“Syriana” is an urgent movie about highly charged subject matter unafraid of challenging its viewers, but who wants to bet that the DVD will feature “Bonus Extra: The Entire Actual Film That Fills In All Those Things You Were Unclear On During Your First (or Second, or Third) Viewings”?
“Brokeback Mountain” is undeniably a beautiful film whose laconicism somehow makes its love story all the more affecting. What I wonder about is how the seemingly endless parade of stories (Frank Rich weighed in nicely today in The New York Times) about whether the allegedly close-minded heartland will open up enough to make this a hit and/or its significance as an artistic and cultural bellwether might not be obfuscating to those who have yet to see it. “Brokeback” has become an “important” film, when, in fact, every bone in its metaphorical body strains against that very thing.
Continue reading “Breaking “Brokeback’s” back with talk of “importance”” »
American awards-showering bodies have so far overlooked “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” the darkly comic, exquisitely shot, modern Western morality tale starring and directed by Tommy Lee Jones.
But the French, as they often do before us, got it back in May, when Jones won the best actor prize and Mexican writer Guillermo Arriaga (“21 Grams”) took screenplay honors at the Cannes Film Festival.
Continue reading “Cannes: Tommy Lee Jones” »
His Golden Globe nomination secure, “My Name is Earl” star Jason Lee was at work in the SFV Friday outside a car wash at the corner of Reseda boulevard and Saticoy.
Continue reading “Hot Doggin’ it with Earl in the Valley” »
It’s an old saw that comedies and comic actors tend to get short shrift when it comes to awards, but with this year’s Golden Globes nominees, comedies and comic performers can’t even get nominated in their own categories.
Continue reading “Globes: Dying is easy, comedy is even harder than you imagined” »
One of the most interminable awards ceremonies I ever had to sit (slump, lie down) through and trust me, this is saying something was the Writers Guild Awards, which is curious, since youd think a group of writers just might be able to cook up a clever evening of breezy repartee and bon mots. What was most astounding about this event was its sheer, exhausting length, longer than any Oscar show (at the time, anyway) and they didnt even give out that many awards.
Continue reading “TV Awards: You Wouldn’t Even Want to Visit” »
Most years, the Golden Globes are all about allowing members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to rub elbows with the likes of Eva Longoria or Madonna or whoever the It Girl of the moment may be. This year, the HFPA — representing publications in all the foreign countries that currently fear or loathe America — is all about sending us Americans a stern political message. Or two, or three.
Continue reading “Globes: Making a statement” »
So I’m staring at the name “Nathan Lane” among the Golden Globe’s nominees for best actor in a musical or comedy, and I’m thinking that against the likes of fellow nominees Johnny Depp, Jeff Daniels, Cillian Murphy, Joaquin Phoenix and Pierce Brosnan, this guy hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in July.
Continue reading “Life in the Fast Lane” »
10. “Your saddle is Versace.”
9. “Instead of ‘Home On The Range’, you sing ‘It’s Raining Men.'”
8. “You enjoy ridin’, ropin’, and redecoratin.'”
7. “Sold your livestock to buy tickets to ‘Mamma Mia.'”
6. “After watching reruns of ‘Gunsmoke’, you have to take a cold shower.”
5. “Native Americans refer to you as ‘Dances With Men.'”
4. “You’ve been lassoed more times than most steers.”
3. “You’re wearing chaps, yet your ‘ranch’ is in Chelsea.”
2. “Instead of a saloon you prefer a salon.”
1. “You love riding, but you don’t have a horse.”
One of the promotional items sent out by the folks at “Good Night, and Good Luck.” was a bottle of 12-year-old Glenlivet Scotch. So one wonders, precisely, about the state of mind of Hollywood Foreign Press members when they were casting their ballots. I’m just saying.
No truth to the rumor, we think, that the makers of “Syriana” were considering sending out a barrel of crude and a home refinery kit to all Academy members who own Lincoln Navigators.
