Armchair Commentary

"Lazy Sunday" Reunites!

If you recall just a few short years ago, YouTube became an international phenomenon in part thanks to the SNL digital short "Lazy Sunday," in which Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell hit that Chronic-WHAT?-les of Narnia. It's still my favorite digital short ever ("Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = crazy delicious"... see? I can't stop quoting it) and I was delighted to find that the pair had reunited on Jimmy Fallon's late night show to perform the classic live for the first time (with house band The Roots, to boot!) --Ellen

Best Actress Oscar = Bad For Your Love Life?

Sandra Bullock, you've been warned.

With the news today that Kate Winslet is splitting from her husband of seven years, American Beauty's Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (who also helmed Revolutionary Road, starring his wife), she's been added to a long (and sad) list of Best Actress winners whose career highs have been followed by a personal low. It could be coincidental, it could be the straw that broke the camel's back, but just as some feel the Best Supporting Actress award carries a "career curse" (those who win it are typically young ingenues whose career fails to come near the mark afterwards), the Best Actress trophy could now be spelling doom for your idyllic home life.

Consider the stats from the last 10 years:

Kate Winslet, 2009
Won for: The Reader
Age at the time of win: 33
Status at the time: Married to Sam Mendes since 2003; two children
Status since: Announced split March 2010

Reese Witherspoon, 2006
Won for: Walk the Line
Age at the time of win: 29
Status at the time: Married to Ryan Phillippe since 1999; two children
Status since: Announced separation October 2006, divorced 2008

Hilary Swank, 2005
Won for: Million Dollar Baby (also won in 2000 for Boys Don't Cry)
Age at the time of win: 30
Status at the time: Married to Chad Lowe since 1997
Status since: Divorced in 2007


Charlize Theron, 2004
Won for: Monster
Age at the time of win: 29
Status at the time: Dating Stuart Townsend since 2001
Status since: Split in January 2010

Halle Berry, 2002
Won for: Monster's Ball
Age at the time of win: 35
Status at the time: Married to Eric Benet since 2001
Status since: Divorced in 2005



Julia Roberts, 2001
Won for: Erin Brockovich
Age at the time of win: 33
Status at the time: Dated Benjamin Bratt since 1998
Status since: Split in June 2001

2008 winner Marion Cotillard and 2003 winner Nicole Kidman were both single at the time of their wins; the only marriage to have survived an Oscar so far, is that of 2007 winner Helen Mirren. Whether her maturity (she was 62 at the time of her win, married to Taylor Hackford since 1997 and) or that the Oscar was the icing to an already illustrious 40-year-career that needed nothing else to prove, you can draw your own conclusions. --Ellen

"Cold Souls": Paul Giamatti on Being Stalked, Playing "Himself," and His Essential Movie

Paul Giamatti in person is about what you expect him to be: extremely humble, eloquent, uncomfortable with fame (prior to our interview he had to stand for a photo shoot, and looked about as at-ease as a kid in the dentist chair). And now the guy who memorably threw a hissy fit over drinking merlot in Sideways and pretty much steals every film he's in (heck, I still remember him as Bellhop Who Shares a Smoke With Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding) and still doesn't have an Oscar (though he now has an Emmy and a Golden Globe thanks to his starring role in HBO's John Adams), is famous to the point of playing himself in a movie.

Though not exactly: In his newest film, Cold Souls (which played at Sundance before opening in limited release last year) Giamatti plays an actor named "Paul Giamatti," who is so stressed over his preparation for "Uncle Vanya" on Broadway that he literally sells his soul; he takes his agent's suggestion and visits a lab in which he can put his soul in storage, renting another's soul in its place. If that's not strange enough, it turns out his soul is the size and shape of a... chickpea.

