Stephen Colbert interviewed legendary children's literature author Maurice Sendak this week, and it was pretty hilarious, with the two icons sniffing markers together.
In the above video, Stephen pitches his I am a Pole (And So Can You) book to Sendak, who comes off a little like Rip Torn (I know who can play Sendak in a biopic!). Stephen's book is so adorable that following the segment, I immediately Googled the title, hoping it was already available. Unfortunately, it isn't, but I doubt that will be for very long.
As long as it's not in e-book form---both Sendak and I will be pretty pissed about that.
Director Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion probably has the best synopsis I've ever read:
The story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.
For some reason, I love the bluntness of it. It's to the point. It's also kind of divisive. Is this synopsis really worth a 90-minute movie? After viewing the trailer, you may argue the same question.
Based on the stellar cast, I say, yes, this story is worth telling. But a lot of people probably said the same thing about Town & Country, another Diane Keaton film with an amazing cast that totally bombed at the box office.
This is the best time of year for celebrating movies because 1.) it's Oscar time and 2.) the Sundance Film Festival previews movies that could be Oscar nominees next year (e.g., past examples include Blue Valentine, Winter's Bone, etc.). (Notice I said celebrating movies. It's not actually a good time for movies with dreck like Underworld: the Awakening and Contraband coming out---Sorry, K. Becks.).
And the Sundance Film Festival does not disappoint. This year, once again, John Hawkes is getting buzz---this time for his performance in The Surrogate, about a man with polio who has a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) deflower him. And P.S. Helen Hunt is apparently full frontal in the film. Yowza. Talk about as good as it gets!
2011 Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence announced the Oscar nominations this morning, and here they are, with Hugo leading the pack with 11 nominations and Best Picture frontrunner The Artist right behind with 10 noms.
Note: the above image has become THE go-to image for The Artist. I'm kind of sick of seeing it, but for the sake of consistency, here it is again. You may as well just get used to this telling image of two actors anticipating your praise because the film is probably going to clean up on Oscar night.
Other surprises included Rooney Mara landing a Best Actress nomination (edging out Tilda Swinton), Melissa McCarthy making the cut in the Supporting Actress race, and critically-panned Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close getting some Best Picture and Supporting Actor love.
Who was snubbed? Fassy Fassy Fassy---as in Michael Fassbender, who was shut out in the Best Actor category for a performance that EVERYONE has been talking about, including a candid George Clooney at the Golden Globes. Shailene Woodley was also shut out in the Best Supporting Actress category.
The Oscars will air on February 26 and will be hosted by Billy Crystal.
But what you might not know is that that's not where "The Simpsons" references end in that lineup. While watching the Hurricanes play the Penguins the other night, I realized that the 'Canes also have Jamie "McBain" in the lineup, as in Rainier Wolfcastle's alter ego on TV's longest running show.
Upon further investigation of the Hurricanes' roster, there's also an Anthony Stewart, who could be known as "Disco Stu."
All right. I'm grasping at this last one. But it's still pretty sweet to see "Skinner" playing on a line with "McBain." Now if only we could get John Carlson from the Washington Capitals (aka Carl Carlson) and Ben Lovejoy from the Pittsburgh Penguins (Reverend Lovejoy) to all play together. The melding of my two favorite things: The Simpsons and NHL hockey. I'd be in heaven.
Herman Cain actually appeared at Stephen Colbert's rally "Rock Me Like a Herman Cain South Cain-olina Primary Rally" and urged voters not to vote for him (despite Colbert's plea to voters that a vote for Cain is a vote for him). Actually, this is the classiest I've seen Cain look in months. He sings! He's funny! ("Mr. Colbert couldn't get on the ballot. I couldn't get off the ballot!")
It's a shame Herman Cain has taken himself out of the race because he's probably got more of a shot now than ever!
A few years back, when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were touring in support of Working on a Dream, I had a nightmare that Bruce was thinking of changing the band's name to "The Dream Machine." I woke up in a cold sweat, reaching for my copy of Darkness on the Edge of Town.
Despite the loss of sax-master Clarence Clemons, this time around, Bruce and company are not so sappy with their lyrics---more "Radio Nowhere," less "dream" themed. Even the graphic on the new single, "We Take Care of Our Own," has an edgy, graffiti-esque quality that almost makes you forget you can buy Springsteen albums exclusively at Walmart.
The "Mad Man" season 5 promo poster was released this week, and despite leaving a helluvalot to the imagination (kind of like the show's annoying teasers for "next week's episode"), it's exciting to see the iconic "Man" because it signifies the show's long-awaited return.
With Valentine's Day less than a month away (yeah, I'm still working on Christmas cookies and candy), over the next month, we will be bombarded with sappy Lifetime movies starring the likes of Dean Cain as well as a deluge of crappy cards.
But not this Ron Swanson card courtesy of HeroSquares.com---it's pretty sweet.
The Golden Globes are way over, so let's get down to the real gossip from over the weekend: Lana Del Rey's heinous performance on "Saturday Night Live."
First, let's preface Saturday evening with this: just minutes before Del Rey's performance, the not-yet-ready-for-primetime players performed a skit called "You Can Do Anything," about people who find some sort of fame through the Internet and think they can do anything because of it.
Maybe I was the only one who noticed this coincidence, but I found this very ironic. For one thing, the "You Can Do Anything" skit was one of the better sketches of the night---even one of the better ones from the 2011-2012 SNL season. The social commentary was spot-on and made the SNL cast and writers look pretty snarky and smart.
But before you could even crack open a box of Kudos, Lana Del Rey busted onto stage, a literal example of the previous skit, making SNL look like a bunch of schmucks in the process. Thankfully, not everyone knows who Del Rey (Lizzy Grant) is, so this connection was lost on a lot of people. But for the fans itching to see Del Rey live, it felt like a double slap in the face.
I'll give in. I was a Del Rey fan before the performance. I love Nancy Sinatra, so the idea of seeing the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" had me intrigued. In fairness to Del Rey, maybe she was nervous. On the other hand, when you don't even have an album out yet and you land the SNL gig, you better be damn good and you better be ready for the scrutiny to come your way. Of course, maybe in an age when everyone wants their 15 or more minutes of fame, that was the point.
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