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« May Flowers: Eyes Without a Face (1960) | Main | DVDs. Which Will It Be? »
Wednesday
May252011

Armie Hammer Can Fire A Machine Gun (And Other Linkables)

FilmDetail GASP. Terrence Malick actually photographed in Cannes this weekend. Or is it a cardboard cutout?
Vulture picks the best (and worst) performances from Glee Season Two now that it's wrapped. Sound choices throughout actually.
Austin Translation the latest Pixar short La Luna wraps production.

Dan Hipp 'I am Tetsuo!' (an Akira moment)
FourFour on Kate Bush's "Director's Cut"
Gold Derby Jane Lynch (Glee) may host the Emmys
IonCinema proves that it's not just Oscars that cajole people into ridiculous predictions: herewith predictions for Cannes May 2012 edition.
Pajiba imagines worst-cast baby names from the current crop of starry couplings.
Kenneth in the (212) Justin Bartha on Matthew McConaughey's McConaunuts. What the...

Oh and mark your calendars for March 8th, 2013 if you're so inclined. That's when they'll be releasing Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful, one of many Wizard of Oz themed projects that is stupidly not the mega-popular half a billion plus grossing Wicked. Alas.

Finally...
did Armie Hammer really need to compare kissing Leonardo DiCaprio to operating a machine gun in that you just have to pretend to know what you're doing even though you don't?

Excuse me Armie but you know what you're doing! Unless you're marriage is really unconventional. I'm constantly bemused by this topic. Hello world? Listen up. As someone who has kissed both men (duh) and women (what? I experimented in college) I'll break it down for you: both men and women are human [GASP]. Each human being has lips and a tongue whether or not they have a penis or a vagina. I know that's hard to wrap your head around, world, but it's TOTALLY TRUE. Have you ever met someone without lips or a tongue? Kissing is kissing and the  major variable, gender-wise, is facial hair. Otherwise the differences are pretty much person to person. It feels best when you're hot for each other. It feels dumbest when you're not which any professional actor is more than well acquainted with as kissing is a basic job requirement; more basic than firing automated weaponry! The end.

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Reader Comments (20)

All straight actors playing gay roles should memorize the interviews that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal did during their PR tour for "Brokeback Mountain." They always struck the right balance, not giving off a whiff of defensiveness or worse.. Armie Hammer, who was blazing hot in "The Social Network," just cooled about ten degrees in my estimation.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterOwen Walter

Oooh. That was a mistake, Nat. I looked at his career. He hasn't really done a single romantic role at this point. 2 "extra" roles (Spring Breakout and Flicka), a strangers in an elevator thriller, an evangelist, Harrison Bergeron, and the Winklevi in film. In TV, he's an extra in one episode of Arrested, a very minor character in one episode of Veronica Mars and one episode of Desperate Housewives, a "special guest star" in Reaper (plot doesn't sound romance driven) and a four episode boyfriend of another guest star on Gossip Girl. Unless anyone knows he does kiss anyone in those episodes, I don't think he's actually had to kiss anyone for a part before.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterVolvagia

The part of the interview that bugs me even more than the machine-gun analogy is when he directly says, "I have never kissed a guy - it’s not something I’m going to do in my private life." Unnecessary.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterOwen Walter

Love the countdown of the Glee performances, although they're missing two of the best: Kurt's rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye," and his duet/mash-up with Rachel (not Wicked...the other one).

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered Commenterjbaker475

It really bugs me that actors get asked that question (What was it like kissing [insert name] ?) at all when playing gay characters. Actresses who play gay characters never get asked that question. What I hate about it is that the interviewer (usually male) usually makes little jokes about it, and the actors might feel like they have to play along with it, which isn't right. I love Jim Carrey's answer to that question of what it was like kissing Ewan McGregor in "I Love You Philip Morris". His answer was something like, "Well, have you seen him? He's a dreamboat", which is funny and shows how stupid and behind the times questions like that are meant as.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterMeghan

I think that being asked about this depends on the hotness of the actor/actress. Scarlett Johansonn and Cruz were asked about it, and so were Kunis and Portman. So that makes me wonder if they'll ask DiCaprio, meaning he's still considered hot, or not. And anyway am I the only one who thinks it's odd that the press (=judgmental gossip mags/blogs) doesn't question DiCaprio longtime friendship with Lukas Haas. Aren't they Cary Grant and Randolph Scott all the way? Or do I have a too gay vision of things?

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered Commenteriggy

jbaker -- no no. they have that "as if we never said goodbye" for Kurt. I distinctly remember what they said.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterNathaniel R

I'm actually kind of lookig forward to this Oz movie, and I despise remakes and reboots and dumb sequels. Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams (!!!!!!!) are going to be in it, apparently. And it is written by David Lindsay Abaire, who wrote Rabbit Hole. I think it could be good. Michelle Williams doesn't make bad movies.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterMike

"...and the major variable, gender-wise, is facial hair"

Did you know that women in Spain tend to develop beards more than anywhere else in the world? There's some sort of strange hormonal thing going on there that gives them facial hair. P.T. Barnum apparently created the whole "bearded lady as sideshow spectacle" thing after hiring a notoriously hairy Spanish women for his troupe.

Anyway, as you were.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterJose

Armie comes from a very religious background, from what I've read...like old money, serious evangelical Christians. Maybe there's some issues there he can't wrap his head around despite his chosen profession.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterBia

Well, he did say something to the effect that the hype about it was weird. The media makes it hard for any guy to fess up to enjoying a kiss with another guy. Carey can get away with it because he is a comedian first and foremost in most people's minds even though he's also a great actor.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered Commentersheila kind

Ha, that final paragraph just made me laugh uproariously.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterAndrew K.

Fun fact, regarding the "everyone has lips and a tongue" bit: there's a word meaning "without lips." Achilous, if you're curious.

"Wanda was a lovely lady, but James could not bring himself to kiss an achilous woman."

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterAndrew R.

That last paragraphy was great Nathaniel, well said. I don't think Armie knew he was being offensive, he probably just doesn't know what to say, he is new to the business after all.

Anyway, I refuse to believe that Gwyneth on Glee was anything other than cringe-worthy, how anyone could have liked that is beyond me. She did it ok at the grammy's, but in the episode....barf.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterBroooooke

Hmm yeah Gwyneth Paltrow practically destroyed everything she did well in her first guest appearance with her second episode. And I truly believe she effed up her Emmy chances with that.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterJorge Rodrigues

The list of good performances is pretty good. The list of bad ones is questionable in a number of places: "Pure Imagination" was amazing, and "My Funny Valentine" was clearly supposed to be bad; she broke down crying in the middle of it.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterSC

Nathaniel, I've gotta ask - do you actually like WICKED? It's got a mediocre American-Idol score, a mediocre book and generic storytelling. There are a number of stage musicals that should be adapted before this one.

May 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterArkaan

Wow, just caught that AIWNSB was on the list. Had a bit of temporary blindness, obviously haha.

May 26, 2011 | Unregistered Commenterjbaker475

@iggy: DiCaprio is gay, right? In a Jodie Foster sort of way? (As in , huge superstar whom nobody - that I know of - broaches the subject with?) I've always wondered why some celebrities are surrounded by constant speculation and open questions on the subject and others - silence. I guess it depends on how much weight the star (and their manager/team) can throw around?

May 26, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterJanice

I agree, it's I like, probably I come in handy

May 30, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterInpustysaunty
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