JGL's tee or How 500 Days of Summer coming near you

Isn't this poster adorable? Good thing the film lives up to its marketing strategy (review here).

Hello Dolly! or How Barbra is a Diva!

Blogging has been stagnant lately, so I decided to create another one of my 'blog series' to keep me entertained and interested. The topic? Divas! And how much we love them (take that "we" as you please, of course!) But not just any Divas ... we'll be discussing singing Divas. Why? A) Because this is MY blog and my word is law, but B) because Divas are so much easier to isolate in the realm of musical theatre!

Where to begin? I'd be lying if I said I didn't already have an idea as to what my first post was going to be about: I recently watched Hello Dolly! for the first time! (I know, WALL‧E would be SO disappointed!) and this became a no-brainer. I should probably do Funny Girl, but since I'm focusing on characters and not necessarily actresses (though in cases it'll get a bit of 'chicken/egg' situation - mainly to be able to double up and see different diva-hood coming through different performance) I might (re)visit it soon enough to type about it.

So without further ado:

Diva (n.) A celebrated female singer. Derived from the Italian/Latin adjective diva for "divine female person." The basic sense of the term is "goddess."

Diva: Barbra Streisand as Mrs Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly! (1969)

First let's do a simple checklist, a good diva needs:

1. A powerful entrance.

Nothing says "diva" like capturing the camera's attention from the moment you're on screen.

At the start of Hello Dolly! the camera follows New Yorker's feet as the go about their days before we start following what turn out to be Mrs Levi's feet and as the camera starts to pan out, we simply follow her from behind, never once seeing her face until the camera stands still, giving us a close-up of (what else?) her hat:

And then, turning around, the film gives us the first glimpse of Barbra as Mrs Dolly Levi as she smirks coyly, and gives us her first line: "I have always been a woman who arranges things: for the pleasure (and the profit!) it derives." The entire scene is crafted so as to make Dolly's entrance as powerful and effective as possible: I mean, who's not charmed as we meet Dolly and then follow her around the train station handing out business cards?

But, not being content with just giving us one diva-like entrance, Hello Dolly! offers us a much more "clichéd" diva-entrance near the second half of the film with a long staircase, a golden outfit and an even more outrageous headdress (with feathers!). After the film settles into the Harmonia Gardens for what promises to be the moment where all the dangling storylines and Dolly's conniving will collapse, we keep hearing about Dolly's anticipated arrival. It's no surprise then that when she arrives, the camera lovingly lingers before it settles on a beautiful (golden-tinged) tableau vivant, where the restaurant attendees, the wait-staff and the audience itself find themselves marveling at Mrs Dolly Levi:

2. A great wardrobe (including an amazing headdress!)

I mean, what better way to capture anyone's looks than by drawing attention to your body?

Ms Levi's/Streisand's outfits are eye-catching, there's no denying that (whether you like them or not, or whether you find them a wee bit over-the-top or not, seems to be besides the point). But then again, these Oscar-nominated frocks came from 5-time Academy Award winner Irene Sharaff who gave us the iconic outfits from West Side Story, the sumptuous dresses from The King and I, not to mention Liz Taylor's outfits for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Cleopatra so we shouldn't be surprised that Dolly's attire makes her stand out, whether because of her bright colours, her grand head-gear or - as in the Harmonia Gardens scene - her beautifully golden fitted dress ("Do you think you have the sort of figure for that sort of get-up?" she is asked, "That is for others to say Mr Vandegelder" she snaps back). For someone who tells us she's not one of those "women with enough time to dilly-dally with seamstresses" she sure knows how to pick a dress to turn heads.

3. A loving entourage (read: a lovely audience)

What's a diva without an adoring fan-base?

