Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 3:00PM Splish splash Loki taking a bath...
Tom Hiddleston called this shoot for 1883 magazine his favorite photoshoot ever on Twitter just yesterday. Haven't seen the final product but he does look like he's having fun, splashing about, jumping around, posing and even dancing in this behind the scenes video.
Beauty Break, Tom Hiddleston Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:21PM The Guardian Loki himself Tom Hiddleston wrote a piece defending the superhero movie genre which he thinks ought to be taken more seriously. Well written and impassioned but let's play devil's advocate for a moment. Isn't the money enough? Wouldn't it be nice if people could respond to dramas about the human condition without the comforting distance of genre?
Slant 15 famous movie monkeys in honor of the just released Chimpanzee
Ultra Culture makes a funny re: "exclusive image" of Katy Perry. Honestly I rarely open emails with the word "exclusive" in the header. They'll have to drop it from Websters soon since it lost its meaning somewhere at the tail end of the 20th century.
Pajiba screw context. Just appreciate the Jennifer Lawrenceness of it all
IndieWire somehow in the midst of my manic schedule, I missed the news that Eytan Fox had made a sequel to the wonderful Yossi & Jagger (2003) called simply Yossi with Ohad Knoller reprising his role as the closeted gay soldier (this time back in civilian life)
Insanely Gaming popular websites as dresses. This is quite awesome. I vote Facebook 'best dressed'
IndieWire the controversies surrounding HBO's Girls. I liked the debut episode but it really did feel like Tiny Furniture Redux (without the fun visuals that came with the title territory)
Low Resolution did you ever read Joe's awards for the film year? Yes, I know I still have to finish mine. Ugh.
Monkey See terrific piece on Zac Efron's transition (possibly) to full grown adult movie actor
Finally... Odin's Boys Loki (Tom Hiddleson) & Thor (Chris Hemsworth) are having some serious giggles at one of many premieres for The Avengers.
Or maybe they're laughing about Joss Whedon's evil robot from the future sketch for Equality Now?
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 8:34AM I don't even know why I'm posting this. BAFTA seems determined to be the least respectable awards group this side of "People's Choice". They apparently use a partially celebrity juru to select their 5 wide Orange Rising Star category from a field of 8. Ouch! Then the public gets to vote. NoooOOoooo THE DREAD PEOPLE'S CHOICE.
Which means it's another one of those torture devices like Oscar finalist lists for celebrities or movie hopefuls where less than half of the field have to be jettisoned to get the nominee list. "Congratulations. You were the last kid picked for the team. i.e. you weren't picked. Loser!" This year's losers are all buzzy actresses: Jennifer Lawrence, Felicity Jones, and Jessica Chastain.
The official sausage party nominees...
I've added what they'd done lately though the award is for the person and not a specific work.
I was about to say "who would you vote for?" but it seems like more of a do, dump or marry? type field since it's such a tiny range of types -- all British or Australian guys born between 1979 and 1983! (I don't want to talk about how lame it is to not even consider the Weekend boys for this honor in honor of people who are already a lot more famous. "Rising star" is like "Breakthrough" in how much leeway it gives you to award people whose careers are already somewhat made. What is with the Brits and Weekend? They can't see its worth and it's right in front of them!)
But back to the RISING STARS: Who do you think gets an Oscar nomination first and second and never?
Why do you think Jessica, Felicity, and Jennifer just weren't good enough for the jury of industry types which included the likes of Simon Pegg, Sienna Miller and Harry Potter director David Yates?
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 8:00PM 
Kurt here. I am not, by any stretch, an authority on theater, and it's only recently that I've been able to collect a good number of playbills. But I can say, without hesitation, that the Broadway production of War Horse is the best thing I've ever witnessed on stage. I saw the show last Sunday, three days before I caught Spielberg's big-screen translation. In technical terms, the play is flawless, so staggeringly well-executed that, at intermission, my partner and I just gave each other wide-eyed, open-mouthed looks. The story, as expected, is one of very typical structure, with a found-and-lost-and-found-again relationship between and adolescent boy (Albert) and an almost preternatural stallion (Joey). But the stagecraft, while clearly taking some inspiration from Julie Taymor's The Lion King (and, perhaps, the Daniel Radcliffe incarnation of Equus), feels wildly extraordinary, at once awesome and minimalistic in its design.
