"Tangled" Contest Winner

Congratulations to Christopher in Los Angeles who is the winner of the Tangled Blu-Ray contest. I pulled the winner randomly from your entries but read all of them so that I could LOL at your answers to "Which movie characters hair would you most like to braid?" It was the girliest question I have ever asked on this blog and maybe even in my life. Which is [ahem] saying a lot.

As for Christopher, he said.

I would like to braid Ariel's hair. I had a mad crush on her as a kid. Must be because she was the only Disney princess wearing a bikini.

Those specialty bikinis always do it, don't they? Think of what a formative experience Princess Leia's gold bikini was to boys in the early 80s.

I thought I'd share two more entries that particularly amused me. These are from Evan and Matthew who said respectively.

Shelby Eatenton from "Steel Magnolias." Why? Because clearly, I'd be braiding her hair at Truvy's shop, which would mean I'd get to hang out with five of the sassiest women of all cinematic time.

I think I'd pick Clementine's from "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" -- all the different hair colors she has! A magical rainbow braid.

Thanks to all who entered and voted on the poll of which animated films I should write up next. Coming up this month: The Rescuers and Beauty and The Beast as per your votes.

"Tangled" Giveaway

Quickie contest. THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED FOR ENTRIES BUT YOU CAN STILL VOTE ON THE POLL BELOW. As you may already know the Tangled Blu-Ray DVD comes out tomorrow. I have one Blu-Ray copy to give away to a lucky reader in the US or Canada. Plus an undetermined bonus prize.

you entry should contain the following.

1. "Tangled DVD" in subject line.
2. Your name & mailing address (The winner's address goes to Disney so they can ship your prize but otherwise they're totes private.)
3. Name the movie character's hair you'd most like to braid and why. It's the girliest question ever but Rapunzel would approve! [Warning: I may quote a collection of these answers right here.]
4. Name anything at all that you learned from the "talent discovery" section of the widget above.

And just so everyone is a winner, please vote on the following poll. The winning films will be written up right here at the Film Experience in April. I've left out films I've extensively written about previously and a few others to make this manageable and randomly paired older with newer. I'll write about the winning pair (probably not together) next month.

poll by twiigs.com

Jagged Linky Pill

Grrrrrr. I'm totally not speaking to Critical Condition and Low Resolution right now because they did not include me in their awesome trip back through every track of Alanis Morrissette's "Jagged Little Pill" for its 15th anniversary. I'm going to write a list song about all the reasons I'm mad at Mark and Joe and then I'm going to screech it out unintelligibly over massive pop hooks and sell 14 million copies. I won't share a damn cent with them. They oughta know.

Under Link Swept
DListed Ewan McGregor being incredibly adorable with a puppy
For The Record is another theater event for movie fans in Los Angeles. It's a concert evening celebrating the music of Baz Luhrmann's films with a rotating cast from stage, tv, and screen. Sounds great. Between this and Streep Tease I so need a plane ticket right about now.
My new Plaid Pants loves Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins. I kinda wanna see it but I'm nervous about the intense violence. Audition was a little much for my girlish constitution... I nearly passed out.

Basket of Kisses checks in with the Mad Men cast during this agonizing wait for ANY news of a Season 5.
Vulture Billy Crystal will maybe possibly he'll think about it host the Oscars again if they have less statues handed out. F*** you Billy. I like seeing Costume Designer and Art Directors and all the rest win. Seriously, F*** you.
Socialite's Life Sandra Bullock is looking kind of deglam on the set of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Kenneth in the (212) starts a funny rumor about Bradley Cooper.
Cinema Blend has some drawings of Mother Gothel before she morphed into the Mother Gothel we know from Tangled which comes to DVD/Blu-Ray real soon.

That's a wee sample. We trust you'll remember that we're happy with the Gothel we got.

Blogs of Entanglement
The Guardian does some frightening though highly plausible thinking about end game of the new world order of film journalism (i.e. fannish blogging).
Pajiba, in light of last week's Tech Crunch vs. Cinematical scandal, pats itself on the back for not playing the PR game. See I'm not the only one navel gazing this week about how I blog! Must be something in the air.

For the record I've never been told by anyone to tone it down -- though I do get the rare nasty e-mail from people in the biz about certain comments I have made about certain actors and actresses -- but I kind of wish the studios were giving me money so that I could theoretically be asked to tone it down. I'd welcome an ethical challenge for money. ;)

 Supposed Former Celebrity Junkie
PopEater has a really interesting piece from Jo Piazza's CELEBENOMICS on Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan's mutual disintegration and why Charlie Sheen seems to be benefitting from his downfall financially whilst Lohan's fortunes and fandom continue to dwindle.

She theorizes that it's about branding and embracing of your flaws, or... "Make your mess your message." Good read but I still think the way these things usually play out this way is basic cultural sexism. Think for a minute how many anti-heroes the culture embraces to the point of total amoral adulation (Hi the entire gangster movie genre!) and then try to think of how many criminal women are similarly adored / emulated. Another thing that's totally not discussed is their respective talent. Lohan's self-immolation is SO much more depressing because to get where she's, uh, not, now, she had to cast aside real movie star presence (super hard to come by else every working actor would have it) and acting chops. Why shouldn't Sheen embrace his mess as a message? What else has he got? It's not like he was ever that magnetic on the big screen or particular genius at small screen comedy despite earning gazillions from those laugh tracks on Two and Half Men.