It's true, no diva is complete without an audience. And oddly enough, this adoring audience usually takes the form of an accompanying dancing chorus. How to detach Dolly's diva-like power from her eager customers from the first scene or from the adoring wait-staff who can't wait to see her again and celebrate her return to Harmonia Gardens with the title-song "Hello Dolly!" I mean, when Louis Armstrong misses you and serenades you, you know you have a place in the world and can wield the power that gives you to your will (in a positive "I want to get re-married" sort of way not in a superhero-villain sort of way, of course).

But above all else, being a diva requires a commanding screen persona and few woman do so as effortlessly as Ms Streisand. Her Dolly is a relentlessly entertaining woman, who never takes no for an answer (it might help that she rarely stops to catch her breath) and who can charm anyone in her path. Her personality is magnetic and for that, I'd join in line to say "Hello Dolly!"

Away We Go, or How Mendes + Maya = :D

Away We Go

Written By: Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida

Directed By: Sam Mendes

Starring: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Catherine O'Hara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alison Janney, Melanie Lynskey... (and the list goes on)

There must be something that Mendes does that I instinctively react to (when, everyone else seems either indifferent or blasé or full-out disappointed). Away We Go, which is basically a bookend of sorts to two of Mendes' previous works (American Beauty & Revolutionary Road) is a meditation of marriage and parenthood (and wouldn't that make a great essay worth writing...). Early on we meet Burt and Verona - editor's note: why must all indie™ characters have quirky names? - one of those 'fuck up' couples everywhere who don't quite have everything figured and decide to roam around the country (Oh, and Canada's Montreal) to 'find themselves.' Okay, so if the setup sounds a bit hokey, it is; but there was something about Mendes' film that worked for me despite the road-trippy structure and the (at-times over-the-top) acting that populates the film. This probably stems from (quelle surprise!) the main actress in the film. Just as Anette and Kate shined in Mendes' earlier attempts at tackling American marriage, Maya Rudolph is a revelation here, grounding the film and making it believable... relatable even. As a sworn fan of Ms Rudolph in her SNL days (oh how those Donatella Versace skits crack me up!) I was completely thrown aback by the skill with which she took on this clearly aimless and vulnerable female and made it work. Everyone else might get the laughs, but it is Rudolph who gets the heart of the film, with her rotund pregnant figure and with just a few looks and smiles. Mendes is a great actor-director, so this should have come as no surprise, but to see such a wonder of a performance is always rewarding. (Oh, and to see Ms Gyllenhaal as a hippie Feminist mom and Ms Janney as white-trash, end up being lovely pleasurable asides). A-

Sour's 'Hibi no neiro' or How yeah, I don't understand the lyrics either..

... but the video is AMAZING! (thanks Jeff!)

She-Wolf, or How is Shakira digging for blood?

Okay, so Shakira's new single has 'leaked' ("Loba" in Spanish... "She-Wolf" in English) and let's just say I need to let it sink in for a bit, but for now I'll just say it's a bit different (read, funkier and loungier?) than what I'm used to (I'm a personal fan of her rock-roots). Maybe it'll grow on me.

Here's the official artwork for the single. More Madonna circa 'Hung Up' than Shakira circa anything, but I'm intrigued:

And then here's artwork from her myspace which I like more:

Half of 2009 over?! or How Let's Assess...

I'd be lying if I said I was planning on writing this regardless and didn't credit James for inspiring me to emulate him (highest form of flattery, remember!), but reading over his post just made want to jump on the bandwagon and choo-choo away!

Wait, 2009 is halfway done?

Why do I always feel like the first half flies by while the latter half just stretches on and on? Maybe it's the fact that for me "the year" doesn't end til AMPAS hands out little golden men, yet the midpoint of the year is still mid-summer... which just makes for some crazy calendar calibrating. But I digress. We're halfway there and we must use this opportunity to crank out lists:

Top 5 TV Shows

... that premiered during the Spring Season

(or in one case, was previewed and will return this fall)

Honourable Mentions:

Flight of the Conchords

(Oh those crazy Kiwis! The Michel Gondry episode alone made the lackluster second season worth it)

Big Love (reruns - Season 1 & 2)

(Okay so the whole 'Mormon' political power-grabbing storylines are starting to tire me, but the 'family' drama is utterly gripping. Also: Ginnifer + Chloe + Jeanne = A holy trinity indeed.)

