July 27, 2010

As Himself


We've discussed Mel Gibson going crazy at his lady. Well, in his next film he plays a man who is crazy for his beaver. Oh my.

Sometimes actors often seem to play themselves on screen. Some have even played themselves. And a few have even been awesome at it. And here they are:


Top 5 Self-Portrayals

#5 

I'm a big fan. Doogie Howser, Starship Troopers, How I Met Your Mother, or Doctor Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog – you name it, I dig it. In the smartest stoner movies you're likely to see, Harris' parody of child star celebs hits all the key points: drug-fueled and violent sex-crazed maniac. This wild NPH - beloved by frat boys the world over - is a drastic contrast to Harris' real life persona – beloved by gays and girls the world over - as the openly gay actor/singer who hosted the Tony Awards in 2009 and recently appeared in an Aerosmith sing-off in Glee. Harris' biggest real-life scandal involved his critical comments on stunt-casting Britney Spears on HIMYM. (He said the show was better than this gimmick – he was right.) 

Ultimately, for his willingness to make a world class ass of himself, NPH gets my #5 spot.


#4 



For those of you not in love with Classic Hollywood and the cinema therein, let me tell you a little something about Dean Martin. Martin was a world renowned singer and comedian. He was high class and all-around sexy man, known for his fervent taste for and love of women and alcohol. And in Billy Wilder's sex comedy, he apes both for laughs. In Kiss Me, Stupid, Martin plays "Dino," a heavy-drinking celebrity singer headed to LA, who is stuck in Climax, Nevada while his car is being repaired. 

The plot revolves around an aspiring song writer who wants to sell songs to Dino without losing his wife to the drunkard Lothario. A Shakespearean ruse of wife-swapping is employed and hilarity and sexcapades ensue. 

Often playing a lover (That's My Boy) or a drunk (Rio Bravo), Martin's roles seem to have an Ourobos effect on his persona. But in Kiss Me, Stupid Martin is flat-out playing a caricature of himself. Give him a bottle of wine and a blonde and you'll have him happy. He's a cad in Kiss Me, and it makes for a meta good time.


Top 3 after the jump!

July 22, 2010

Looking Back on ‘09


In general, I’ve been catching up on podcasts.  Specifically I've been hitting The /Filmcast podcast hard. And listening to some of my favorite movie nerds hash out flicks made me consider: 

My Favorites Films of 2009
(In no particular order)

The Hurt Locker made independently because director Kathryn Bigelow demanded to shoot on location in the Middle East. (The studio’s refused because of insurance costs.) The metaphorical balls it took to make this movie is worth noting. But "balls" aside, Bigelow made a classic Hollywood film. The Hurt Locker is a western in the vein of John Wayne. William James is a cowboy who rolls into town and plays by his own rules to save the day – defusing bombs. Notably, the film alternates between reveling in his antics and pulling us into his despair. When James can’t be a hero, he’s lost. Admittedly, the grocery store sequence at the film’s end, risks cliché but transcends it with Jeremy Renner’s outstanding performance. He created a complex character I was afraid of but feared for. And I loved this movie despite a long-standing ambivalence toward war movies. Not my speed.

But The Hurt Locker grabbed me and didn’t let up. Special props to the cinematography. By using a high-speed camera (the kind typically used in hair commercials to make those graceful hair flips oh-so-slow and glamorous), Bigelow showed the violence of the bombs in a way audiences haven’t seen before. It didn’t feel like spectacular Michael Bay style BOOM BOOM! Instead it felt real and dangerous. The opening sequence establishes the turf of these men expertly. And I think The Hurt Locker will always speak of this time, when we played as cowboys on the world stage. The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for Best picture and Best Director among a slew of other awards and deserved them all.


If you like the Hurt Locker, try My Country, My Country.
American documentarian Laura Poitras spent 8 months in Baghdad following an Iraqi doctor and his family culminating in the first election following Saddam’s fall. It’s gutsy, engaging and pitch perfect.

Food Inc. made by the authors of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is a sharp and smart revelation about the history of food production in the US and where we are now. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but see this movie. There are things therein you should know. And my favorite aspect is that after Pollan and Scholsser lay down all kinds of heavy truths, they tell you how you can make a difference. And it’s easy: put your money where your mouth is. The Cove took home the Oscar, but Food Inc.’s my personal pick for best doc of ’09.


If you like Food Inc. try The Cove. I prefer Food Inc, for sheer relevance to my life, but The Cove’s a damn fine doc about a shocking event. It plays like Ocean’s 11, and has an ending that is more horrifying than many horror flicks. Not for the faint of heart.