Giamatti and director Sophie Barthes, directing her first feature film, discussed with Amazon how she stalked him at a film festival to pitch him her script (how many drinks she'd had beforehand is debatable, they say); the challenges of playing your own, soulless self; and finally, Giamatti's pick for a Paul Giamatti Essential DVD. Listen to the interview below.--Ellen

Trailer Park: 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' Shot-By-Shot Breakdown

The teaser trailer is out for the new Twilight film, Eclipse, and here's the shot-by-shot breakdown:

0:12: Edward professes: "Isabella Swan, I promise to love you every moment forever." Though he's been around over a century, he still has some issues with redundant grammar.

0:23: Dakota Fanning alert! Looking forward to seeing her unleash some more of that whup-ass of pain.

0:44: Jacob professes to Bella: "I'm in love with you." This scene has less heat than a polar ice cap.

1:09: Victoria has found them. She turns her red-tressed head, and... THAT IS NOT VICTORIA. That is presumably Bryce Dallas Howard, who replaced Rachelle Lefevre from the first two films, however, it doesn't really look like Bryce either. Ruh-oh.

1:19: Gratuitous Taylor Lautner shirtless shot. Must be hot up on the mountain? Clearly aimed at creating shrieks in the theater.

1:20: Another Jacob declaration of love: "I'm gonna fight for you... until your heart stops beating." Does this mean he's going to try and win her over until she's turned into a vampire, thereby he won't want her anymore, or until she's dead, in which case there's kinda no point 'cause she's dead?

Watch the trailer here; what do you think? --Ellen

Oscar Wrap-Up: Best, Worst Moments

Another year, another Oscar. You can see the complete list of winners & nominees here as well as buy past winners at Oscar Central. Here's a rundown of highlights and lowlights for this year's awards.

BEST

Bringing out past co-stars to effuse about the lead actor and actress nominees, rather than last year's cattle call of past winners to welcome the newest to the fold. While last year's was nice and all, it was often painful when the speaker was reading praise off the TelePrompTer, very obvious they hadn't even seen the performance. Seeing Michelle Pfeiffer reminisce about Jeff Bridges from The Fabulous Baker Boys, etc. was a welcome trip down memory lane.

Gabourey Sidibe's runway pose when her name was announced at the beginning of the show, when all the lead acting nominees came onstage.

The crackling "tension" that appeared to be going on between Alec Baldwin and George Clooney during the opening monologue. Priceless.

Jeff Bridges' emotional praise of his showbiz parents (and repeated use of the word "groovy" and "man"). Had Jason Reitman (son of Ivan) had won Best Adapted Screenplay for Up in the Air, you would have seen a similar speech, but alas, it was not to be.

Costume Design winner Sandy Powell (The Young Victoria) astutely observing that designers for movies that are not period dramas are underrecognized, but that their work is just as hard.

Taylor Lautner's terrified expression when Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin mentioned his name during their opening monologue, tensing himself up for a joke at his expense.

The stars of the Animated Feature films being interviewed by Barbara Walters, press junket-style. Best is The Fantastic Mr. Fox lamenting that this isn't a "real" category.

The tribute to John Hughes. Not in a long time have I seen a montage of clips that perfectly encapsulated someone's influence, rather than just a mishmash of iconic well-known scenes. Plus it was nice to see the number of actors who got their start in a Hughes pic. The girl laughing at Watts wearing "boys' underpants" in the locker-room scene from Some Kind of Wonderful still stings today. (Side note: Vanity Fair has a terrific profile of the late '80s writer-director).

No Best Song performances. I thought I would miss them. I didn't.

The Best Score interpretive dance, which I would have put in the "Neither Here nor There" category, except for the dance for Up, which really made me appreciate the score even more.

The top half of Zoe Saldana's gown.

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE

Neil Patrick Harris' musical opening. I love me some NPH, but the opening was not nearly as brilliant as his Emmy number. Many confused audience members probably echoed Harris' sentiment, "What am I doing there?"

Co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. When they were onstage, they were spot-on, and they had some great brief bits involving Snuggies and a riff on Paranormal Activity. The only complaint is not using them enough.

