Tues Top Ten: This Week's Favorite Everything
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 12:01PM You may have noticed I've been short on time -- apologies! -- so herewith, a speedy very random assortment of...
10 FAVORITE THINGS OF THE PAST WEEK
10 Bunheads Song & Dance. The extremely odd ABC Family show in which the great Broadway star Sutton Foster plays a former Las Vegas showgirl who impulsively marries and ends up teaching ballet in a small town called 'Paradise' doesn't always work. But even when it doesn't it's compulsively watchable. It's so very much itself. And it's wonderful that that self is veering more towards song & dance, with three recent somewhat nonsensical musical interludes. Kudos to the show for casting actresses who don't require body doubles for the dancing.
09 Beau on stage. (When good things happen to good people part 1) Beau, one of our newest contributors, has been acting in a stage play in California and he's won great reviews. This one compares him to John Malkovich (Malkovich! Malkovich! Malkovich!) and this one just raves about his work. Congratulations, Beau!
08 United States of Tara. I finally finished the series thanks to Netflix. I'm only a year late. The final season wasn't as strong as the first two but I love the Gregson family so much. Toni Collette and Toni Collette and Toni Collette and Toni Collette and Toni Collette and Toni Collette and Toni Collette were awesome for those three years, don't you think.
07 Monty Cuddles my evil ornery cat cuddled up purring for an entire 1½ hour nap the day after a very tough day. Is there such a thing as being possessed by good spirits?
06 "Oops" - Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, caught in the act. And also: Anne Hathaway in general and in perpetuity. Sorry haters!
04 "N.R.A Proposes Sweeping Ban on Movies"
Saying it was 'high time to take action against the number one cause of violence in America,' the National Rifle Association issued a statement today urging a sweeping ban on movies.
Tracy Klugian, an official spokesperson for the gun-lobbying organization, said that the N.R.A. had taken this extraordinary step because it 'could not stand idly by and watch movies tear apart the fabric of our civil society...'"
This satirical piece in The New Yorker (AKA Best Magazine in the World) was just what I needed after that horrifically depressing weekend in which an actual tragedy was followed by the not at all surprising (and even more tragic for its endless consequences) American pattern of insane* shock and political stupidity / apathy post gun violence.
*isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Gun massacres should not be even remotely shocking to Americans. Unless we change laws, this is the bed we make for ourselves and we shouldn't complain about the state of the sheets. The statistics from all around the world paint an indisputable picture that gun control prevents gun violence.
03 Saw Bachelorette with Joe Reid. (When good things happen to good people part 2) I probably shouldn't review it proper since my friend Leslye Headland made it but I'll say more when it opens. I'm predisposed to root for it on account of a) friendship b) the amazing fact that Leslye managed to channel one of our shared movie loves into a great casting coup -- Kirsten Dunst plays the Queen B in this very dark comedy about post-collegiate mean girls who can't quite let their high school selves go.
02 Cooked dinner for friends. Look at me! Boiling water is hard for me so this was akin to a Summer Event Film chez moi. I made meatloaf and corn on the cob. Friends claimed it to be delicious so I either lucked out or I have good friends.
01 Melanie Lynskey in Hello, I Must Be Going. (When good things happen to good people part 3) Or... "When good roles happen to deserving actresses!" It's so rare to see supporting actresses in their 30s get a first real moment in the movie sun (yes, there was Heavenly Creatures but teenage debuts are a different animal) and Lynskey runs with the plum opportunity. Bonus points: the trailer doesn't give away all the best parts though it does lean on the bouncy comedy and the movie is closer to a drama with smart bits of character comedy.
In short -- more when it opens -- she's very good in the film. I've always said that depression is really hard to act without flattening your charisma or the character's psychology but Melanie manages multiple layers and you can actually see her bloom rather than the easier 'snapping out of it' as she has an affair with a 19 year old and she works her way back to life post (bewildering) divorce. If they filmed out of sequence, her performance is even more impressive.
What were a few of your favorite things this week?
Reader Comments (20)
I'm really happy for Melanie Lynskey too, even if I wasn't crazy about the movie.
:)))))
Thanks, Nat for the shout out. Very kind. :)
Good recommendation for the weekend approaching, Melanie is very good actress and this movie features I like his character. Well deserved for this role Melanie!
Where's 05? I demand there be a 05!
Chris -- OOPS. someone give me an idea of what i should be celebrating. SURELY SOMEONE HAS THEIR OWN FAVORITE THINGS to share.
