Eight Links: Unhinged Women, Union Protests, Unctuous Celebrity

Awards Daily "Women Unhinged" fun piece on all the bat-shit crazy lady characters fighting for Oscar recognition. We're glad to see Lesley Manville (Another Year) getting some attention in her week of snubs.
Movies Kick Ass sees and loves Paprika Steen in Applaus. What a performance that is.
Disney Blog I hadn't heard of this but apparently there's a union protest against Toy Story 3 outside of Academy screenings. Ruh-roh.
I Need My Fix whoa mamma. Check out this slit in Gwynnie's Country Strong dress.

DListed is thrilled that Tom Cruise still has hard nips. Um... okay. You know what I think is the real disturbing fountain of youth magic? That head of hair. Cruise is bothersome in so many ways but that hair? Still perfect.
Towleroad Kevin Spacey still refusing to come out, "never" will. Makes unconvincing case that asking him to do so is equivalent to bullying gay teens. Even threatens to record an "it gets better" video. (Please don't. Kinda too ironic like). Ah well, at least we have better braver less selfish celebrities emerging each year to change the world.
Sociological Images Have you been wondering what Geena Davis' organization "Institution on Gender in Media" has been up to?  Here are some charts about gender imbalances in family movies.

Just Him and His Shadow

GQ Cover boy Ryan Gosling dresses like a movie star. I love this bit on why he got a regular ol' job briefly after The Notebook

" 'I'd never had a real job,' he says. The problem with Hollywood, he goes on, is that nobody works. 'They have meals. They go to Pilates. But it's not enough. So they do drugs. If everybody had a pile of rocks in their backyard and spent every day moving them from one side of the yard to the other, it would be a much happier place.' "

I always thought this was a problem. I always find myself wondering how some famous actors who rarely work, kill time. You know they're not working at delis.

Continuing the Conversations...

Though I had a won-der-ful time on vacation, I do love the movie conversations. Some recent comments I wanted to respond to (for the patient and/or longwinded-like-me among you).

Clint totally approves of the Jodie Foster casting of God of Carnage (I agree that it's interesting and I hope she pulls it off) but I'm sure he'll be relieved to hear that Matt Dillon is no longer with the film. Not me.

Er... okay, I don't know which husband is which.

I was actually just discussing this with friends recently who had all seen the play and were kind of annoyed that John C Reilly will be playing Kate Winslet Jodie Foster's husband. He's not... handsome. Hollywood loves to pair anything from average to ugly men with ridiculously beautiful women, but it's clearly audience pandering to feed male ego fantasies: i.e. I can have / deserve to have a supermodel in my bed, no matter what I look like. It's okay once in awhile of course but all the time? Not realistic. Reilly is a very good actor but it's kind of silly when you stop to think of his screen conquests; he's already had (implied) movie sex with Julianne Moore, Renée Zellweger, Marisa Tomei, Jenna Fischer, Melora Walters, and Jennifer Aniston! Has he ever been paired with a homely woman? He's like a less cocky/noisy version of the Philip Seymour Hoffman phenomenon.

But mostly I'm just annoyed that...

...Matt Dillon never got a prestige gig or a meaty role as reward for that Oscar nomination. Most people do. And I'm also still slightly weirded out that even this play -- that was mounted with name stars -- got a complete cast overhaul. Usually when they replace a stage cast, it's because the stage cast are largely unknown to the public outside of theater fandom. You knew, for example, that Cherry Jones wasn't going to get her Doubt role on the screen or that the August: Osage County originals weren't going to transfer but Marcia Gay Harden (Oscar winner), Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels (longtime film regulars) and James Gandolfini ("Tony Soprano" himself)? These aren't unknowns.

Moving on...

I liked the comment conversation in the Silkwood post (thanks Tim) though I don't remember the bumper stickers that Deborah does from the 70s "Who Killed Karen Silkwood?" -- I was completely unaware of the politics surrounding that movie and first saw it only by way of combined Meryl/Cher fever 'round about '87/88, the next time they were both nominated. (I still find it odd that Silkwood missed a Best Picture nomination in 1983). Another controversy-friendly post from Erich ("Chicks of the Assimilated Animus") also provoked some interesting reaction and I liked Erich's defense of his own amusing/provocative list-making

Even the old and sexist templates of Freud and Jung have value as stepping off points, especially when dealing with the way our love of film icons intersects with unconscious archetypes...  dreams lag notoriously behind reality when it comes to updated social mores..

True that.

Manuel, who must have been searching that Cate Blanchett label, wonders when the great actress will try directing-- has she expressed an interest??? -- and  if we'll ever see a new film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire which Cate did on stage (I doubt anyone would dare. Oh god, please tell me no one would dare?) and he even free-form rhapsodizes thusly...

intelligent, gorgeous, respected, fashion icon, versatile, risky, husky voice, theater, loyal, quality, chameleon face, humble, dedicated

Though Cate is not really one of my favorites, I appreciate obsessive actressy devotions in all their diverse manifestations. If you love any actress this much, peace be with you!

DJ XRay loved Paprika Steen's performance in Applaus. You may remember I went wild for the Danish film earlier this year. UPDATE: Oscar qualifying run begins December 3rd. [thanks to Kyle for the info]. I hope it's opening in NYC in time to qualify for the Film Bitch Awards but I doubt it. Those Oscar qualifying runs usually only bother with LA. Pity that. But if you don't play in NYC -- the place for American cinephilia-- you are dead to The Film Experience.

Speaking of this site's awards. I'm all over everyone's suggestions (i.e. FYCs) for the forthcoming 11th annual Film Bitch Awards. I consider everything.