Zombie acting tips with Rob Corddry

Posted on January 24, 2013 by ilmozart

First off, thanks to Roger Ebert who shared this link.

Second, I cannot recommend the film Warm Bodies enough. I actually got a chance to see it at a sneak preview back in December and I liked the film so much, I’d actually pay to see it again when it finally comes out in February.

As I mentioned earlier, this truly is the zombie rom-com that you’ve been waiting for…even if you didn’t know you were waiting for it. Nicholas Hoult starts the movie out strong with a series of hysterical voice-overs and then manages to keep those voice-overs from becoming annoying – something I can’t say for most movies with voice-overs.

In this clip from Screen Junkies (the same people who bring us the highly amusing “Honest Trailers”), Rob Corddry gives us a master class in zombie acting:

But let’s be honest, Dave Franco steals the show at the end there. Of course you want him to bite you – we all do!

Point being — see this movie!

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SNL Classics: Lothar of the Hill People

Posted on January 23, 2013 by ilmozart

Let us give thanks for the SNL sketch that introduced the kid-friendly euphemism of “walking with a woman”:

I am able to walk, but I do not walk very well

Lately I have taken many short walks…by myself.

Help them prepare for the walk.

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Official 2013 Oscar poster

Posted on January 23, 2013 by ilmozart

Ok.

So I’m not exactly sure why we need this or why I feel it is something I should share, but it is Oscar related so I feel obliged.

Plus, Vulture posted this so it’s a given that it’s important.

I feel this is more an ad for Seth Macfarlane than for the Oscars, to be honest. The Oscar itself is made out of smoke, barely substantial. Macfarlane, on the other hand, is monumental.

If this were a car, I’d say he’s definitely compensating for something. After the stellar hosting job that Amy and Tina did with the Golden Globes, the bar is set really really high. And there were already reservations about Macfarlane’s ability to do justice to the job previously done so magically by people such as James Franco and David Letterman.

I would have preferred a poster that highlighted the event itself – the annual world-wide celebration of cinematic arts. In the past that’s what we got:

Poster from 2012:

Poster from 2011:
And my favorite, the official Oscar poster from 2007:
This highlights the movies themselves with the award front and center. Who cares who was hosting that year — we get “Rosebud” and “I coulda been contender”, quote that are far more emblematic of the event.

But more and more we are living in a world where it’s the who not the what. And in the end, we should just be glad it’s Seth himself holding the Oscar and not Stewie or Peter.

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Girls Season 2 – Where are they going?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by ilmozart

The finale of the first season of Lena Dunham’s Girls on HBO ended with possibility:
– Jessa has a surprise wedding
– Marnie, trying to show she’s over Charlie, hooks up with Drunk Uncle
– Shoshana loses her virginity to Ray, a given after their heart-to-heart while she was on crack in Bushwick
– Hannah manages to break up with Adam without realizing it, then falls asleep on the train and ends up in Coney Island sans purse but with a slice of wedding cake.

As Tom Petty sang, the future was wide open.

But from the first 2 episodes of season 2, we see that it is not actually wide open so much as  merely widened.

One of the things that has made this show so painful and real is that the situation that these “girls” find themselves in isn’t so far from the truth that many of us have lived. Of course everything has been heightened for TV, but the core of these experiences are brutally honest.

Marnie in her pretty person uniform

Marnie starts the season by being fired. Wait, by being “downsized” by a boss who can’t even remember to go through with the “downsizing”. Her boss’s flippancy paired with the revelation that her boss can’t fire the other guy because she slept with him and could be sued for sexual harassment makes the entire process that much more embarrassing.

In the second episode, Marnie interviews with another art gallery owner, played by Dunham’s mother, artist Laurie Simmons, who tells Marnie that she really doesn’t see her in the art world. There is nothing more devestating than being told you don’t fit into the world you have deemed you future.  After a bizarre conversation with Shosh and Ray who are in bed together discussing bathing pigs, Marnie decides to make “pretty person” money as a hostess at a hot restaurant (or club, I wasn’t quite sure).

I don’t know what Marnie’s path will be for the rest of the season, but I cannot imagine this pretty person high will last much longer. And if it does, Marnie is much shallower than I gave her credit for.

