Baby, I Was Linked This Way
Friday, February 11, 2011 at 6:05PM 
Pop Sugar gets a first look at Leonardo DiCaprio, Judi Dench and Armie Hammer suited up for Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar (pictured left). I'd embed it here but it's one of those annoying videos that starts itself and that won't do. Computers must be silent until they are asked to speak. Don't you agree?
Nicole's Magic explains the reason Nicole Kidman isn't in Just Go With It's marketing campaign (spoilery).
Gallery of the Absurd "commemorates" Lindsay Lohan's latest criminal activity.
The New York Times' dance critic reviews Black Swan. I'm so burnt out on Black Swan right now but this is a good read. Like this
It goes out of its way to contradict the old escapist idea that “everything’s beautiful at the ballet.” Instead it takes energy from the aspects of ballet that are cruel and unfair. Let’s not pretend, however, that those aspects don’t exist.
The Browser Speaking of... Here's a different type of article, Darren Aronofsky talking about his 5 favorite filmmaking books.
Movie|Line regarding that time Anne Heche turned down Speed. WHAAAA? Sorry I l-o-v-e Anne Heche and she does not have the career I long for her to have despite being a unique screen presence and fine actress. Damn you Hollywood, damn you!
Black Voices shares a recent controversial statement about black women and Oscars and extrapolates on that. I find this type of discussion fascinating but whenever people use Oscar nominations and wins to paint broad strokes I always want to school them a little on Oscar history in general. I know I paint with broad strokes sometimes, too, so I sympathize. But take this note for example.
Sure, Halle Berry and Monique won their awards because they played roles that Hollywood is incredibly comfortable with: black women yelling, screaming and suffering without makeup. But, it's not just white Hollywood. We're all incredibly comfortable with miserable black women. I call it pain porn.
I 100% agree that Oscar rewards things they are comfortable with.
But one could make an argument that it's not that Oscar loves seeing black women in pain, it's that Oscar loves seeing women in pain. Dramatic suffering has always been the easiest way to an Oscar. Look at your entire Best Actress lineup this year. They're all white, sure. They're also all suffering. The least tearful woman in the lineup (Jennifer Lawrence) is a tough one, but she also gets beat up and shunned by her own kin. And when she's not in pain porn, she's in poverty porn. (Poverty porn, like pain porn, is not about race with Oscar.) Was Annette Bening nominated this year because she ably conveyed boredom and confusion about her marriage and hilarious cluelessness about what emotions her children were logging? No. I bet you anything she was nominated because when tears welled up in her eyes and she asked her lying wife "did you take a nap, too?" you could feel the sting of betrayal and the disorienting fresh magnitude of her pain. Ever notice how many Oscar clips are people screaming, yelling and suffering? The bulk of them! The same is true for the men (albeit to a lesser degree)
Is that my daughter in theerrrrrrrrrrre?!!!???
But mostly I wanted to say something about this because to disparage Mo'Nique's win is to shun one of the best performances of the modern era. The last time I saw someone dig that deep and find that much humanity inside someone doing monstrous things was... um... I'm not sure that I have. I bow down to Mo'Nique's actressing. If someone doesn't give her another meaty movie role soon, we are all the poorer for it.
Off Cinema Break
Do you like Lady Gaga's new song "Born This Way?"
I'm not sure that I do. I have no doubt it'll work for the dancefloor but as a stand-alone pop melody? Sorry for my gay heresy. You can have the toaster back.
Anne Heche, Black Swan, Blacktress, Darren Aronofsky, Lady Gaga, Mo'Nique
Reader Comments (19)
Interesting to hear that about Kidman. I love the Internet, and think it has done a lot for film conversation, but it has pretty much ruined the possibility for a "surprise' cameo.
Although, she's been all over Access Hollywood in clips from the movie.
That has nothing to do with being black...as someone said before "it's not the actors that win Oscars, it's the role," and it's so true. And Oscar loves those roles.
I love Born This Way...definitely not my favorite Gaga song, but I love what it stands for, and it will totally be a gay anthem for the ages. So dance-able and fun. I think I'll like it more when the video comes out.
Born This Way-Gaga admitted she wrote in 10 minutes. That's not a good thing. Dancefloor song-yes. Quality song-HAHAHAHAHA!
As for black women suffering, For Colored Girls would've scooped up a shitload of Oscar nods if it was a race thing.
I didn't think the lyrics to Express Yourself could get that much gayer, but apparently I was wrong. Not even Madonna makes 1980's-ish Madonna songs anymore, so why is Lady Gaga...? So disappointing. I wanted another Bad Romance, not an Express Yourself redux (with elements of Vogue thrown in just to guarantee it was a hit!).
So so disappointed with born this way...it sounds like such shoddy production! I'm all for a new gay anthem and I'm ALL for Express Yourself 2.0, but this just feels like it was rushed into production and without any real concern for quality. And I'm sorry, I'm a gay man, but this just feels kind of heavy handed to me as well I get it Lady Gaga, you love us and are in our corner, but if you're gonna give me an anthem give it some subtlety and a better melody! That being said, I think I'll walk around telling people "Don't be a drag, just be a queen" for a long time. Silver lining.
Kidman is getting pretty terrific reviews for Just Go With It. Mostly along the lines of she steals the show, even though it's another mediocre Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston vehicle.