Ben Stiller presenting Best Makeup dressed in full Avatar getup. I would applaud his fully committed performance had he not meandered and rambled about wanting to "plug my braid into your dragon."

Morgan Freeman narrating the Best Sound introduction. Yes, he is the voice of God in my head, but CBS Evening News, Visa.. is there anything the man hasn't voice-overed yet?

The absence of the Governor's Award, Honorary Oscar and Thalberg Award presentations. They were done in a separate dinner so the honorees would get more air time and a more intimate setting. Which is all well and good in keeping the show short, but that Lauren Bacall acceptance speech alone looked like it was prime-time worthy.

Demi Moore introducing the "In Memoriam" sequence, but not mentioning anything about Patrick Swayze.


WORST

The Oscar pre-show. Two bad decisions were made here: Kathy Ireland "interviewing" stars, and including in the past red-carpet montage celebrity couples who are no longer together (Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford, for instance).

The failure of AquaNet. Judging by the frizzy coifs of Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Kendrick, Demi Moore and others, some hairstylists will find themselves without a job tomorrow.

Kristen Stewart: For the love of God, stop fidgeting.

Using the sweeping theme from E.T. to announce... Elizabeth Banks (who was recapping the Sci-Fi and Tech Oscars). With that music, was anyone else expecting Steven Spielberg to walk out? Or Drew Barrymore?

Orchestra vs. winner playing chicken. The director from The Cove awkwardly stood there as the cutoff music played, seemingly considering if he should talk over the orchestra or get them to stop. He ended up shrugging and leaving the stage, probably cursing co-producer Fisher Stevens for hogging all the air time.

The horror movie montage. Its purpose was ... what, exactly?

The bottom half of Zoe Saldana's gown.

BEST QUOTES
"Well, the time has come." -- Barbra Streisand, presenting Best Director to The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow (the first female to win)

"Oscar AND Penelope. That's an uber-Bingo." --Christoph Waltz, whose Supporting Actor statue was given to him by Penelope Cruz

"It's a collaboration between handsome gifted people and sickly little mole people." --Robert Downey Jr., on the relationship between writers and actors

"I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel, for enduring all that she had to so that I would not have to." --Best Supporting Actress winner Mo'Nique of the first African-American Oscar winner

"I want to thank the Academy for not considering Na'vi a foreign language." -- director of El Secreto de sus Ojos, winner for Best Foreign Language Film, of the made-up language spoken in Avatar

"I'll never forget what you said to me about friendship on the last day of shooting [The Shawshank Redemption]. He said, 'Being a friend is getting the other a cup of coffee. Can you do that for me, Ted? It is Ted, isn't it?'" -- Tim Robbins, presenting Best Actor nominee Morgan Freeman

"[He's a] fantastically fantastic mister foxy fox." -- Vera Farmiga, presenting Best Actor nominee George Clooney

"It is in the area of awards and accolades that you show a certain... selfishness ... That is why I have spearheaded a movement in the Academy to cap the number of nominations by an actor at 16." --Stanley Tucci, presenting Best Actress (and 16-time nominee) Meryl Streep

"For not letting me ride in cars with boys till I was 18, 'cause she was right, I would have done what she said I was gonna do." -- Sandra Bullock, tearfully thanking her late mother

And the best of co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin:

 "He directed A Single Man." "And she weighs a single pound." -- Introducing designer Tom Ford and Sarah Jessica Parker

"Our next presenter won a screenwriting Oscar at the age of 27, and then went on to become an action star, which represents the first time a screenwriter has gotten any action." -- introducting Matt Damon

"In Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz played a Nazi obsessed with finding Jews. Well Christoph... (gestures to the audience) .. the motherlode."

"Meryl Streep holds the record for most nominations for an actress. Or as I like to think of it, most losses."

"She was so pleased to be nominated with him she sent him a beautiful gift basket... with a timer." "And he reciprocated by sending her.. a Toyota." --regarding the Best Director nominees (and friendly ex-spouses) Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron

"Oh look, there's that damn Helen Mirren." "That's Dame Helen Mirren." --Martin misreading the TelePrompTer

"The show is so long that Avatar now takes place in the past."

