Showing posts with label midnight in paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midnight in paris. Show all posts

Friday, February 8, 2013

Performer to Watch: Corey Stoll

While Corey Stoll may not be a household name yet, he sure may become one soon.  The first time I became aware of Mr. Stoll was when he portrayed Ernest Hemingway in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.  While Woody's films tend to have stronger female performances, ranging from his ladies Diane Keaton to Penelope Cruz, Stoll stole the film as the larger than life Hemingway.  While no one managed an acting nomination from Midnight in Paris Stoll was clearly an under appreciated performer in the film, and should have gotten more attention.

Stoll recently hit my radar once again in the new original series from Netflix entitled House of Cards.  In House of Cards Stoll plays Representative Peter Russo, a man caught in Francis Underwood's (Kevin Spacey) cross hairs in his master plan to manipulate.  Peter not only navigates the tricky political world but a relationship with a staffer and an addiction to drugs and and alcohol.  As Peter's story evolves I imagine his character will continue to prove Stoll's strong acting abilities.

While Stoll has had numerous small roles/guest starring roles over the years television series like ER, CSI, Without a Trace, The Nine, Law & Order: LA and many more.  Stoll has also landed roles in major action films like Salt, Lucky Number Slevin, and The Bourne Legacy.

Stoll has a few films coming down the line with lots of potential including Decoding Annie Park, Non-Stop, and Glass Chin.  Look for Stoll now in the Netflix original series if you have not started yet!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Comedy Awards 2012-

This years comedy awards love Louis C.K. and the Bridesmaids.  Here is a list of the nominees for the show. 
COMEDY FILM
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR—FILM
Jason BatemanHorrible Bosses
Steve CarellCrazy, Stupid, Love.
Jean DujardinThe Artist
Zach GalifianakisThe Hangover Part II
Owen WilsonMidnight in Paris
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS—FILM
Jennifer AnistonHorrible Bosses
Cameron DiazBad Teacher
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Emma StoneCrazy, Stupid, Love.
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
ANIMATED COMEDY FILM
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango
Rio
COMEDY SCREENPLAY
50/50
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
COMEDY DIRECTOR—FILM


Woody AllenMidnight in Paris
James BobinThe Muppets
Paul FeigBridesmaids
Glenn Ficarra and John RequaCrazy, Stupid, Love.
Michel HazanaviciusThe Artist

The Muppets should be up for Best Film instead of Horrible Bosses.  Other than that these are fun nominees.


COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Happy Endings
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR—TV
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty BurrellModern Family
Louis C.K., Louie
Steve Carell, The Office
Larry DavidCurb Your Enthusiasm
COMEDY DIRECTING—TV
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Louie
Modern Family
The Office
ANIMATED COMEDY SERIES
Archer
Family Guy
The Life & Times of Tim
The Simpsons
South Park
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS—TV
Zooey DeschanelNew Girl
Tina Fey30 Rock
Amy PoehlerParks and Recreation
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Sofia VergaraModern Family
COMEDY WRITING—TV
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Saturday Night Live
LATE NIGHT COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Show with David Letterman
Real Time with Bill Maher
BREAKOUT PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Zooey Deschanel
Josh Gad
Donald Glover
Melissa McCarthy
Jason Sudeikis
CLUB COMIC
Ted Alexandro
Hannibal Buress
Pete Holmes
Anthony Jeselnik
Moshe Kasher
John Mulaney
Kumail Nanjiani
Chelsea Peretti
Amy Schumer
Rory Scovel
SKETCH / ALTERNATIVE COMEDY SERIES
Childrens Hospital
Louie
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Tosh.0
COMEDY SPECIAL OF THE YEAR
Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater
Norm Macdonald: Me Doing Standup
Patton Oswalt Finest Hour
Colin Quinn Long Story Short
Daniel Tosh: Happy Thoughts
STAND-UP TOUR
Dave Attell
Lewis Black
Louis C.K.
Kevin Hart
Jerry Seinfeld

I am happy Happy Endings was nominated for Best Comedy Series, I wish Casey Wilson and Damon Wayans Jr. made the cut, but this shows that there is support out there for this show.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Silence is Golden as the Academy Awards Pay Tribute to Why We Love the Movies

Image DetailAt tonight's Academy Award ceremony 9 time host Billy Crystal brought back the days of classic 
Hollywood, and made some great jokes about the Kodak Theatre.  Crystal reminded viewers that in a year that paid homage to Hollywood's past there is beauty in film.  Crystal's opening schtick remains the same, there is a video montage that included him kissing George Clooney and inserting himself into some of the most memorable films from 2011; he also did a song where he talked about all of the Best Picture nominees.  Even though his routine was the same Crystal showed his true colors and why he is one of the best Oscar hosts of all time; he is a master host.


