husband?

Lots more and several photos after the jump...

Click to read more ...