Terrence Malick's new film premiering at Toronto! Only 14 months after The Tree of Life!
Lindsay's Lohan's 5th year anniversary of her first arrest :)
OT: In line with Beau's statement. There's a list of the 61 gala and special presentation in Toronto: http://movie-knight.com/2012/tiff-announces-61-galas-and-special-presentations-for-2012/
Interesting points:
-"Looper" is the opening film
-For the gala we have confirmed Ben Affleck, Deepa Metha, Mira Nair, David O. Russell, Mike Newell, Robert Redford and Sergio Castellito. Nathaniel, maybe we can considerate Penélope Cruz as best actress contender. Not only for the confidence in Toronto, according with different sources in Italy, the film is in English language with only few parts in Italian. So, if Cruz is excellent -Like in "Don't Move"- and the film received warm response maybe she could sneak a spot.
-For special presentations we have Joe Wright, Sally Potter, Neil Jordan, Terrence Malick, Marco bellochio, Anna Pitterbag -An Argentinian film starring Viggo Mortensen-
Nat, what do you think of Kier Gilchrist's performance as Marshall in USOT? Both USOT and Glee premiered around the same time, but while Kurt/Colfer was being championed as a great gay teen character, there was pretty much silence (as far as I could tell) on Gilchrist's performance. But, of the two, I usually found Marshall both more more believable and likeable. Am I missing something about Kurt/Colfer or do other people agree?
I think Anne Hathaway is great in that she proves you can be ugly, untalented, and have a terrible personality and still find success in life.
Looking forward to Monty's take on Award Season 2012 when the screeners start arriving. Your post with him reacting to 127 HOURS, CONVICTION etc was flat-out hilarious and one of my all-time TFE favourites.
Karen: Eek.
Karen: Good on you! I'm still looking for such an idol myself. =)
Karen, you are a troll and a hater. Anne Hathaway was wonderful in " The Dark Knight Rises." Practically , every movie critic consistently praised Hathaway's performance as being the highlight performance of the movie. While watching this movie, Anne did the impossible, because not once did I think about the other actresses that previous portrayed Catwoman.
P.S. I loved Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman performance, but her version was a over-the-top lunatic that has nine lives- no realism and not the true version of the comic books.
Tim -- this is one of the first times I've heard someone refer to comic book anything as "true", as if they're a deeply realistic entertainment genre. Catwoman has had so many lives in the comic books -- that whole industry is constantly contradicting itself that you'd be hard pressed to say that there's any one version that's the accurate one. isn't that part of the reason comic books and Hollywood are loving each other so much? Both are so fond of just rewriting history --the reboot -- so as to keep grabbing new and younger eyeballs.
p.s. i still love Michelle's best :) but i agree with you that Hathaway was wonderful and it was enough "her own" that I wasn't really thinking about the other catwomen either. Probably helped that Nolan never called her "Catwoman"
I saw a screening of Bachelorette as well, but I'm really disappointed that they made the trailer so vanilla...the movie deserved better. Red band, please.
LOVING Bunheads so, so much! I mean, anything that brings more Sutton Foster into our lives is obviously something to be celebrated, but it's such a lovely show and I am enjoying it immensely - something I never thought I'd say about anything showing on ABC Family!
I am so thrilled that Melanie Lynskey is getting such great praise for Hello I Must Be Going. Nathaniel, do you think she has any shot in hell of sneaking into the Oscar Best Actress category? I fear that the most she'll get will be a Sprit nom. She's been so consistently great since Heavenly Creatures, but mostly in small roles; it'd be nice to see her rewarded for all that as well as knocking a lead out of the park.
Anne Hathaway so cute in that maid's costume. Add a bad french accent and she'll be perfect for the Clue remake.*
*still completely against remaking Clue.
United States of Tara pretty much proves that Toni Collette is the most talented actress of her generation. Such an underutilized talent.
1) Two episodes of Borgen, the Danish political drama on LinkTV, with the wonderful Sidse Babett Knudson.
2) The entire 8 episodes of Bleak House, a BBC drama of the Dickens novel. Adapted by the same guy who did Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth et al.
3) Yay for Melanie Lynskey! Just watched Ever After with my girls, and she was the nice step-sister. Loved her then, loved her before in Heavenly Creatures, loved her in Win-Win, and can't wait to see Hello I Must be Going. Recently heard a great interview with her on a podcast, but can't remember which one---The Treatment? Fresh Air?
4) Finally saw Young Adult. Man, can that Charlize act, though she leaves me a bit cold.