Skins (Series 1 & 2)

(Slowly catching up with this sexy, daring BBC "teen" show - those are quotation marks because it showcases more nudity, drugs, sex & cursing than ALL of US Network TV shows pooled together! Heck throw Showtime and HBO in there and you're still not there...)

5.Glee

After being shown only the first episode I can safely say I have found a new show to look forward to once Fall TV hits. Singing! Dancing! Witticising! It's all I ever dreamed would be in a good show (see 2.)

4. Dollhouse

Joss returns to TV with his beloved (and beautiful) Eliza Dushku playing 'Echo' [and here I'm referring to Wikipedia for a non-confusing account of who she is:] "a member of a group of people known as "Actives" or "Dolls". The Dolls are people whose personalities and existence in the outside world have been wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas—including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language—for different assignments (referred to as engagements)." Despite a shaky start, it picked up steam and I'm aching for more already.

3. United States of Tara

Toni Colette plays a suburban mom with multiple personalities (a teen girl that goes by "t", a truck-driver called "Buck" and a Stepford Wife called "Alice"). Hokey? Maybe, but thankfully at the hands of Colette and written by Diablo Cody, Tara morphs into a compelling study of suburban family life. Add in a great ensemble playing a host of well-defined characters (including her teen gay son, her rebellious daughter, her weird-boobed sister, etc.), add in great pop culture references and you've got a pretty fine-tuned show. Also I did mention Ms Colette is amazing, right?

2. Pushing Daisies (RIP)

The show that couldn't be brought back from the dead (not even by our dear Piemaker himself) came back for its last three episodes, which - despite a rushed "last scene" that tried to wrap everything in nicely tied bows (damn you ABC!), bristled with the usual charm, wit, colour, outrageous murder scenes and surreal musical Chenoweth moments we had come to expect from this gem of a show. Sigh. Not a great sendoff but a lovely bookend that brought our heroes full circle and gave us at long last a Darling Mermaid Darlings show. Ned, you'll be sorely missed.

1. Grey GardensI considered including Grey Gardens under the Films rubric but since it aired on HBO and is a made-for-TV movie (therefore eligible for Emmys and not Oscars) I'd figure I'd let it top my TV list. Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange uncannily (re)create the Beales for us in this lushly executed docu-film, tracing the riches to rags story of Jackie O's relatives, inhabitants of the eponymous summer house in Upstate NY.

Top 5 Films

... released in the first six months of 2009

(in which I sort of cheat because I have seen two too many a film that haven't yet been released, but I don't care, really because it already reads like an mB list - what with animation, musical theatre, Julia Roberts and witty post-modern comedies all accounted for!)

Honourable Mentions:

Sunshine Cleaning (review B)

(give me Amy & Emily and I'm in)

Star Trek (A-)

(who knew I'd actually enjoy this - the only one I've seen - movie from this dead in the water franchise?)

& Away We Go (A-)

(because Sam + ensemble cast + a star turn by a Ms Maya Rudolph pays for itself).

5. Ponyo (review A)

Who knew Miyazaki could retell the 'Little Mermaid' story and make it his own? Okay so we all did. Mainly because we all know he's able to craft wonderfully entertaining films, full stop. Here, the simple premise from Hans Christian Anderson's story gets re-mapped with little kids and all the innocence and wonder they bring.

4. Every Little Step (review A)

If you love musical theater (and why wouldn't you?) and you love A Chorus Line (and why wouldn't you?... okay that's less rhetorical, of course) you'll probably enjoy this dazzling documentary following a couple of Broadway hopefuls as they audition for the 2005 revival of the classic musical about a couple of Broadway hopefuls as they audition for a show. So meta- it's amazing! Plus: singing! dancing! always a plus.