I've decided that what makes the play so potent, beyond its meticulously made yet intentionally haggard horse puppets, and its ripped-from-the-pages-of-history projection screen of a backdrop, is its fierce, unannounced insistence on getting in your space, nearly assaulting you when it's time for stagehands to hurriedly crisscross the performance space with barbed wire, line the aisles with pennant strings to prep for a recruitment scene, or pilot a massive, makeshift tank across an implied, strobe-lit battlefield (another highlight is an ultra-stylized, oversized bullet that's carried from the crowd and spun like a drillbit before striking a key character on stage).
And how does Spielberg's version measure up to all this? I did my best to not allow my first War Horse experience to make me biased against my second, and it's true that the two works are very different beasts. I was, however, keeping score as I basked in the orange glow of Spielberg's impossible skies, for this equine weeper's path to the screen yields a lot of pluses and minuses. Let's take a look (spoiler alert!) at how Spielberg bettered the material, and how he fell short of the merits of its past life.
Peter Mullan and David Thewlis
PLUS: Albert's Father
In the play, Albert's father, Ted Narracott is an irredeemable, profoundly hateable character (seriously, like please-shoot-him-right-now hateable). A drunk and alleged military deserter, he makes a pile of horrid choices—including impulsively selling Joey—and never considers for a moment how they will impact his son...
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 1:50PM Nathaniel: Readers. Welcome back to red carpet convos... It's been forever since we did one which you may interpret as Nathaniel tripping on his heels or stars not bringing it to events or, more accurately, time management issues. But I was actually on a red carpet this week so I figured it was time to reboot the series. Let's start with the glitziest red carpet which was for New Year's Eve. A carpet I was not on.
Jose: But you should've been! At least to congratulate Lea Michele for not doing one of her obnoxious red carpet faces.
Nathaniel: She seems to be going for some World Record for most photographed (2010-2011). Every time you see events like this the photographers seem to snap 100 photos of her to every 4 of anyone else. You'd think she was the star of a TV phenom or something.
Lea, Hilary, Abby, Zac, 'chelle
I love ...but I have a thing for Broadway Babies. Always have. Other things I have a thing for: plunging necklines and champagne dresses on brunettes.
Jose: I find her obnoxious but LOVE the dress and the hair. I think it's the first time where i have no objection whatsoever to how she looks. She often looks too severe and constipated, this is perfect though. Makes me want to go drink with her.
Nathaniel: Hilary wants to go with you guys. "Pick me!"
Jose: She's not invited. The two of them together would be too annoying.
Nathaniel: But, awwww, she seems so... eager.
Jose: Well she should. Isn't she doing her "forgive me for loving dictators" tour right now?
Nathaniel: I must have the concert tee!
Jose: I'm surprised she didn't show up in a Captain America costume.
Nathaniel: That makes me want to put her in a Wonder Woman outfit. Photoshop Attack! If you wrap a golden lasso around Hilary Swank think of all the truths that would spill out. "I did not deserve my second Oscar" ... "I thought Amelia was boring, too!"... "____complete the sentence in the comments_____"...
Jose: OMG Is that Abigal Breslin? When did she start looking like Nia Vardalos? I hate that she's all old now.
Nathaniel: What are you? a Hollywood executive? "Get her to a nursing home!" Jesus. She's only 15. Don't feel old, Jose. Young starlets grow up fast.
Jose: I'll want to tear my eyes out when she kisses someone in that movie! She's my Little Miss Sunshine. She shouldn't be kissing boys. I just want cute child stars to retire when they hit puberty. Unless they're Jodie Foster.
Pfeiffer, Tori Amos Tangent and War Horses of different colors (actually just one) after the jump.
