To paraphrase a frequently used expression around Movieline HQ, "God, can we just end this year?" (Usually minus the capitalization and punctuation, and often flavored with a few dashes of expletive spice depending on the mood of the day.) Finally -- finally -- the answer comes from above: "Yes." But it wasn't all bad -- I even enjoyed some of it. To wit:
· While Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker police New York's snowpocalypse, cozy up to a heartwarming Pixar mashup including every film the animation studio has made in the past 15 years. Click ahead for Woody, Rex and more Buzz Break.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark painmaster Julie Taymor was set for an interview appearance at a New York Times Arts & Leisure weekend next month, but her PR just released the following regret: "With the changes in the 'Spider-Man' production schedule, Julie will be deep in rehearsals and will not be available to participate." The seclusion begins? She should've tried this technique when Across the Universe garnered that Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture. So silly! [NYT]
So, what's the only thing that could make those Star Wars pies even more delicious? How about a little Star Wars weed to whet your appetite? Yes, of course that exists! A medical marijuana dispensary called the San Diego Organic Wellness Association has developed a "Skywalker" (get it?) OG strain of marijuana, which apparently has a "piny, skunky smell" and will not make you fall asleep immediately. For more details, I'll let Brittany take it away in the video review below. For more hardcore geeks, the SDOWA also offers a "Death Star" strain. I kid you not.
I spent 2010 overdosing on late night television, obsessively cataloging network fat jokes (everyone goes through that phase, right?), toiling in a love/hate relationship with Grey's Anatomy, Gleebasing and interviewing entertainment figures who shifted American pop culture for good (Jimmy Fallon) and evil (Pauly Shore). As one of my final Movieline duties this calendar year, I will now revisit the 10 stories that brought a smile to my face and I hope, entertained or informed you.
You know how it goes: More and more often, you just don't have the bandwidth to process a movie review of intellect, substance and/or proper English. And in your vexation, you sigh and wonder to yourself, "God, when will someone pleeeeease dilute criticism to a more digestible tweet length?" Here you go: Movie Tweeviews. It is what it sounds like. Sample: "THE FIGHTER is engaging, start to finish. Bale & Adams are great & Wahlberg is a brute force, but the emotional crescendos are muted." I smell the future. [Movie Tweeviews via THR]
The year-end box office receipts are in, and Hollywood fell just short of last year's record-setting $10.6 billion haul. While ticket receipts still broke $10 billion, overall attendance this year dropped a whopping 5.36 percent, making 2010 the second-lowest-attended year of the last decade. This drop, along with the fact that awful 3-D conversion of Clash of the Titans finished just outside the top 10, suggests that audiences this year were totally down with that 3-D surcharge. Also interesting is the fact that almost half of the top 10 films of the year, including the number-one ranked Toy Story 3, were CGI animation. Watch your backs, bankable actors!
As noted by my esteemed colleagues, it's much easier to pick out 10 memorable works from other people than it is to find 10 of your own. Low self-esteem be damned, though, I'm going for it! Here now are the 10 stories I loved covering most over the last year.
Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: Reese Witherspoon gets engaged...Jeff Bridges on whether he was high at the Oscars...Clint Eastwood confirms a regal actress for his upcoming J. Edgar Hoover biopic...Ashton Kutcher prepares for an actual apocalypse...And more...
We've gotten some nifty time-lapse videos of the East Coast blizzard, but in terms of capturing the beauty, hardship and sheer scope of the weather, Jamie Stuart's snow-covered, New-York-shot ode to the Soviet montage is the end-all. Roger Ebert is already calling for the film to receive an Academy Award because of its quality and technical profiency as well as its "role as homage." Indeed, Stuart's short Idiot with a Tripod does an admirable job paying tribute to Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent classic Man With a Movie Camera while still capturing the trials and tribulations that people (and dogs) endured at the hands of the snowstorm.
The Writer's Guild of America has released the list of eligible screenplays for their annual awards. Traditionally, these awards have been strong predictors for the Oscars, with winners for both original and adapted screenplays matching up eleven of the last sixteen years. But this year, there are a few noteworthy omissions including The King's Speech and Toy Story 3. But don't worry, Grown Ups is here! Between this and the list of eligible Best Picture films, maybe Armond White should start spearheading a last-minute, Hail Mary campaign for the film, Harvey Weinstein-style.
· Sarah Palin, the star of TLC's lumber-cuttin' good time Sarah Palin's Alaska, claims she "loves Alaska like she loves her family," but Alaska wants you to know the feeling isn't mutual. Click ahead to see what percentage of Alaskans strongly dislike the onetime governor.
While Richard Chamberlain and John Travolta might agree that Hollywood is still not a safe place for leading men and women to be open about their sexuality, the entertainment industry has embraced and rewarded the heterosexual men and women willing to play gay on-screen. The latest example is Mickey Rourke, who has confirmed that he too will join that bandwagon by playing Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas (who announced that he was gay just last December) in an upcoming biopic. In honor of this role -- which, hell, might win Rourke the Oscar that evaded him for The Wrestler, when he lost to someone on this very list -- Movieline reviews which hetero actors have gone gay or transsexual for a role, and which were awarded Academy Awards along the way.
· Things are still a total mess in the great city of New York following Sunday night's snowpocalypse, so much so that Rebel forces have decided to use it as their secret home base to hide from the Empire. Click ahead to see Williamsburg's newest residents and stick around for more Buzz Break.
Because this is the slowest news week ever, things like British "star" Cheryl Cole topping Ask Jeeves' most searched celebrity list is not only worthy of a blog entry, it's also awesome. Or maybe just to me. Regardless! "This has been the year of Cheryl Cole. She's head and shoulders above any other celebrity subject on our website," said an Ask Jeeves spokeswoman. "The interest shown in her has been phenomenal." Which begs the question: Who is Cheryl Cole?
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