3. Duplicity (review A-)

My letter-grade would suggest it should be lower than on #3 but having been the only one I've seen twice in theaters and considering I'd probably revisit it more often than # 4 and # 5 I decided to bump up Tony Gilroy's sophomore effort, which featured a star-studded, crisply written caper-comedy featuring one of my favorite leading lady (Ms Roberts), a dashing Clive Owen and great supporting turns by Mr Giamatti and Mr Wilkinson.

2. (500) Days of Summer (review A+)

Oh to fall in love! And then to fall out of love because the person you love doesn't love you back, or maybe they do but they don't show it, and then you want them back but don't want to seem like you want them back... I could keep going, but I'd be giving out too much of the "plot" of this film. Yet, even though we all know the plot of this film (it is after all a romantic comedy of sorts) the charm of this flick is the way the story is told, one day of Summer at a time. Also: best closing line exchange ever!

1. Up (review A+)

To say "PIXAR has done it again!" is to sell the Emeryville-based animation studio short: why wouldn't they do it again, pray tell? Sure, WALL-E set the bar (way way) high, but this film about a grouchy old man, a bubbly wilderness explorer, a colourful bird, a talking dog and a balloon-lifted house is endearing, mature, wonderfully riveting and utterly charming (not to mention all-out sad and depressing - in the good way!)

Top 5 Reads

This is for books read in 2009, not "released" in 2009.

(It's like cheating, only not, since I do want to plug these books)

Honourable Mentions:

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

(The plurality of narrators in Diaz's novel make for a great ensemble narrative device that takes through generations of Dominicans struggling both in Santo Domingo - with Trujillo-as-Sauron in power, and in New Jersey - could have done with a more nuanced ending, though)

& Buffy Season 8 (continued) exec produced by Joss Whedon (assorted writers)

Dark Horse's successful run continued with more action-packed (and one-off) adventures featuring our favorite Sunnydale blonde and her cohort of slayers.

5. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

(Unabashedly morally ambiguous, this tale of a professor accused of sexual harassment follows him to rural South Africa where his daughter lives in a farm where one brutal night will change their lives forever. Sound too cliche? It's Coetzee, he doesn't know what that is.)

4. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

A family history told from the point of view of an unborn child? Add in the fact that said "child" grows up to be an intersex child of Greek heritage and you have a compelling narrator, an intricately woven family saga and an entertaining read all in one!

3. Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe (Vol. 5) by Bryan O'Malley

The first four volumes were hysterical, so it was no surprise that this fifth installment continues telling the story of Toronto-dweller, indie-band member and resident loser Scott Pilgrim who's been fighting his love Ramona's ex-boyfriends (and girlfriend) in order to earn her love. Plus: I'm already excited for the film!

2. Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton

Would you believe me if I told you you could tell a coherent story solely through objects? Well, that's exactly what Ms Shapton has done here. Through an auction catalogue, we follow the "love story" between Harold and Lenore. Intriguing premise? The execution is even better! Read my initial fanboy-ish thoughts here.

1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Couldn't put it down: all 326 pages flew by in three days! After his brain-teaser and scavenger-hunt aficionado dad perishes at the towers on 9/11, Oskar Schell, age 8, finds a key in an envelope marked "Black" while snooping around in his dad's room. Where does the key lead? What does it open? More than a simple enjoyable story, Safran Foer's book immerses you effortlessly in a funnily written and poignantly staged family history about dealing with grief and loss. Brilliant.

Top 5 Blog Posts

...because I'm not beyond self-publicity. No shame 'bout that, really.

(Can we believe that my itty-bitty reposting of a couple of Dustin Lance-Black's pics - no, not those ones! - was my most visited page throwing my page-count through the roof, actually... when will I ever get 1000+ hits in a single day again... sigh)

5.New inductees to "Everything I know I Learnt From Animation":
Oscar nominated Bolt & Kung Fu Panda, Oscar-winner (and modern masterpiece) Wall-E, and Disney classics The Lion king & The Emperor's New Groove

4. Top 20 Movie Characters

And after compiling them I realised I'm some sort of schizo who can love Dolly-loving robots as much as suburban train-wrecks and brassy drunks... what does that say about me? Find out for yourself!