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What were your favorite moments? --Ellen

18 Great Canadian Exports

Watching the Olympics' closing ceremonies, I loved all the appearances by Canadian artists, especially the actors who proudly expressed their love for their motherland. So thank you, Canada, for giving us the following contributions to movies & television (so music artists and um, Tom Green are not on the list). These are in no particular order:

1) Anne of Green Gables. Set on Prince Edward Island, starring Canadian actors Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst and Jonathan Crombie, this television movie (and its two sequels) were must-see watching for any young woman on either side of the border.

2) Jim Carrey

3) Christopher Plummer. (I admit I had no idea he was Canadian.)

4) SCTV. The sketch comedy series that ran 1976-1984 birthed John Candy, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, and many other Canadian comedians.

5) The Sutherlands (Donald and Kiefer). One of the busiest and well-regarded veterans of Hollywood, and his son, aka Jack Bauer. (Incidentally, Sutherland's 24 co-stars Elisha Cuthbert and Leslie Hope are also Canadian).

6) Michael J. Fox

7) Dan Aykroyd

8) Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams: Though they are no longer a couple in real life, their tear-jerking coupling in The Notebook remains one for the chick-flick ages, not to mention their rising Hollywood profiles. (You could also be the greatest Canadian Hollywood couple if you could just... get back together? Please?)

9) Mike Myers

10) William Shatner, who mentioned during the Olympics' closing ceremonies that Canadians know "how to make love in a canoe." Only the Shat can say this line with authenticity.

11) Norma Shearer

12) Mon Oncle Antoine: The 1971 French-language film was twice voted the greatest Canadian film ever.

13) Ryan Reynolds

14) Atom Egoyan: The indie director of The Sweet Hereafter, which starred Canadian actress-turned-director Sarah Polley

15) Degrassi High: This Toronto-based series, which aired in 1987-1991 (with a couple of spinoffs), was hailed for its realistic portrayals of teens.

16) Sandra Oh

17). Keanu Reeves


18) Nathan Fillion: Star of TV's Castle, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along blog. And. Just. Hilarious.

Who/what else would you list as a great Canadian export? --Ellen

Cover Art Crimes, Part III: Floating Heads & Curious Colors

In this latest edition, we look at more instances where the DVD cover art departs from the theatrical poster... and not in a good way.

Exhibit A: The Lovely Bones
Theatrical poster:

I didn't think this was the greatest poster, but Stanley Tucci's killer is ominously shadowed on the left hand side, with heaven beckoning to Saorise Ronan on the right.


The DVD cover decides Ronan is already in heaven by having her head take up half the cover art, with the title really huge, no Stanley Tucci, and nothing to indicate the brutal menacing act that overshadows the film. DVDs are really fond of the "floating head" phenomena to maximize star power, but why didn't they include Tucci, who is the film's sole Oscar nomination?

Exhibit B: Brothers

I rather liked this poster's stark black-and-white silhouettes of the three stars in this particular position: Husband and wife Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman, with Jake Gyllenhaal looking on somewhat longingly. Even if you had no knowledge of the plot, this told you a lot.

Given the film's camouflage colors and, once again, the floating heads, I think this film is about two brothers who are fighting together at war, and the woman (Portman, who clearly got third billing as indicated by the size of her head) who is left at home waiting. And Gyllenhaal may or may not be homeless.  And no, that isn't quite right.

Exhibit C: Up in the Air

Paramount was very daring not to capitalize on star George Clooney's looks to sell this movie. The three silhouetted stars, plus the tag line "The story of a man ready to make a connection" perfectly captures the movie's light/sad tone.