(500) Days of Summer
feels like it was made just for me. Sassy trash-mouth girl child? Check. Karaoke of Nancy Sinatra’s "Sugar Town?" Check. Impromptu musical number? Check. Indie it kids Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Double check. (The soundtrack alone had me giddy.) I’ve watched this movie more than any other on this list. It’s like candy. Sweet and addictive. 


If you like (500) Days of Summer, try Adam - a quirky romantic dramedy about a young man (played by Hugh Dancy) with Asperger's syndrome and his first love. Like (500), Adam is a bittersweet love story about growing up. Totally worth your rental dollars. 



(The rest after the jump!)
 

July 16, 2010

Operation Exodus: Rocket to the Sun

So, Mel Gibson has shot his mouth off again, and some are shocked, while I'm bored.

He’s been bat-shit crazy for nearly a decade now.

But it's made me think back on the people who have retroactively ruined things for me by doing something so dumb/despicable that it taints everything they’ve ever done. Ruining everything forever. Jerks.

So, here it is:

TOP FIVE TOXIC CELEBRITIES


#5
Zach Braff

Crimes: Douchebaggery to nth degree.

He was fun on Scrubs, and Garden State was ok (I take issue that in the third act, it switches from coming-of-age story to love story. He's a manchild! Stay away, helmet girl! You have enough to deal with!) 

But living in NY, I know a lot of actresses, thereby - I know a lot of hostesses/waitresses/baristas/etc. And after he became a big man, he acted like a big dick to just about every woman in the service industry in the five boroughs. And the word came out loud and strong: Braff is a royal asshole. More specifically, the kind of asshole who stares at your tits and then says things like, “You know who I am. Want to go somewhere?”

The Last Straw: Cheating on Mandy Moore. You bastard.

What I miss most: Arrested Development’s “S.O.B.” and “Spring Break.” Here he plays a Never-Nude Joe Francis creeper. Too close for comfort.

Silver Lining: It’s not hard to avoid Zach Braff because most of his projects are awful anyway. (Second billing of this winner went to a member of the Real World. Score!)





#4
John Mayer

Crimes: Pseudo-intellectualism. Manchild sexism masquerading as being a hopeless romantic.

 I was admittedly never a big John Mayer fan, but his stuff was cute and catchy. And hey, I’m a girl. But then he started talking and wouldn't stop!


Final Straw:  In Rolling Stone, he explained he wasn’t afraid to commit he just hadn’t yet met the perfect woman. You know, the one with “The Joshua Tree of vaginas.”

What I miss most: John Mayer on Chappelle's Show. Us white people do love guitar rifts.

Silver Lining: Mayer-hating is a deeply satisfying ladies’ night activity. (Tip for Men: Sweatpants are never appealing. Not EVER.)



#3
Lindsay Lohan

Crimes: Descending from promising child actress/possible role-model to total hot mess.

She’s such a trainwreck it’s distracting to all her flicks. It’s like the time I saw Paper Moon at a revival screening a few years back and Tatum O’Neal made a special appearance to introduce the film. As she got up on stage to talk for a bit about making the movie – which made her famous – which inspired her dad to use her to get into Hollywood parties and fuck starlets – which led to her feeling alone/betrayed – which led to her becoming a junkie - one astute audience member whispered, “Her life is so sad.” Yep. And it taints the whole movie - sad. So, how, I ask you can I ever enjoy the Lilo canon ever again?

The Last Straw: Her leggings line has a pair called “Mr. President” with kneepads sewn on (just $132!) There’s so much here that irks me it’s best we just move on.

What I miss most: Mean Girls. She nailed being the nerd girl outsider.

Silver Lining: Fellow Mean Girls Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lizzy Caplan took the ball and ran with it, being awesome non-trainwrecks! Watch your back, indeed.


(Top 2 after the jump!)


July 15, 2010

Hey there.

 
I’ve been a movie-obsessed since I was in diapers. Glued to any kind of behind-the-scenes footage. Clamoring for any interview about production secrets. I geeked-out when DVDs made Director’s Commentary a common occurrence. And for as long as I could talk, I talked about movies. Loudly and with fervor.

As a kid, my favorites were action/adventure flicks like the Batman movies, Indiana Jones, Crocodile Dundee or anything with Muppets. As a teen, I grew a deep-seated love for independent movies because of their ability to rattle and surprise me, and became obsessed with horror movies – The Good (Halloween), The Bad (Jack Frost), and the Ugly/Gross (Evil Dead 2). In college, I learned to love westerns, and to seek out women’s films. And with every new genre, came new films for me to love/hate/obsess over.

So here I am. A long-time movie nerd, whose obsession/love only grows.

And I never did learn to keep my opinions to myself.

~Movie Nerd Girl