3. I love the ending to 9 to 5, don't you?

I have yet to see the Broadway version of this 1980s "work comedy" featuring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, but til then we can always revisit this comedic gem whose end-titles gave me something to write about for JD's blog-a-thon.

2. Did you know Heavenly Creatures is Ms Kate Winslet's career to a tee?
To celebrate Ms Winslet's victory at the Oscars (and the Globes!), I revisited Kate's career through the lens of her screen debut (courtesy of Mr Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson!

1. Academic OscarsThese are the types of posts I enjoy writing: marrying my academic pursuits with my pop culture obsessions. Just in time for the February ceremony, we explored 'manliness' in the Best Actor roles, we found the Best Actress lineup was full of mothers, encountered a couple of crazies in Best Supporting Actor lineup and delved into 'desire' with the Best Supporting Actress ladies.

The Informant! or How is Matt Damon + mustache = funny? Easy.

Subway Map of the Movies, or How does animation get the shaft?

[via /Film]

This is an amazing "Subway Map" of the Top 250 films according to IMDB (or ... its users, at least). And it's quite the feat - you should take a look at it in full.

My only qualm?

That according to this list, animation before 1988 doesn't make an appearance: just to give you an idea, and just focusing on the Disney filmography, this doesn't include Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937), Pinnocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959)... all classic in their own right.

Also it doesn't even include the only animated feature film ever nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award: Beauty and the Beast (1991). That the list also is restricted to Disney, Pixar and Miyazaki would be disturbing if it didn't quite accurately showcase where quality, rather than quantity and/or star-powered voice actors, lies in the realm of animation.

BEST.MASHUP.EVER. or How yes Buffy > Twilight

I don't know what's more impressive: the strength (and wit! and craft! and humour!) of this mashup video between Buffy and Twilight, or the fact that I know exactly from which Buffy episodes every frame was taken?

[via]

So what did we learn from this? That...

a) Manuel is a crazy Buffy-junkie who needn't tell his readers that the "are you 12?" line is from the last episode or that the dismissive lines at the Bronze are directed at Spike or that... [keeps going on and on for hours]

b) Robert Pattison's limp brooding is no match for Joss's crisp dialogue and SMG's acting chops.

c) Slayers > Vampires (except when they're peroxided and/or have a soul)

d) Buffy attracts vampires that can be described as "tall, dark and forehead" but only reciprocates when their name rhyme with Trangel.

d) All of the above.

The Emperor's New Groove, or How Everything I Know I Learnt From Animation

The Emperor's New Groove might be one the wackiest, craziest and most post-modern animated films ever churned out by Disney Animation and for that (and for a certain Ms Kitt) I heart it, so I figured I'd give it the 'EIKILFA' treatment (I should work on a better acronym, no?).

So here goes:

The Yzma/Krunk & co Edition

1. Siblings are annoying. Yah-haaah. Nah-haah. Yah-haaah.

2. Evening-wear + Swamp = Not a Pretty Sight.

3. Only in animation can you successfully stage a 'Just Shoot Me' reunion. Seriously, that show only makes me want to just shoot myself, but here, I love David Spade (so perfectly cast) and well, you can never go wrong with Ms Malick, right?

4. Irony. Yes, you heard me. Yzma taught me irony:

Krunk: Hey, that's kinda like what he said to you when you got fired.

Yzma: I know. It's called a "cruel irony", like my dependence on you.

Not Alanis, sadly, despite what she may think.

5. Puss in Boots did not invent nor does he hold the ™ on Googly-cutey-eyes. I mean: don't they look cute?

6. Getting past crowds is hard, people! [See also: Gaston in Beauty and the Beast]. I cannot stress enough how this has helped me in my NYC-subway-addled days!

