BOOOOOO

BOOOOOOO!!!!! And I found out about this in a cab in NYC, of all places.

Well, congrats to them. Man, I don't even wanna check out some of the Office boards I read... though this is pretty hysterical.

YAYYYYY

I didn't realize Emily Blunt actually hadn't been cast in Iron Man 2, and my girl ScarJo had been instead. WOOT. This is gonna be awesome.

ETA: Oh wait, I actually did post about this, in March, in a blog entry with an almost identical title. Guess I forgot. Whatever, it's gonna be awesome anyway!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY

Scarlett Johansson to replace Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2.

Someone - not inaccurately - said that Scarlett Johansson is the Benjamin Button of actresses, where she started out awesome and gets worse and worse with every movie. But I still love her! And hey, ANYONE is an upgrade over Emily Blunt (except Anne Hathaway.).

Am I the only one who doesn't LOVE this?

Yeah... I mean, it was funny, but it wasn't THAT funny. Also, I think I don't think John's all THAT hot when he's not Jim. Must be the Emily Blunt grossness rubbing off on him. ;_; Or the fact that creepy like 50-year-olds lust after him so openly. GROSS! No, people, you don't "love" him because there's a cute picture of him in a plaid shirt. You love YOUR DAMN HUSBANDS.

(PS when I had to tag this entry I couldn't think of Amy's name for a disturbingly large amount of time and was like "Ann Coulter? No, that's definitely not it...")

SAG post-party wishful thinking.

My paint skills are amazing, I know. Hey, some of us don't have Photoshop.

I don't wanna bring back that "Emily Blunt sucks" tag but she looked 45 with her hair and makeup. Okay dress, but I feel like it fit very poorly.

Kate Winslet, you are flawless. Meryl Streep ILY and that speech was awesome but if you win this year I will have a sad. Anne Hathaway, thank you for taking my advice and going for a lip color that was not RED!!!!!, and see, you looked great.

How much can I complain about a night in which Laura, Kate, Meryl, and Tina all won? Really :)

I feel like people bitching incessantly about Slumdog Millionaire's win need to stop it, or at least not be like "OMG SO UPSETTING, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED I THOUGHT THE AWARD WAS BEST CAST BAWWWW" The SAGs rarely award what's actually the best ensemble cast any more. It's basically Best Picture with a different name. It's unfortunate but it happens almost every damn year, so I dunno why people get shocked and offended every time.

More later.
ETA: Wait, no.

I don't like Katy Perry.

I think it's the resemblance to Emily Blunt, especially in the "I Kissed A Girl" video.

Okay, that's not the best picture of Katy to prove this similarity, but seriously, watch the "I Kissed A Girl" video. I can say, with certainty, that Katy Perry is certainly more faux-lesbian (if you believe salacious gossip, Emily actually did have a lesbian relationship. With Anne Hathaway. Bad taste in women!).

GROSS.

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are apparently dating. Yes, it's Star, BUT.

GROSS. John can do so much better. Rashida owns Emily. And Emily apparently only likes guys whose souls are controlled by NBC.

It suddenly occurred to me why...

...I just flat-out don't like Emily Blunt, stupid Prada hype machine be damned. I watched The Jane Austen Book Club Thing Whatever yesterday, and she was fine in it. Not Oscar-worthy, but better than in The Devil Wears Prada, where all she did was spew one-liners in a bitchy tone; at least she was an actual identifiable character in Jane Austen. But I figured out why I just don't like her, even when she's giving good performances. And that is:

1. Her eyes are absolutely dead 100% of the time.
2. She's just droll. Droll, droll, droll. Sometimes she puts depth in that droll, but more often not. She gets praised up the ass for it, though. Hey, you know who's been droll his entire career, but who nobody seems to be falling all over themselves to praise? This guy! And he often adds absolute depth and creates full characters where the script doesn't have them. I don't see nobody sayin' "OMG HE SHOULD HAVE WON THE OSCAR FOR Caddyshack" like everyone was going on about with Emily and Prada.

Anyway. I'm glad I finally figured out what bothered me about her. When I finish that Supporting Actress post, I think I'll bump it up to the top, just because seriously, Emily's dead eyes freak me out a little.

Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue cover

Huh. Not a very hot picture. Everyone looks incredibly anemic, and though one of them is JESUS, I want to punch two of the others across the face. Oh well.

Overrated supporting actresses.

I just realized that for every year since 1998, I find an popular Supporting Actress choice to be either extremely overrated, or just plain bad. (Here's me being grumpy again.) So, here they are.

1998: Joan Allen, Pleasantville (you know how sometimes, you just don't see what other people see in a performance, and you can't really explain why? Yeah. That's the case here. So well-described, I know.)
1999: Thora Birch, American Beauty (as far as supporting actresses in that film go, Mena Suvari schooled her. Thora pouted a lot and was terribly boring, but she flashed her boobs at 16 so the guys liked her. Thora Birch is really a pretty awful actress; she doesn't add any depth to her performances, but because people tend to relate to her characters, they like her more. Except for Paradise, I've never liked her in anything.)
2000: Kate Hudson, Almost Famous (more ridiculously overrated than bad. I wouldn't have screamed and cried had she got the Oscar, though Harden was better.)
2001: Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind (utterly awful. Her Oscar win is a joke)
2002: Julianne Moore, The Hours (like Hudson, not bad, just ridiculously overrated. And lead. Can't touch Zeta-Jones or Streep as well as several others, way outclassed by Collette in the scene between the two, and wayyyy inferior to her turn in Far from Heaven. I've found more than one person that considers this the best performance of her career, and one of the best of all time...frightening.)
2003: Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April (oh Patty. You're capable of so much more. Like The Station Agent and All the Real Girls this very same year.)
2004: Cate Blanchett, The Aviator (I'll never understand the praise for this. Shallow, empty, one-dimensional, and without an ounce of the fun Hepburn exuded.)
2005: Amy Adams, Junebug (good, yes. Better than a lot of other supporting actresses that year [Bello, Linney, Weisz, Williams, Zhang, Gyllenhaal, Johansson, Keener in 40-Year-Old-Virgin...], no. Heck, she wasn't even the best red-haired supporting actress that year; that honor goes to Isla Fisher. The way some people were calling this the "best performance ever" caused me to think this chick was so overrated. I still like her, though. She's adorable, and a great example of how an annoying performance can be good.)
2006: Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada (need I say more? [I will anyway] Remember how I was saying Cate was one-dimensional? Well, Emily might get away with it a little better, because her character isn't as well-written, but it doesn't mean she gets away with it. Not even people who are good at writing about movies can defend her properly. They're all just like "err...she's funny! And then her character gets desperate! Funny! Ha!" Emily's hardly alone, though; Blanchett in Notes [a blatant co-lead] and Kikuchi in Babel are also hideously overrated. Blanchett was both unspecific in her character choices and way over-the-top, and though I hate to simplify performances like this [though I did it for Thora up there, I suppose], all Kikuchi did was flash her vagina a lot and make odd faces.)


ranking these, best to worst:
Amy Adams
Kate Hudson
Julianne Moore
Joan Allen
Emily Blunt
Patricia Clarkson
Thora Birch
Jennifer Connelly

The Devil Wears Prada, for like the fifteen millionth time.

Ranking the Performances:

Meryl Streep









Stanley Tucci (underrated [remember when EW said Emily Blunt was subtle? Excuse me for a minute - HAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAA - but he is the definition of subtle comedy], but not really nom-worthy)
Emily Blunt's eyeshadow (it was damn fantastic)















Emily Blunt (I've said it before. I'll say it again. I thought she was fine at what she was doing, which was, and pardon my oversimplification here [but it's called for in this case.], wearing some really heavy eye makeup, putting an expression on her face as if there was a foul-smelling odor right behind it, and then reading some lines off a script with some better-than-average [that's all the credit I'm giving her] readings. I doubt she'd inspire the bile in me that she does if it wasn't for the Globe nod and the batshit crazy reaction to her)
Adrien Grenier (whenever Emily is on screen, I sort of glare. When Adrien is on screen, though, I smile. sigh)
























































Andy's other friends
Traci Thoms
"weird eyebrow man"
(infinity and a half)
Anne Hathaway

The Devil Wears Praaaaaaahhhhh-da on HBO tonight!