Shosh rocking that hat

Speaking of Shoshanna…after cursing him during her morning affirmations, she and Ray hook up in the first episode and in the second episode seem to be in the middle of couple bliss. Shosh’s pillow talk is pretty much what you would expect – talking about her time at summer camp. I grew up with many girls just like Shoshanna, sheltered and unaware of the real world that is one or two bad choices away. Luckily, most of them never made those choices and are now having their own conversations about summer camp and bathing pigs. Shoshana doesn’t strike me as the sort of character who wants her world much bigger than it already is and can exist contentedly in a world of her own choosing.

Should we be calling Jessa a Real Housewife?

Jessa is, well, Jessa.

Despite having married in haste and honeymooned somewhere she got cornrows, Jessa has barely changed. Sure, she seems wiser and more knowing, but only to Hannah who doesn’t know any better. When Hannah complains about her new beau, Sandy, not reading her essay, Jessa is completely Jessa-esque when she announces that Thomas-John looks at her paintings as soon she shows them to him. It is telling for both Hannah and Jessa that neither sees that statement as preposterous.

Roommates Elijah and Hannah, the sad glow worm

And as for Hannah? As lost as she was at the end of season 1, she is equally lost now. But maybe without as much cake…

Hannah is so desperately trying to get it together and just can’t. She is dating Sandy, a black Republican played by the wonderful Donald Glover, who loves how weird she is, but doesn’t really respect her as a writer. She is living with her gay ex-bf, Elijah, who himself is a total and unmitigated mess having slept with Marnie to prove to himself that he’s bi and then broke up with his sugar daddy George who wasn’t having any of that. Hannah is still helping Adam as she feels responsible for his injury at the end of season 1 and even though she spent all of the first season trying to make Adam her boyfriend, the moment he commits, she runs the other way. She is so confused she even calls the cops on Adam without really thinking about the repercussions.

Slight spoiler if you haven’t seen the second episode yet:

Hannah and her Republican

When she and Sandy break up I don’t know if I was supposed to really be feeling something other than Hannah’s inability to articulate what her real issue was. She used Sandy’s political leanings as a crutch, when in actuality she just couldn’t handle being with someone who didn’t tell her what a great writer she is. It is not easy to admit that type of need to oneself and Hannah is in no way strong enough to vocalize it to herself, let alone the guy she’s been seeing. So she begins a rant on gay rights, women’s rights, reverse racism, anything but the truth.  I imagine this was a fairly honest scene for Lena Dunham and a plus one for the whole Missy Elliott portion of the discussion.

All four of these characters (five if we count Elijah and we really should because Andrew Rannells is just the best) are people on the verge of becoming someone, formed but still unformed enough to be made too malleable by circumstance and outside influence. It is painful to watch sometimes because to some degree we’ve all been there – unsure of who we are and what we want, where we are going and how to get there. The future is laid out in a seemingly endless variety before these characters and each choice they make narrows those choices. As you get older, it is that narrowing that can haunt you.

Where do they go from here? We are only 2 episodes in so that is still a very open-ended question, but with each episode it will hopefully become clearer what those eventual paths will be.

And of course, a lot more super awkward sex.

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Game of Thrones – Season 3 sneak peek

Posted on January 22, 2013 by ilmozart

In a video titled “An Invitation to the set”, Game of Thrones producers give us a little looksy into what we have in store for us in season 3:

Having read all the books, I have a frame of reference for all the new characters and all the veiled comments about upcoming plot points, twists, and turns. I wonder if people unfamiliar with the books are confused and wonder why exactly this season is one that everyone has been looking forward to since day 1?

Original cover of book 3 of a Song of Ice and Fire

Without giving anything away, I was extremely excited to see Ciarán Hinds dressed up as Mance Rayder and Dame Diana Rigg in full regalia as the Queen of Thorns. And did we get a glimpse of Daenerys and her Unsullied? I am also curious to see how they work out the big reversals of fortune that they keep referring to and I wonder if that one reversal I am most keen to see will happen in this season or in the next since they are splitting book 3, A Storm of Swords, into 2 seasons.

A Storm of Swords is widely regarded as many fans’ favorite book in the series thus far. There are some major changes that the show made in season 2 (Jeyne Westerling anyone?) but I don’t think any of those changes will heavily impact the key points in the third book. At least I hope not.

One slight disappointment – while I understand WHY they didn’t make Tyrion/Peter Dinklage as heavily disfigured after the battle of King’s Landing as he is in the book, that bitterness is so deeply rooted in Tyrion’s character, I am not sure the minor facial scars (and yes they are minor compared to what Tyrion suffered in the books) will do it.