I feel sorry for Kidman. She's a GREAT comic actress (besides being a great dramatic actress), who has never been in a particularly good mainstream or memorable comedy (she got great reviews for Bewitched as well, but people only remember the movie being a suckfest). Meryl Streep had the same problem for years and years, till The Devil Wears Prada hit a homerun for her. Kidman has amply displayed her comic timing and skills in smaller "dark" comedies like Margot At The Wedding and To Die For, but she deserves a good mainstream comic vehicle for her talents.
I think Kidman is very much Streep's heir, in terms of versatility and capability and hopefully longevity, and I hope she gets her own equivalent to The Devil Wear's Prada, that's a big fat hit and a critical success as well. Here's hoping Kidman doesn't have to wait as long as Streep to find that mainstream vehicle for her considerable comic ability.
Shane, you know what's funny is even I, a known Kidman fanatic, rarely think that she's skilled in that department, but now that you mention it i am suddenly reminded that she was hilarious in To Die For. I think it comes down to that she's good at comedy when she has a character to play but she's not a comedienne.
some people are jsut funny. other people can be funny if they can tether it to something else. The problem is, you're right, that the good comic roles just havent been available to her.
but that said, few good comic roles are available in teh movies. Intelligent comedy is only on tv really. We just get Adam Sandler and stupid crap like Old Dogs at the movies. on tv you get parks & recreation and 30 rock and all this stuff. I wish the great comic writers on tv would write a great comedy movie.
I really don't think there is an heir to Streep. She's sort of those never to be duplicated stars, at this point, like Marilyn, Chaplin, or Elvis than can never really be duplicated.
Mo'Nique's performance is mind-boggling, in the good way. How?!? How can Nikki Parker bring that much surprise and that much truth to a stock character that is so traditionally used for scenery-chewing and overplaying? Even Shelley Winters' awesome take in A Patch of Blue doesn't hold a candle to Mo'Nique. I already miss her!
Ugh, Born this Way is not good. Way too obvious, unrefined, and honestly wouldn't be that fun to dance to I think. Overexposure has not been doing Lady Gaga any favors, and since she's far better at singles than albums, I'm kinda worried about what the rest of the album Born this Way will be like.
Born This Way will be a grower. I was quite underwhelmed on first, second, third (laptop) listen too -- but hearing it about five times while out last night proved its worth to me. That melody line in the chorus that leads into the title refrain sounds amazing when everyone is screaming along to it on the dancefloor. As does that relentless, driving, Only Girl In the World-esque beat. Sure, it's not the most significant intervention in the grand narrative of pop - in fact it's quite generic - but a nice teaser for the really good stuff to come.
It's like the complete antithesis of Hold It Against Me, which I blew my load over on first listen but now find almost unplayable. I literally can't wait to hear Born This Way again tonight...
Born This Ways is EXTREMELY catchy, yes, but I HATE the lyrics. How many times we gonna hear all those tired cliches? Pop music, especially simple and unoriginal as this doesn't need Ideology and Important Messages (sic!).
This will be a hit, a HIT song. Which is sad, because it's 10 times worst than anything Robyn recorded in 2010.
I'm also worried about entire album - "Born This Way" will have 19 tracks. "The Fame Monster" was great because there were only eight tracks, and every one of them was fantastic, and I highly doubt she can achieve such a high level with so many songs.
Let's face it this is her 9lady gaga) first bump in the road,following up 2 years like she just had was gonna be hard and hype and anticipation was at fever pitch and when it comes down to it this is a really ordinairy 90's sounding dance song like something from cher's believe,the chorus is ok but the heavy handed let's embrace the gays refrain is woeful,so many stars are adopted by the gay community not plastered onto their psyche by pop supremos in head offices!!!
I can see Blake Lively playing Lady Gaga in the future in some biopic (TV movie or Oscar movie: BEST COSTUME DESIGN LOCK)
I'm getting kind of sick of people complaining about there being a lack of African-American presence in this years Oscars. I mean, its not like the Oscar voters are racists! That would be stupid to presume. So what is the big deal? There were no African-American frontrunners at any point. The performances went as they were, and the fact that it's an 'all white' field this year is a coincidence. Do people want pity votes for Black actors? Is that it? That would be stupid.
I also agree about the tendency for the Academy voters to reward suffering women. Not just suffering black women. The whole hoopla just seems like something else for ignorant people to complain about, and i don't like it.
Blake Lively playing Gaga? That's a horrible thing to say. (I hope it's a joke).
Hollywood is bigoted. Now – What are the solutions to work around Hollywood’s limitations? There’s minority talent with good taste and stories to tell. Black artists and entertainers need to pull from obscurity the best and the brightest – so we don’t have to rely on a Lee Daniels or Tyler Perry. I have no idea – What the hell Spike Lee’s doing these days? He used to be a genius.
Did you read Jeff Wells go off on Mo'Nique yet again, blaming her for the reason there are no black nominees this year? Her offputting "give me money" ways have apparently turned Hollywood off of casting strong black women. Because it was apparently Hollywood that had the vision to cast Mo'Nique in "Precious"? Ugh. What a tool.
Glenn -- i don't read him anymore but that doesn't surprise me.