So what possessed them to letterbox in the art, replace it with a movie still of Clooney and Vera Farmiga (no artistic renderings here!) and go with the start black/white fonts on the chalk blue background? Is that supposed to represent sky? Or those in-flight safety brochures? I'm so baffled by this one, all I can think of is someone decided to copy director Jason Reitman's first movie poster (only this one is supposed to look like a cigarette pack, so the shrunken photo is part of the joke):



What do you think? Anyone like the DVD cover art better? --Ellen

Ashton Kutcher vs. Josh Duhamel: Male Model Walk-Off

This isn't a new clip, but thanks to a recent InStyle interview with Ashton Kutcher and the power of YouTube, I got to watch this little gem for the first time. The year is 1997, and a pre-Las Vegas, pre-Fergie Josh Duhamel wins Male Model of the Year over a pre-That '70s Show (and pre-Demi) Christopher Ashton Kutcher (or "Chris Kutcher"). The part where Duhamel predicted that Kutcher, "that guy.. I don't remember his name... from Iowa," would win is hilarious. Check out the walk and their blue steel --Ellen

Trailer Park: 'The Last Airbender,' 'Toy Story 3,' 'Chloe'

Here's a look at upcoming movies. (Release dates subject to change). --Ellen

The Last Airbender (starring Noah Ringer and Dev Patel; dir. by M. Night Shyamalan) --Here's that other Avatar movie, based on the popular Nickelodeon series about a child named Aang who has the power to manipulate air, water, earth, and fire. The production's already drawn criticism for casting non-Asians in the roles (the lone exception is Patel, who only got cast after singer Jesse McCartney dropped out). If you're at all familiar with the show the difference is quite noticeable. Bet M. Night is hoping this isn't the next Dragonball: Evolution (Have you seen that movie? No? I did. I just saved you 90 minutes.) (Summer)

Chloe (starring Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried & Liam Neeson dir. by Atom Egoyan)-- I spent most of the trailer wondering what the hell Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson were doing in something that looks like a cross between The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Fatal Attraction. Then I remembered that it's directed by Canadian auter Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), and plus those other two movies (Moore had a memorable death in Cradle) were actually pretty good genre films, so you never know. (Mar. 26)

Toy Story 3 (voices by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen dir. by John Lasseter): Remember in Toy Story 2, when Kelsey Grammer posited what would happen to the toys when Andy went off to college? Well, that's answered here, where the toys go to a donation center (complete with day spa!), Ken meets Barbie, and Woody is determined to make his way back home. Also, running pre-schoolers. Who isn't excited about this? (Jun. 18)

Film Scores and Figure Skating

Last night's pairs figure skating competition had a lot of people going "Where HAVE I heard that song before?" particularly during Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig's short routine, set to the "Portuguese Love Theme" from Love Actually. (Ironically, this piece of music, which is used on 1 out of 5 romantic film trailers and in Oscar montages, is not actually on the soundtrack, nor available for purchase as a track. Grrrr.) Which made me think of two things I like: Olympic figure skating and film scores. When put together in the right way, they elevate each other to a new level of, well, misty eyes.

There are several great ones here that come to mind: Elvis Stojko's martial arts-infused routine to the score from Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1994 Lillehammer; Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, 2002 Salt Lake City, in their shoulda-been gold routine to the theme from Love Story; Nancy Kerrigan's 1992 bronze-medalist routine to the iconic Born on the Fourth of July theme, and so forth.

But there is one routine that stands out to me: The year was 1992 in Albertville, France, during the men's long program. An underdog named Paul Wylie from the U.S., who was on his last Olympics and many thought had no business being on the team, came out and executed a near-flawless routine that stunned everyone including himself. Watch it again and I dare you not to get excited.

Wylie skated to selections from the Henry V score, composed by Patrick Doyle. Complete with swordplay and Russian splits, I was so exhilarated after watching this that I went out to find the soundtrack even though I'd never seen the film. (Wylie nabbed the silver medal and also skated memorable routines to the scores from JFK and The Untouchables the following year)

NBC really should print across the screen the skaters' musical selections, because with such a large audience I'm sure plenty of people go searching for these tracks that move them to tears. Anyone else have any favorite movie-themed skating routines? --Ellen