7. When dealing with a tough situation, imagine yourself in tight red pants and/or in a white flowy robe. Okay, so maybe it's not the greatest advice to take, especially from Krunk but seriously: have you never wondered what your angel/demon persona looks like?

8. Singing your own tune may sound good in your head, but makes you look like... well, Krunk. I have to stop myself so many times on the street (and on the subway, on the train, around campus, at restaurants, etc.) from doing this same thing it's crazy. Thanks Krunk!

9. Eartha Kitt is da shit. Yep, I said it. (Oh, wait I've said it before, no? It's okay, I'll say it again: she's great!)

What did you learn from Yzma & Krunk? (... wait, the movie is not about them? It's about some Pacha and a llama? Well, I must have a special print of it where it skips to every single scene with Ms Kitt in it... we call it the 'The Emperor's New Groove: Awesome Edition")

High Skins Musical, or How I'm Seeing Double

He's blond.

He's musically inclined.

He's fashion-forward.

He's the token 'gay' character in a series about High School.

Yet, of course the Brit version is racier and more upfront (read: more shirtless) about all this.

And, yes Maxxie (from Skins) and Ryan (from High School Musical) are my favorite characters from their respective shows.

(500) Days of Summer, or How I love this "story about love"

(500) Days of Summer

Written by: Michael H. Weber & Scott Neustadter

Directed by: Marc Webb

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Zooey Deschanel. 

First rule of fiction-making: the telling of the story affects the story itself.

This, it seemed to me, was the main lesson to be learnt after hearing Tom & Summer's story. Sure, the film centers around a romantic relationship, but its emphasis on (re)playing, (re)visiting, revising and repeating anecdotes, images and little moments throughout make this one of the most accomplished (post)modern "stories about love" (not a "love story") since Kauffman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. For someone who is obsessed with Clementine and Joel's story, this is no empty praise. To attempt a plot synopsis would be to undermine the feel and intelligence of the script but, just as the trailer lets you know: this is a story about boy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Tom, a hopeless romantic waiting for the "one") meets girl (Zooey Deschanel's Summer, a free spirit realist), but this isn't your traditional "boy meets girl, happily ever after" film. The initial credits tell you this: "The following is a work of fiction and is not based on any real people. [next:] Especially you [insert name I can't remember]. [next:] Bitch." 

That its plot seems at once fresh yet rooted in cliches shifts the emphasis from a simple "what's going to happen?" (cause you already know - especially if you've seen as many rom-coms and seen as much hopeless romantic TV as Tom has) to a "how is it going to be told?" That is not to say there are no surprising plot-twists (arguably the third act works because it throws a wrench in the works that's hard to surmise from our/Tom's perspective) but the film wows and wonders because it manages to tell an ordinary story in an extraordinary way, with impromptu dance sequences, hysterical karaoke sequences, wondrous split-screen scenes ("Expectations" vs "Reality"), inventive formal framing (that lovely sketched landscape) and a final line that will leave you utterly convinced that this is the must-watch Summer 2009 (date) film. A+

A Blog Next Door + Twitter? or How, yes... Follow me @atweetnextdoor

+ 

= I caved. 

Follow me @atweetnextdoor

Little Miss Moss, or How Bette's Gypsy had Peggy pre-Mad Men

Before she was Ms Peggy Olson,

Ms Elisabeth Moss was Li'l Louise opposite Bette Midler in the 1993 TV version of Gypsy.

Isn't she adorable?

Joe Jonas dances Single Ladies? or How this is the ONLY Jonas post you'll see here, I promise

First off: WTF?

Second of all: Why is dancing 'Single Ladies' tantamount to dancing uncoordinatedly while wearing a leotard? Andy Samberg had more skill at this when the SNL skit hit, no?

Thirdly: Is it just me or are Joe's thighs cah-razy?

Fourth: Watch for yourselves,