At the filming of The Oprah Winfrey Show's "After the Oscars Party" episode at the Kodak Theatre today (which I attended, nerds!), Mo'nique proved she had not been changed by her win. During commercials, the comedian hollered at one hooting audience member who claimed she was from Mo'nique's native Baltimore. "Yeah, I know where that is," Mo'nique called to her, as Oprah's hair was straightened and fluffed by assistants. When the audience member kept calling from the upper balconies, Mo'nique leaned forward and bellowed, "You need to sit down!" The teensy Sandra Bullock, seated next to her, laughed and didn't seem frightened.
Robin Wright gives a convincing performance in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee as a woman whose dysfunctional relationship with her mother led to unhealthy relationships with everyone around her -- including, and this is what the film wants to drive home hardest, herself. There are a lot of tears shed throughout the film. Other things there are a lot of: women in love with Alan Arkin, deaths, and shots of Blake Lively's enviable gams. Even though the sum of all those parts sounds promising, the film somehow still ends up being a drag. And don't get me started on the ending. Sure, I understand it's a journey through Pippa's life, but to end the film with -- spoiler alert! -- a road trip? Really? I never read the book, but it can't end with a pickup truck driving off into the sunset, can it?
more »
Startling news over at Variety today, as it's been announced that longtime film critic Todd McCarthy is among several employees being let go from the trade. McCarthy, who worked at Variety for over thirty years and often proved an industry pace-setter with his early reviews, will join chief theater critic David Rooney and six others on the unemployment line. [The Wrap]
When two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell took home her third trophy for The Young Victoria, the 49-year-old stunned even before she finished her walk to the dais. Her sheeny floral dress and shock burgundy hair were the first indicators of a rogue in the house, but her speech forced us to let out our corsets for a long, queenly guffaw. Furthermore, she was the night's sole British winner. Hear Powell's sly, yet sweet speech after the jump.
more »
After a groundswell of support from nearly a half million Facebook users, Robert Pattinson and sassy older women everywhere, Betty White has confirmed that she will be appearing on Saturday Night Live. The comedienne, who has experienced a renaissance this year after playing the wacky, matchmaking grandmother in The Proposal, receiving a SAG Life Achievement Award and starring in a Superbowl Snickers commercial, told People magazine that she doesn't "know why or how" she has so many supporters now, but "it's been wonderful." Now, onto the details of that much-rumored performance at Studio 8H.
more »
Now that our shared Academy Awards hangover is starting to subside, and the champagne-blunted memory of heaving your novelty Oscar statuette through a window after El Secreto de Sus Ojos' Foreign Language Film win wrecked your pool has come into sharper focus, we can begin to reflect upon last night's events. Though the list of winners played out almost exactly according to the narrative established during the interminable, brain-smoothing awards season (Geoffrey Fletcher's huge Precious adapted screenplay upset being the notable exception), there were still many important lessons to be learned from the ceremony if you just clear your mind, open your heart, and try to really hear what Oscar was gently whispering in your ear in the magical, fizzy moment before that tenth flute of Chandon finally did you in.
more »
As if you couldn't already tell during his epic acceptance speech in front of broadcast cameras, Jeff Bridges has something to say about his Best Actor Oscar. And just as the producers and the orchestra weren't about to play him off after nearly 40 years of him waiting for this moment, the backstage organizers of the new "Thank-You Cam" weren't about to cut Bridges' extended thanks off either. This being Bridges, it's a must-see -- if you can spare that much of your afternoon.
more »
In the "Introduction to Ponyo" feature on the Ponyo Blu-ray and DVD, producer Kathleen Kennedy explains that every animation cell that filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's creates is a painting worthy of a frame, and that's true. The art of Ponyo is gorgeous, especially any scene (that's to say 90% of them) involving water. Ponyo is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, but although it's a Walt Disney picture, it has nothing to do with Ariel, singing, or obese octopi. There is, however, a fascinating(ly bad) theme song at the end of the film that's sung by the film's American voice-over leads, Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas, that might be our new go-to whenever we need a laugh. We're talking AutoTune and remixes, people. If you don't believe us, it's on YouTube.
more »
Stop us if you've heard this one before: A beautiful, talented woman acclaimed by Hollywood finds romance with a younger man associated with The Hurt Locker, who just so happens to be attending the same Oscar ceremony as that woman's famous ex-husband. No, we're not talking about the Kathryn Bigelow-Mark Boal-James Cameron triangle that grabbed so many headlines this awards season -- at least, not this time. This one involves Sean Penn, Robin Wright and Hurt Locker producer Greg Shapiro, and it may have gotten Penn booted from the Governors Ball.
more »
It was the moment of a lifetime for Nicolas Chartier, who'd just heard his name cited among the producers of the Best Picture-winning The Hurt Locker. He'd been handed his trophy, and the crowd around him cheered passionately in his honor. If only he'd been at the Kodak Theater instead of under a tent in Malibu.
more »
One of the best parts of awards season being broadcast in HD is recoiling in horror as an otherwise beautiful actor, coated in fake tanner, is allowed to leave the house by a sunglasses-clad publicist who's regretfully coked to the gills. But with more attendees at last night's Oscars choosing to embrace paler shades, former Orange winner Charlize Theron respectfully deferring to the new guard, and Bradley Cooper nowhere to be found, the few contenders left for Movieline's "Most Orange" prize stood out like umber, unnatural beacons. Let's meet our nominees and our winner!
more »
Not having caught Cirque du Freak: Vampire's Assistant in the theater, I had high hopes for it based on the DVD menu and opening sequence. The title animation was spider-y and Coraline-y and left me optimistic that somehow the Buffy-shaped hole in our heart would be filled by this vampire comedy. Optimism quickly waned as soon as vampire John C. Reilly made his first appearance in a Little Orphan Annie wig. With terrible performances all around from each and every actor in it's decent cast (Reilly, Willem Defoe, Salma Hayek, Patrick Fugit), this Cirque was harder to stomach than the clown sequences in Kooza.
more »
On Friday, Movieline relayed the news that the rumored Conan O'Brien vengeance tour -- a live performance circuit that would cleverly skirt that clause in the comedian's exit deal with NBC which stipulated that the comedian could not appear on television before September -- would kick off with an April 30 appearance in Phoenix, Arizona. Ticketmaster had posted the event on its website with minimal details and a guarantee that Coco Nation could purchase tickets on Monday, March 8, but when eager fans flocked to the site at 10:00 MST this morning, they realized that Ticketmaster had unceremoniously yanked the event from its website.
more »
This year's Oscarcast wasn't as critically adored as last year's, but at least it improved upon it in the ratings. The ceremony attracted 41.3 million viewers, up 15% from last year and the best result since 2005. It would have done even better if ABC and Cablevision had resolved their dispute before the show began airing in New York, but on the other hand, at least those viewers had Neil Patrick Harris's superfluous opening trimmed by default. Bright sides! [The Wrap]
A Beijing court today threw out the case of an author who alleged James Cameron plagiarized Avatar from his 1999 novel The Legend of the Blue Crow. Zhou Shaomou's book concerns a soldier at a space station who clones other human species for "exploration missions"; he was suing Cameron and 20th Century Fox for 8 percent of the film's revenue to date. What? $200 million seems reasonable for a passing resemblance, no? Especially if it means Delgo is entitled to a billion dollars or more down the line? Appeal! [NYT]
