Two Beauties

Yesterday morning, before that evening's NYC premiere of Vera Farmiga's Higher Ground (pictured below) I had the opportunity to sit down for a chat with these two knockouts, Dagmara Dominczyk and Vera Farmiga. I somehow ended up seated between them so my head was ping-ponging back and forth and dizzy from beauty. Beauty to the left. Beauty to the right. 

You all know Vera, only one of the screen's very best working actresses. If you're unfamiliar with Dagmara, her main claim to fame was back in 2002 (The Count of Monte Cristo, female lead opposite Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce) but she essentially took a really long break from career-ing to have Patrick Wilson's babies. (Wouldn't you?) She's terrific as Vera's best friend in the film. They're adorably chummy in real life, too.

That interview is coming soon. Here's another premiere photo of the cast. Yes, Donna Murphy is in the movie; Vera has good taste.

Tony nominee Nina Arianda, Two time Tony winner Donna Murphy, Oscar Nominee Vera Farmiga and Mrs Patrick Wilson Dagmara Dominczyk.

Links: Refn Gosling Love, Tang Wei Wins, Green Lantern Bile

Alt Screen rounds up takes on Martin Scorsese's New York New York (1977) now that it's freshly released on Blu-Ray. Liza Minnelli is so great in that movie. I'm so excited to see it again. The Blu-Ray is still in its wrapping though. Must get to that soon.
Film Dr "12 notes comparing a purple bottle cap with Green Lantern" (One thing I deeply appreciated about dumbass movies like Green Lantern is the creativity they inspire in critics.)
<--- Movie|Line goes to the LA Premiere of Drive (2011) and enjoys Nicolas Winding Refn's freewheeling intro speech including this bit.

Now, I want to thank Ryan Gosling, because he gave me the opportunity to come to Hollywood and do this movie with him. It all started on a very strange blind date between us that led to a very strange, notsexual encounter, but it led to a mental creation between us. And of course, we couldn’t have done that without Jim Sallis’s book called Drive, which I highly recommend. 

i09 great find: an old "Equal Pay Act" PSA starring Batgirl from the Batman tv series.  ♥ 
Twitch has a series of neon movie posters from artist Mr Whaite. Here's Pulp Fiction.

I said god damn.

Pajiba "how homophobia lost its cool" good piece from a hetero man which kicks off with the homoeroticism of Michael Fassbender & James McAvoy in X-Men First Class
The Awl really lets loose the bile with Green Lantern and what's become of a too dominante subgenre of movies. (Note: We all know that reviews do not exist in a cultural vacuum so will the mass hatred for Green Lantern help or hurt Captain America reviews next month? It could go either way...) 
IndieWire Vera Farmiga hits Provincetown to promote Higher Ground 

FINALLY...

I'd like to personally congratulate Tang Wei, who many fine actress connoisseurs have been rooting for ever since her startling debut in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (2007). In the past two months she's picked up not one but two awards for recent performances in the romantic films Crossing Hennessy and Late Autumn. To make those rewards more impressive, one was from China (and remember they forbade her from working for a time after the sexual explicitness of Lust, Caution) and the other was a Korean Award which had reportedly never gone to a Chinese actress before. You can see her winning that one in this clip below. (She starts in Korean, switches to English, and then moves over to her native tongue.)

Will Crossing Hennessy and Late Autumn ever make it to US or European theaters? Stay tuned.

And the Link Goes To...

General Entertainment
Big Shiny Robot is AMC going to bring all three of their big shows (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead) back at once? That'd be a switch.
Movie|Line hot trend at Sundance: Actors directing movies. I'm hearing good things about Vera Farmiga's efforts.
Focus Features ooooh pretty Jane Eyre photos.
Go Fug Yourself Well Played Kirsten Dunst

Telegraph Tim Robey gives a rasberry to the lazy Golden Rasberries.
Mr Hipp X-Women. Yay.
Kenneth in the (212) Hugh Jackman taken a cab. Just cuz.
Zombie Toenails [NSFW] the only reason to see Love and other Drugs right here on loop. I never talked about that movie once I saw it but my goodness it was a mess.

Oscar Stuff
LAMB looks at the Oscar Foreign Film race.
New York Magazine a fine profile on Darren Aronofsky
The Hollywood Reporter Mark Zuckerberg on The Social Network's Oscar nods
Movie|Line The Social Network backlash is officially in full swing. Even James Franco is taking shots at it! Although if you want to bitch about "conventional" films, why choose that one when The King's Speech has more nominations? This is what sometimes happens to films when they're out front for too long. People get uppity about their "status".
Reddit Coen Bros ensemble infographic... fun! It's kinda like my "familiar faces" series only more visually enticing.
Alt Film Guide discusses the preferential balloting system and what it means for Oscar.
Antagony & Ecstacy offers up "The Antagonists", Tim's own awards.

Finally, have you seen this clip from Newsweek about pregnancy at the Oscars? I love The Bening's humor and Natalie's wonder about her own experience as well as Nicole Kidman's minor interjections "golly!" haha. Cuteness.