Lady Gaga's latest short "Born This Way" has arrived. It's se7en minutes of gooey births, nonsensical mythology ("Mother Monster"! She must have been watching the Oscars. They do so love a Monster Mom), and simple dances that look complicated via editing that everyone can learn for the clubs. Not quite sure what to make of the Madonna gap teeth at the end, though.
Perhaps she should give the Madonna homages/taunts(?)/riffs a rest? Although speaking of homages. I love that the head in the jar, assembly line thing reminds me so much of Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! or cheesy sci-fi movies in general ack ack
For what it's worth the Evil that is birthed (the skeleton faced guy, Canadian Rick Genest) also starred in the Thierry Mugler fashion short that Gaga did the German-language music for. That's actually his face. It's not makeup but tattoos.
Michelle Pfeiffer sightings are so rare these days that I have to share them every time (the last big day out was the White House Correspondents dinner in May of last year). Here she is at the Lady Gaga concert at Madison Square Garden yesterday. (I'm guessing she was on her way out because she's totally smiling and Gaga concerts are fun.) Which means she was right here in NYC last night. Wheeee.
They filmed that particular concert for HBO. She and David E Kelley were taking their kids Claudia Rose and John Henry who are now 17 and 16 respectively. This is all an effort to make me feel old since I still remember the first photo I ever saw of Claudia Rose, her daughter, (who turns 18 very shortly), which happens to be my favorite paparazzi photo of Michelle since she looked ridiculously happy. I'm sure she didn't like the intrusion of the cameras though since Pfeiffer is not a Fame Monster. She once told Rolling Stone.
I act for free, but I demand a huge salary as compensation for all the annoyance of being a public personality. In that sense, I earn every dime I make.
What does Pfeiffer make of Lady Gaga and her ilk, the celebrities who LIVE for their own celebrity? Different times. Different breeds of stars. When Lady Gaga was born (1986), Michelle was probably filming The Witches of Eastwick! Bye Jack. Now Gaga is the horned one.
What do you suppose La Pfeiff's favorite Gaga song is?
Tom Shone "acting as a special effect" interesting piece. The Playlist unveils the teaser poster for Pedro Almodovar's latest, The Skin That I Inhabit. Ewwww. I'm so scared to see this movie. But I shall.
In Contention checks out Vanessa Redgrave and Ralph Fiennes in the modern dress film version of Coriolanus, directing by Fiennes himself. How about that? The Carpetbagger interviews The Social Network's invisible man Josh Pence, the other half of the Winklevii The Wrap Lady Gaga on Jay Leno. You know... one thing I have to hand to Lady Gaga, the generosity and sentimentality she exudes in song and message doesn't seem faked at all. The way she handles Madonna questions in particular with respect is great. Because Madonna is the queen. Infinity.
Finally, the NY Times reports on Judi Dench's new book "and furthermore." The title implies that there is a previous book and we ought to read it since she's prepping a post script, addendum or some such in book form.
Complete the Sentence If you were speaking with Dame Judi Dench what would follow your "and furthermore" with? "and furthermore ___________________"
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.
Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:47AM 