Here are my own personal awards I would hand out for the nights show:


Best Presenter: Emma Stone-Like Ann Hathaway a few years ago, this girl showed a room full of Hollywood big wigs that she is one of the funniest people working today who deserves to work even more than she does.


Best Skit-Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Coolidge, and Fred Willard act as a focus group for 1939's Wizard of Oz-This skit proves why these are some of the funniest working people today.  The chemistry they have just works, and it was one of my favorite moments of the evening.


Most Unnecessary Moment-Crique du Soleil-I am tired of Award shows thinking they need something hip like this to make the show "cool."  This routine did not work when the Daytime Emmys did it a few years ago and it was not needed tonight.  Hint Brian Grazer, Cirque du Soleil does appeal to the younger viewers it appeals to those old people Billy Crystal kept joking about.


Best Speech (tie) Meryl Streep and Octavia Spencer-These two women hit it out of the park.  Octavia's speech made me emotional and award shows never really do that.  I felt her surprise and genuine gratitude.  Streep finally winning her third trophy had me actually clapping, and yelling, and her speech showed that even in her surprise she is one classy broad.


The theme of the night was remembering the old, and why people love movies.  One of my other favorite moments from the night was getting past Oscar winners/nominees and a few other actors thrown in for good measure talking about the emotional heft movies bring, their first experience at the movies, what movies do to them, and saw on.  This was an incredible way to tie in the theme of the evening.  Even though the Oscars appeal to that average age of their winners 62 as Billy joked, they still put on one of the classiest shows of the year which honor some of the best films of the year.


Two films tied for the most trophies, The Artist and Hugo.  Hugo cleaned up in the technical categories winning five trophies winning best art direction, cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, and visual effects.  The Artist won two awards in the technical genre best costume design and best original score, but it also took home three of the top prizes Best Picture, Best Director, and Jean Dujardin won for Best Lead Actor.  These two films pay tribute to the beginning of film and honor the nostalgic theme of the show.  The Artist is the first silent film to win Best Picture since the  first year of the Academy Awards.


The biggest nail biter of the night was the Best Actress category.  Going into the night many people were predicting Viola Davis because of her SAG win, but even in my predictions I had a hunch that Meryl would win.  Meryl Streep did in fact win, and took home her first Oscar trophy in exactly 30 years.  The last time Meryl won was for her role in Sophie's Choice.  While I loved Davis, I was incredibly happy Meryl finally had another Oscar to add to her mantel.


In the supporting categories the predicted winners Christopher Plummer won for Beginners and Octavia Spencer won for The Help.  These two had long been predicted from the beginning of the awards season.  In the screenplay categories Midnight in Paris won for Best Original Screenplay and The Descendants won for Best Adapted Screenplay.  


After a so-so year in film I was still mesmerized by this wonderful night, and happy to welcome Billy Crystal back into my living room, or well my friend's living room.  Listed below is the entire winner's list.


Best Picture-The Artist
Best Actor-Jean Dujardin-The Artist
Best Actress-Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor-Christopher Plummer-The Beginners
Best Supporting Actress- Octavia Spencer-The Help
Best Director-Michel Hazanavicious-The Artist
Best Adapted Screenplay-The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay-Midnight in Paris
Best Foreign Language Film-A Separation
Best Animated Feature-Rango
Best Documentary-Undefeated
Best Art Direction-Hugo
Best Costume Design-The Artist
Best Cinematography-Hugo
Best Editing-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Make-Up-The Iron Lady
Best Original Score-The Artist
Best Original Song-Man or Muppet
Best Sound Mixing-Hugo
Best Sound Editing-Hugo
Best Visual Effects-Hugo
Best Animated Short-The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Documentary Short-Saving Face
Best Live Action Short-The Shore