I suppose I will have to wait until March 31 to get my answer.

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SNL Classics: The Love Toilet

Posted on January 16, 2013 by ilmozart

We all know those couples. They have to spend every waking minute together and can’t bear to be apart for more than a few minutes.

Lucky for them, SNL has given the world the love toilet — from France, the nation of love!

Not sure which is more disgusting – the concept of the love toilet itself or the sort of couple that would use one.

Note: Victoria Jackson used to have a sense of humor. Now she’s just off her rocker.

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Trailer for Fringe series finale

Posted on January 15, 2013 by ilmozart

Fringe, the little science fiction show on FOX that could, ends its 5-year run on Friday.

I always thought of this show as science fiction with a heart. While there were alternate universes, time travel, mutants, monsters…the core of the show was the emotional connections between its leads. A son stolen from another universe. A father half-mad and all genius. A woman whose extraordinary powers are not what gives her strength. And the many others who make up the fantastic cast of characters.

Although this last season has taken a turn from where the show was heading till now (season 4 pretty much closed off the alternate universe storyline), it has given us yet another equally effecting focus — the emotional future of humanity itself.

What would you sacrifice to save the world?
Who would you sacrifice?

We find out on Friday.

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Gary Busey talks the Hobbit. It’s as insane as you would want.

Posted on January 14, 2013 by ilmozart

Yes, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter on Hobbit theories.

i09 has linked to what is the craziest speech since Jodie Foster spoke last night.

I jest, I jest.

But really, this is…I have no words.

I’ve watched this twice and still can’t figure out what he’s talking about. Necklaces out of cockroaches? Male and female Hobbits are identical? From where is he getting his facts?

I think PJ would do well to have Busey on set while filming the other 2 Hobbit movies. He knows his stuff.

Seriously though…what the hell is he talking about?

(thanks to Jack for showing this to me)
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Jodie Foster’s entire Golden Globes speech

Posted on January 14, 2013 by ilmozart

You know you want it.

Plus this has the added Tina and Amy response to Lena Dunham winning Best Lead Actress in a TV comedy and RDJ’s wonderfully self-serving introduction.

Seriously though, did she just go totally off the rails there? Some points were coherent, but some where just way way out there.

I hope her cocktails were delicious.

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Golden Globes – Oscar’s younger, drunker brother

Posted on January 13, 2013 by ilmozart

Screw you Emmy and Oscar. We’ll take you both on.

30 minutes till I begin live blogging the Golden Globes with my role models of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey…I would like the thank the Hollywood Foreign Press in advance for the carpal tunnels I will be feeling tomorrow.

More to come…

7:33 – Is one of the perks of having the GG’s on NBC the fact that we don’t have to listen to Ryan Seacrest yammer at celebrities?

7:35 – Can we all please agree that Jon Hamm wears the hell out of a tux?

7:40 – I wonder what sort of commercials we’ll be getting? So far soup, insurance, and anti-depressants. I see a pattern.

7:43 – Forgot that Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was nominated; from Ewan Mcgregor’s interview, so did he. He seemed as surprised as we were for all the film’s nominations.

7:45 – When I grow up I would like to be Helen Mirren. Thank you, that is all.

8:00 – It’s showtime! And damn, Amy and Tina look amazing. Old time Hollywood glamour all the way.

8:03 – “When it comes to torture, I trust the woman who spent three years married to James Cameron.” ZING! Line of the night?

8:05 – “No of us have plans to do porn.” Amy, I love you!

8:07 – Nice to know that we all love Mandy Patinkin.

8:08 – It’s official. Can Amy and Tina host EVERYTHING?

8:10 – Best Supporting Actor is…hot damn, Christoph Waltz! Grabbing it right out of the hands of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Waltz totally stole that film (in every scene Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t in) and is the perfect actor to recite Tarantino’s words. Also Waltz did not seem to believe he was going to win.

8:12 – Best Supporting Actress on TV is…Maggie Smith. The Dowager Countess strikes again.

8:17 – Mr. Golden Globes is Michael J Fox’s son and Ms. is Clint Eastwood’s daughter…

8:18 – Best Mini-Series is goes to Game Change. I would have assumed Hatfields and McCoys cuz that thing was a ratings juggernaut, but good on HBO for going up against the big guys .. I can’t say it. HBO is the big guy these days. I am delighted to keep seeing Doyle (Danny Strong) from Gilmore Girls on stage. Do we think Sarah Palin will be tweeting about this tomorrow?