Okay, I might like to rag on some of its stars a little (a little?), and on repeat viewings it's not as good (read: when it's not summer 2006 and the choice of movies to see isn't between this and the second Pirates, which makes virtually any movie look brilliant in comparison), but it's still popcorn entertainment at its very best and the movie channels seem to be showing only really crappy movies in the past three days or so (usually they're playing something good). Prada is approximately three billion times better than the book, too, and the costumes are absolutely to die for. If I went shopping today and picked up Anne's entire outfit and Meryl's shoes, I would cry in joy.

...this was random. But watch it!

The most annoying characters...

shut up shut up shut up
(even though you don't say anything the entire movie)

...of 2006, that immediately come to mind. Late, I know, but it's not like I've seen much from 2007 so I can't really talk about that. Not all bad performances (though I'm not truly fond of any of them), but portrayals of characters so obnoxious you just want to take them by the shoulders and shake them around. A lot. Often, no matter how good the performances are (though I mentioned that not really any of them are good...I guess Nighy was the best, Kikuchi and Blunt are so overrated but okayish I guess, and Hathaway and Thoms were just plain terrible), the characters took away from my enjoyment of the movie because they were so obnoxious (I love this word. I love using it at any opportunity, and putting it in italics whenever I use it).

Emily - The Devil Wears Prada
Meryl was masterful at balancing the bitchy side and the human side. Emily Blunt, not so much. Say what you will about working with women, and I'll say a lot, but they are never this bitchy to your face. It's way more behind your back. I saw this movie in theaters, and when she got hit by the car, people applauded. I hate clapping at movies, but I joined in.

Andy Sachs - The Devil Wears Prada
As a college student, I'm pressured, already, to find a great job right out of graduation. Andy certainly did. Sure, the demands were a little ridiculous. But, the connections, the money... you shut up and take it. Hathaway's "I'm gonna look at you with my giant eyes so that you don't notice I'm not acting" performance wasn't helping at all.

Lily - The Devil Wears Prada
Waaaah I can't deal with my friend's great job! Can you tell I didn't like the characters of Prada very much? That's okay. Miranda Priestly makes up for it. That, and it could not possibly be any worse than the dire, dire novel.

Chieko - Babel
People, when blathering on about how they hate Jennifer Hudson, go on about how she was "making weird faces the entire time." Um...did these people see Babel? Kikuchi was like the queen of weird faces (yeah, I know she was deaf, but even in the stills, she's still making totally bizarre faces, see top). Oh, and put some panties on. I'm hardly a prude, but her character gave me the heebie-jeebies with how friggin' naked she was.

Richard Hart - Notes on a Scandal
SUCH AN ASSHOLE. Yeah, I guess it's understandable, but there were just some scenes where Nighy's facial expressions and vocal sneers were just so...ugh! People were going on about how homophobic this film was, because Barbara was "the villain." We were allowed to feel for Barbara because of how amazing Dench was, and the voiceover. I never felt anything for Richard apart from utter loathing. Asshole. This movie made me hate Bill Nighy! GUH.

Yay for Peter Bradshaw.

The real disappointment is Emily Blunt as the Brit bitch who works opposite Andy: the one actor here who really does look as if she could work in fashion. But she is strained and awkward and has none of the drop-dead-sexy hauteur she showed us in My Summer of Love. Embarrassingly, she is made to say "loo" to show off some real limeyspeak. Perhaps she can be grateful she wasn't given bad teeth.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1888063,00.html

I'll say it again: No, Emily Blunt isn't bad. But, neither is she worthy of hosannahs, any particular sort of praise, an Oscar nom, or, especially, an Oscar WIN. And oh, how I grow tired of her smug, dead-eyed face. Seeing as she's going to be in virtually every film over the next few years, I really hope she doesn't ruin them. Sigh.

And we thought the Oscars were bad

I watched the MTV Movie Awards. Ugh, I know. Sarah Silverman isn't funny at all. I hate Paris Hilton, but if she made that joke about anyone else, I'd be going "ugh, SHUT UP, you unfunny, full-of-yourself hack." Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest won Best Picture and Johnny Depp's performance in that won Best Performance, please excuse me while I throw up. All the movie parodies were totally awful. And, finally, what the fuck was Jack Nicholson on? Goddamn. I think, at 20, I'm too old for MTV. Or...too mature.

