This & That: Oscar's Reunion, Hardy's Trapezius, Rudolph's Princess

So... before he starts filming the Tom Hooper directed film version of smash hit epic musical Les Miserables (more on that in a second) we're going to have to sit through one of the most ridiculous movies of all time (that's a guess) just to satiate our love of Mr. Jackman. The things we do for Hugh.

Here's the poster for Real Steel. 

I almost want to remove those arm bandages (tenderly!) and reapply them to the face mummy style, so as to save that wonderful movie star mug from B-film embarrasments. If you're going genre, go all out: wouldn't it awesome if a mummy was training boxing robots?

The Wrap In other Hugh Jackman news, we're getting our post Oscar 2009 ceremony wish: Anne Hathaway will probably be playing Fantine in the film version of Les Miserables. Ah, Hugh & Anne singing again. Together. Sort of. I can't recall if they have any songs together but I don't care. They're both finally doing a musical!
My New Plaid Pants Good Morning World, it's Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Twitch Film Josh Brolin confirmed to lead Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy. I am one of those rare souls that hates the original movie but they're still going to have a tough time surpassing its chutzpah, you know?
Just Jared Tom Hardy in the new issue of Dazed and Confused on this 'manpanion' trainer and more (I personally wish he'd lay off the bulk a little; his trapezius in Warrior is frighteningly over-sized...

poll by twiigs.com

Playbill Sadface. Looks like that Nicole Kidman / James Franco Broadway revival of Sweet Bird of Youth is off. I do think it's wise that Franco starts dropping projects from his ridiculously overbooked calendar (you have to have time to do things right, you know) but I hope Kidman still pursues it. Would love to see her take on that classic role.
Awards Daily I knew this would happen but it doesn't make it any less painful to see Ides of March trading in its excellent and interesting teaser poster -- the one with the magazine half faces -- for something so boring I already forgot what it looked like the second I started typing this sentence.
SplitSider a review of the porn parody of The Big Lebowski. Yes, really.

And I'm very happy to share this video of Maya Rudolph's Prince cover band Princess -- i didn't know there was such a thing (thx WoW) -- but I love them instantly. Here they are doing "Darling Nikki" once of Prince's most infamous numbers.

Come back Nikki! Come back!!! ♪

Finally, I have no idea why there's a sudden rush of Captain America postings but here ya go...
Austin Translation "Thor Loser"
Art of the Title Sequence on Captain America: The First Avenger
Comic Book Movie Curious. Joss Whedon will digitally resurrect the 40s actress Joan Leslie for The Avengers.

Leo vs. Ryan: Oscar's Golden Young Men?

If this year's Best Actress competition is the race of the sixty-somethings (Close vs. Streep) that most people are predicting with the films still sight unseen, what kind of shape will the corresponding male category take? Could we see a race between 30-somethings in a sort of reverse age scenario of what normally occurs with actresses winning young and actors winning as soon as they have a gray hair or fifty.

Leo frets. It's not always good news to be the early unarguable frontrunner.

As an Oscar pundit I'm always trying to roll different scenarios on my tongue to see how they taste. How about this: What if this year's race is between Leonardo DiCaprio in J Edgar who will draw strength both from his past Oscar history and from AMPAS Official Favorite Genre (the biopic) and Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March? Gosling will be propped up by last year's Blue Valentine snub, his sure to be iconic character in Drive, and his general quickly achieved status as THE best of his generation...on this side of the Atlantic at least. I assume Michael Fassbender is just warming up. And what if the vote siphoning ingredient is not Clooney or Fassbender or whomever but Cannes Best Actor winner Jean DuJardin in The Artist?

I know most people have called this one for Leo despite  J Edgar being sight unseen and Clint Eastwood's Oscar appeal slightly faded. On paper (Oscar weight paper), yes he looks unstoppable. That's especially true because if Gosling proves his main competition, well, Gosling is very young still for Oscar votes being only one year older at this writing as the youngest Best Actor winner ever (Adrien Brody, The Pianist). But I always hesitate to assume that we know winners before we have seen virtually any of the competitive work. I mean, would fans of other young movie giants of their day ever assume that Paul Newman or Al Pacino or Peter O'Toole or whomever would have to wait as long as they did or are? Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, both as big as Leo, are still waiting, too.

Nothing is certain until it's already happened.

As for Supporting Actor, The Ides of March is the big reigning question mark in the same way that The Help (previous posts) is for the ladies with multiple appealing choices for voters. The political drama has three former Oscar nominees, two of them winners, all circling 'round and talking at Ryan Gosling in the actor friendly piece. Who will voters favor: showy Philip Seymour Hoffman, subtle (at least in comparison) Paul Giamatti, or charismatic George Clooney?

Make your wild guesses now! Soon the movies are upon us. Wheeee

UPDATED PREDICTIONS: Index | Picture | Director | Actor | Supporting Actor 

The Ides of March Poster Splits the Difference

Robert here (Distant Relatives) with a look at The Ides of March poster which gives us half of Ryan and half of George staring out at us. What do we call this being? The Cloosling?

Still, it give us a look at both featured actors, throws in some political intrigue with the "is this man our next president?" line and is sure to get a few double takes hanging in a movie theater lobby. In that sense it's a well done poster. Then again, it's just about the only way to get George Clooney and Ryan Gosling together on a poster and make it somewhat aesthetically offputting.

It also reminds me of three similar face-mashing images in politics and movies.

• A famous magazine cover from 2000 that it might be intentionally referencing much in the way that Clooney's campaign posters reference Obama's.
• Ingmar Bergman's unsettling imagery from his film suggesting two people combining to build a bigger Persona.
• Or perhaps it's a more blunt assessment of a quality often found in politicians or operatives.

Newsweek 2000, Liv Ullman & Bibi Andersson in Persona, Two-Face