You Oughta See
My god. I keep forgetting to share this. You've probably seen it by now...

A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.

I think the best thing about it is how it trusts the audience to infer some of the titles, since the openings are so iconic. Like that flash insert of Rosie Perez shakin' her thang for Do The Right Thing or all those snippets of credits that are just names rather than the title itself. It's a beauty, huh? If I could ever figure out how to rip DVDs in a simple way (last time I asked it seemed to involve about 5 different programs for one task) without spending a fortune I would make such great edits. I know it must be much simpler than I understand since everyone and their dog does it, some with natural talent like this, others with expensive software but less artistry.

Heroes & Villains: From Hiccup to Hailsham

More Film Bitch Awards coming at'cha. The Snow White casting news last week got me to thinking of heroics at the movies. Snow White isn't really an active heroine is she? She's more like a pretty pretty princess waiting to be rescued.

None of my choices for hero of the year waited for rescue -- not even Rapunzel in Tangled --  though a few of them did need to be cajoled into action.  I can relate. Hero, rescue thyself! But in the end, it doesn't matter how you get to your heroics, so long as you eventually get there. The top ten in no particular order. [Edited to add: TOP ELEVEN. I forgot to list one of my intended medalists. An excel error!]

• Sally Hawkins as "Rita O' Grady" in Made in Dagenham
• Dany Boon as "Bazil" in Mic-Macs
• Colin Firth as "King George VI" in The King's Speech
• Angelina Jolie as "Salt" in Salt
• "Hiccup" in How To Train Your Dragon
• Hilary Swank as "Betty Anne Waters" in Conviction
• Jennifer Lawrence as "Ree Dolly" in Winter's Bone
• "Rapunzel & Flynn" in Tangled
• Mark Wahlberg as "Mickey Ward" in The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld as "Mattie Ross" in True Grit
• Michael Cera as "Scott Pilgrim" in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

There was less to choose from as villains go even if you get creative. Do you cite the financial institutions in Inside Job. I mean, come on, they were SCARY... like scarier than Jason or Freddie.  But I decided that was too diffuse to be a single entity... Sometimes though, if you narrow the lens, system do work as symbolic primary villain:. Hailsham haunts in Never Let Me Go. 

Elsewhere in 2010 villains were just no match for the heroes. I normally love Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper but True Grit was totally unbalanced; the villains had no performative spark in comparison to the heroes. I didn't like Kick-Ass but even there the villains didn't measure up the heroes. It takes two to make beautiful battle. Is it too much to ask for great heroes and great villains simultaneously?  I think only Tangled managed that this year. Finally, I was about to cite Jacki Weaver's wicked "Smurf" in Animal Kingdom but in the end the villain of the piece is really the family. Smurf is but a henchwoman, to use superhero vernacular, who fills in when the bosses are on vacation (i.e. jail, six feet under, etcetera). The top ten:

• "Gru" in Despicable Me
• "The Cody Boys" in Animal Kingdom
• "7 Evil Exes" in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Helena Bonham Carter as "The Red Queen" in Alice in Wonderland
• "Mother Gothel" in Tangled 
• Hailsham in Never Let Me Go
• "Lotso Huggin' Bear" in Toy Story 3
• Niels Arestrup as "César Luciani" in A Prophet
• Mickey Rourke as "Whiplash" in Iron Man 2
• Justin Timberlake as "Sean Parker" in The Social Network

 HERE ARE THE NOMINEES & WRITEUPS

Which heroics thrilled you and which evil deeds made you grip your armrests last year?

Ear Candy: Best Sound, Score, Songs of 2010

I really am trying to get a move on with my Film Bitch Awards. If you're new to The Film Experience that's this site's annual awards. We've been doing it for (gulp) 11 years... Each year I promise myself to spend more time listening to the movies since my eyes are so greedy and always want to watch watch watch. But movies are not only eye candy. They can also provide significant aural pleasure. 

Some films that sound gooooooooood

So I've now announced the nominees in all the sound categories. mixing, editing, original song, original score and my own special category "best adapted or song score" which is a highly necessary category given that  so many films now use a mix-tape approach rather than relying on one person to provide the music. This weekend we'll try to wrap all the other "standard" i.e. Oscar categories -- as well as do final Oscar predictions -- since that's all gotta be out of the way before Oscar nomination morning. (I don't expect my lineups to match Oscar's much in sound and score but they rarely do so I won't be hurt too much on Tuesday.)

Come back and let me know what you think of the soundscapes of movies like Black Swan, I Am Love, Salt, The Social Network, The Ghost Writer, Burlesque and many more in the comments. (My ears are not as well trained as my eyes but each year I think I listen a little better. Progress)

After the Oscar nomination brouhaha winds down late next week, we'll hit the "fun" categories like Diva, Villain, Best Action Sequence. You know how we do.