8:21- Amy those are some sweet teeth you got going on. Best Actress in a Mini-Series is, no surprise, Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in Game Change. It was an eerily real performance. But not sure what to make of Moore’s dress.

8:23 – Best drama pic nominee Les Mis audition reel. Will they actually show Crowe singing? Or at this point anyone singing? Or it just random shots? Ah, they went with random shots.

8:27 – As someone who doesn’t have a driver’s license I take serious offense to non-stop barrage of car commercials. I’d feel that way even if I did have a license. It’s too much. And yes, I know I’m crotchety.

8:28 – HFPA president and world-class archer…if only it were decided that way. I’d be more interested in it. Also what is that on her shirt? A crystal bib? Dude, she’s the president, scan when she says scan. Scan doesn’t mean “show only Jeremy Irons”. But you know what, she kinda funny. Bradley Cooper did not know what to do with that one.

8:30 – Best Exotic Marigold Hotel audition reel time.

8:32 – Paul Rudd clearly wants a drink.
Best Actor in a TV Drama is a tough category. Damien Lewis wins again. Ehhhh. Season 2 wasn’t so great. Good, but not great. I think Jonny Hamm or Bryan Cranston deserved it this year. And you know there are still people right now saying “Why is he speaking with an accent?” Loved his tribute to his mom, sweet but not cloying.

8:35 – PLEASE TALK SOMEONE! This is why you show up to rehearsal.

Golden Globe for Best TV drama goes to Homeland. I think. I mean I guess that’s what the category is? Also, did they just ruin season 2 for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet?

8:42 – Argo‘s audition reel. John Goodman wuz robbed. Nice to give Tony Mendes a little screen time. Too bad you made him talk.

8:43 – Annnnnnnd there’s a Darcy St. Fudge twitter account.

8:45 – Best original score goes to Mychael Danna for Life of Pi. I enjoyed that movie, but couldn’t remember the music if you held a gun to my head. Beasts of the Southern Wild had much more evocative music.

8:47 –  Jennifer Lopez seems like she’s drugged. Or maybe is just a terrible actress. Either/or.

8:48 – Best original song is Adele’s Skyfall for Skyfall. Well, duh. Bond + Adele = GG. Adele is just so friggin cute. You forget how young she is when you hear her sing. She’s just a baby! A talented, gorgeous, rich baby…

Taylor Swift is clearly a sore loser. Did she really think she had a chance? Really? C’mon there Swifty.

8:55 – Best performance by an actor in a mini-series is announced by Keifer Sutherland and someone on quaaludes wearing a snazzy necklace. Damien Francisco in Dog President – Aw, Tina you counter teeth with a mustache!

And the winner is NOT who it should be. Kevin Costner. Did you people ever SEE Sherlock?? Benedict Cumberbatch acts his way around Costner in his sleep. Sigh.

8:58 – Bill Mothafukin’ Clinton?? SERIOUSLY? It’s all the ladies, isn’t it Bill? Alllll the ladies in their low cut dresses. Ok, Lincoln clearly has the best audition reel announcer ever.

Amy: That was Hilary Clinton’s husband!!
Tina: Bill Rodham Clinton!

And that my friends, is why Amy and Tina are the best!

9:02 – Kristen and Will are also the best. Will’s mustache is also also the best. I just need to rewatch this presentation a million times. “You get out of here!”
Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Movie – Jennifer Lawrence Silver Lining Playbook. Time for her to write her Oscar speech? “I beat Meryl!” “Harvey thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today” Her thanks to her brothers…The world loves you J-Law.

Are we all in agreement that Seth Macfarlane is totally and utterly screwed? There’s no way he can live up to this.

9:12 – Kristen Bell looks…pregnant. She should fire her stylist. (and yes, I know…)

9:13 – Best supporting actor on TV (not the real category, but meh) is Ed Harris in Game Change. You think he’s better than Mandy, HFPA?? BAH.

9:14 – Jamie Foxx announces Django audition reel, very cool and collected. Just like he was in the film. Coolness defined.

9:15 – Jonah Hill and Megan Fox. They’re sorta cute.
Best Supporting Actress in a Movie is…if ain’t Hathway I’ll eat my hat.
And I don’t have to eat my hat. It’s Hathaway. She knew she was winning. If she pulls a Swift, I’m gonna be pissed off. But she did thank Tina for “Blergh” so…ok. And she seems gracious. And of course we’ll be hearing her speeches for the next month. I hope she varies her thanks.