That said, uh, the musical performances were actually really good (UMBRELLA ELLA ELLA ELLA AY AY AY!), though Amy Winehouse's legs are so skinny it actually frightens me. Oh and Emily Blunt didn't win either of her nominations, YAY!!!

oh eww

So like you couldn't tell, I'm looking at the MTV Movie Award nominations. Clearly, they're not really meant to be the Oscars. But look at the nominees for Best Performance...

Beyonce, Dreamgirls
Gerard Butler, 300
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Carribbean: Whatever
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Keira Knightley, Pirates of the Carribbean: Whatever
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness

Plus, two nominations for Emily Blunt, in Best Breakthrough and Best Comedic Perfomrance (Borat better win that shit). TWO! GROSS!

happy birthday...

...to my best friend in the entire world who doesn't even know about the existence of this blog. he is wonderful, not for the least reason that he is a gay man that realized that crash was far better than brokeback mountain.

what, did you think i was going to wish happy birthday to this talentless skank (who couldn't even get in on the IMDb front page even though she's a "big star" now - HA!) or this one (how pissed do you think she is that abigail breslin got the nomination first, or that her sister was in a best picture nominee before her?)? i do want to wish happy birthday to kristin davis. i love her...will someone put her in a movie that doesn't blow?

i'm changing my prediction for best picture one last time. the departed. really.

BAFTA craziness

Dear BAFTAs,

Grrr. You gave The Queen Best Picture (it was predictable though) and Best Director to anyone that is not Marty (okay, so did I, but Aronofsky never had a chance in awards circles...and yes, Greengrass did a great job). Your screenplay wins confuse me and you gave Alan Arkin the freaking award?!

Still, I will let you live. You gave Children of Men Best Cinematography and Art Direction, which it certainly deserves. J-Hud got Best Supporting Actress from you. And, most importantly, despite two nominations, you didn't give Emily Blunt anything. Thanks!

Sort of love, me

wouldn't it be a lovely headline: "life is beautiful"

as you see from my "about me," i am too scared to post on others' blogs. there are a great number of reasons for this, but it basically all boils down to: i rarely agree with consensus, and i have no idea how to really defend myself. i thought brokeback mountain was little more than mediocre. crash totally deserved it. i think people subconciously had A grades reserved for inland empire without even seeing it. i think giving so much praise to emily blunt in the devil wears prada is like giving praise to a great pianist who comes out and then repeatedly plunks one note on the piano. i think poor hilary swank is adorable. i still enjoy renee zellweger. michelle pfeiffer has never deserved an oscar (there have been times when she was the best of the nominees, though); julianne moore only deserves one. i didn't think dreamgirls was a hideous disappointment. i love clint eastwood's work. while i rarely think the oscars get it 100% (or even 50%, or 25%, or sometimes even 10%) right, they don't really embarass themselves all that often. i don't pat myself on the back for being off-consensus either.

however, i can relate to my fellow bloggers on one issue: sometimes, i'll feel, you know, blah. and then i'll put on a rufus wainwright song - "cigarettes and chocolate milk" is a for-the-time favorite - and i'll just feel better because the world allows for that kind of genius to exist.

one thing i will say...

...in emily blunt's favor: she probably could have gotten in, as well as catherine o'hara, if they had better campaigns. for your consideration apparently only had one for your consideration ad (this movie just did not live up to its potential in any way; it could have been brilliant and it could have had the best fyc ads ever, but it was easily guest's worst, and the only film of his that's actually bad, and the fyc ads? yeah...), and though the devil wears prada had quite a few, they all focused on meryl streep, not devoting any blurbs to blunt (good!). there was clearly support for her, as her globe nomination shows, but i don't think the studio pushed her enough.

little miss sunshine though? no matter what you think of that movie its producers deserve an A+. they produced the fuck outta that thing, probably more so than any other producers did (the painted veil? breaking and entering? LITTLE CHILDREN??? i'm looking at you guys).

edit: okay, i was looking on rotten tomatoes for prada reviews with blurbs about blunt, and i found this blurb: "The film is delightful -- what Sex and the City could have been with intelligence and real wit instead of rote bitchiness."
WHAT DID YOU SAY???!!!! HOW DARE YOU!!! (it's a bad idea to insult sex and the city around me)