9:23 – Best Screenplay announced by two actors who don’t really recite great lines.
Tarantino wins best screenplay. Damned straight he does.

9:26 – Jeremy Irons intros Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. I guess they feel they need to keep it British.

9:28 – Best Actor in a TV Comedy is DON CHEADLE?? Have they seen the show? Wha? He couldn’t even get Joey’s name right!

9:39 – Did you know Arnold and Sly are each like 5″5?
Best Foreign Film…Amour. Another Duh.

9:36 – Lea Michele is now luckier than she has any right to be, accompanying Nathan Fillion. Damn you.

Best Actress TV Drama is Claire Danes. So it would seem HFPA didn’t watch season 2 of Homeland. Good to know. Even Danes knows that she didn’t really deserve it this year…great show in season 1. OK show in season 2.

9:45 –  I CANNOT believe SBC pointed out how Russell can’t sing. I mean it’s true, but wow.

9:47 – Best Animated Film is Brave. No it’s not. It’s Wreck-It-Ralph.

9:49 – Liev Schriber announces Life of Pi audition reel. Not a movie that can be remotely captured by a series of clips.

9:51 – Aziz sure loves his pot.

Best Actress in TV Comedy/Musical is Lena Dunham in Girls. She cannot walk in that dress. She is smart and thanks those who should have won…as much as I love her, Amy Poehler should have won. That being said, I do love Girls.

9:57 – And this is why Vulture will always be funnier than I could ever be.

Damien Francisco. Always classy even in defeat.

9:58 – Amy and Tina wear drunk and bitter well. So does Glenn Close. Swift DOES need “me time”.

9:59 –  RDJ’s bluster is classy whereas Gervais’s was always skeevy.

Oh right, it’s about Jodie Foster… just give me some good Foster as Nell as I’m down.

10:05 – Holy hell, Foster is 50?? She looks damned good. And she handles the “coming out” bit really well and damns all those who make it a spectacle. And she is WAY drunk.

10:11 – WHAT IS GOING ON WITH JODIE FOSTER? At least now I get why they had RDJ give her the award.

10:15 – Why is every winner giving a speech that makes it seem that they are jumping off a cliff tomorrow or going to live in a cave away from humanity? I’m just so confused.

10:17 – Halle Berry announces Best Director like she was told to hurry it along or they’ll kill her puppy.

Best Director is Ben Affleck. That’s a BIG screw you to the Oscars.

10:20 – Josh Brolin announces Moonrise Kingdom? Huh? Very odd choice. This was also my favorite movie of the year. It made me sad that the Oscars didn’t see that.

10:21 – Fallon and Leno dance around Leno’s inability to move on.

Best TV Comedy is Girls. No kidding! Lena Dunham is too young for all this success. Damn her. Worst part is that it’s totally earned.

10:29 – Christian Bale announced Silver Linings Playbook…Oscar frontrunner tie with Lincoln?

10:31 – Best Actor in a Movie Comedy/Musical – Hugh Jackman. He was FINE. But Jack Black was so good in Bernie. So so good.

10:38 – Jeremy Renner announced  Zero Dark Thirty – obvs because he worked with Kathryn Bigelow before.

10:40 – Best Comedy/Musical Movie (please be Moonrise Kingdom!!!)

SIGH. Les Mis. Which wasn’t bad, at all. But c’mon, there were better films in that category, by far.

10:47 – Clooney getting all stroppy that Affleck forgot him. Nice.

Best Actress in a Drama goes to Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty. Which I still need to see. Badly. She is wearing a great color but needs some better support in that dress, y’all.

10:50 – Clooney present for Meryl Streep. Classy.

Best Actor in a Drama goes to Daniel Day-Lewis. And Clooney didn’t even pretend to delay that one. DDL is, as always, classy to the very end.

10:57 – Julia Roberts in what appears to be a jumpsuit is announcing best movie, drama.

Best Movie, Drama is Argo! DAMNED STRAIGHT! Argo just John Wilkes Booth-d Lincoln.

And that’s all folks. Argo and Les Mis, Girls and Homeland. And some speeches that should make us worry about the givers.

Time to bring it on Oscars! Seth, I feel sorry for you.

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