Yes, I still love her

"You can't be fat and mean"

I just want her to prove them all wrong!

This little sneak peak couldn't come at a better time since I read this piece of casting news from Empire.

I had previously read in Variety that she was being considered for the lead. I was furious since the book (which is wonderful) has three leads. Skeeter (Stone), Minney (an black maid who cannot keep her opinions silent) and Abeline (an older black maid who is fiercely intelligent but keeps this quiet).
Of course Hollywood would have these two lead characters as supporting and make it all about the brave white woman helping the poor blacks. I hope against hope that this is a three lead film, with a slew of rich supporting players.

I am also hoping that someone hands the script to Sidibe as she would be fantabulous as Minney.

Someone make this happen!

Thinking differently

I am not going to comment any further on the Howard Stern comment on Gabourey Sidibe than saying - "he is one to talk about appearance."
All he really did was give 'Precious' a lot more credence as a film. We do laugh at people who are physically different. We are all basically twats - some of us more than others.
However it does bring up an interesting point on black actresses in Hollywood. We all know how difficult good roles are for them to get. If they get a juicy role in a film, that happens to be considered a 'black' film, then the audience is automatically limited. In other aspects they are usually supporting players or in an independent film.
If you look at the lead actresses nominated for Oscar, the picture becomes clear:

1954 - Dorothy Dandridge in 'Carmen Jones'
1972 - Diana Ross in 'Lady Sings the Blues'
1972 - Cicely Tyson in 'Sounder'
1974 - Diahann Carroll in 'Claudine'
1985 - Whoopie Goldberg in 'The Color Purple'
1993 - Angela Bassett in 'What's Love Got To Do with It'
2001 - Halle Berry in Monsters Ball *
2009 - Gabourey Sidibe in 'Precious'

That is 2% of nominees since the beginning of Oscar time (* indicates winner).


Supporting actress is a little different:

1939 - Hattie McDaniel in 'Gone with the Wind' *
1948 - Ethel Waters in 'Pinky'
1959 - Juanita Moore in 'Imitation of Life'
1967 - Beah Richards in 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'
1983 - Alfre Woodard in 'Cross Creek'
1985 - Oprah Winfrey in 'The Color Purple'
1985 - Margaret Avery in 'The Color Purple'
1990 - Whoopie Goldberg in 'Ghost' *
1996 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste in 'Secrets and Lies'
2002 - Queen Latifah in 'Chicago'
2004 - Sophie Okonedo in ' Hotel Rwanda'
2006 - Jennifer Husdon in 'Dreamgirls' *
2007 - Ruby Dee in 'American Gangster'
2008 - Viola Davis in 'Doubt'
2008 - Taraji P. Henson in 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'
2009 - Mo'Nique in 'Precious' *

That is a little less than 4.5% of nominees in this category (* indicates winner).
Whoopie is the only black actress to receive two nominations so there are more milestones to go.
So yes, Gabourey is going to have a hard time, but things are getting better. What troubles me is that so many people have written her off as a one hit wonder without seeing any more of her work. We will be able to judge on August 16th (Madonna's Birthday!) when her showtime series 'The Big C' premiers.
But it seems we are all ready to kill her career before it has even began based on how she looks. When did we become so f*cking cynical?
Perhaps if we thought better of the film industry, they would come around. I mean things are getting better. 43% of black actresses nominated in the supporting category were from this past decade (the lead category still needs to catch up with the 1970's - sadly).
Why do we look at someone and, judging by their appearance, dismiss them? Shouldn't we try and see everyone as equal to begin with? Isn't that the point of 'Precious' in the first place?

I think there is a place for her in Hollywood. She is something fresh, new and intelligent and that is something the film industry needs much more of. All it will take is a few screenwriters to think a little bit out side of the box in terms of what image they give their characters for and casting directors to think a little bit out side of the box in terms of filling roles.

At the end of the day, the legacy all actresses leave behind is one of two things. Their image, or the quality of their work. Sometimes, if they are incredibly lucky, it will be both.

Dear Gabby

Get ye to a comedy script PRONTO!



And just a little bit about her Spirit win, which for me is not so much about the awards, but her own Spirit. She won this award because of her performance, which is how it should be. However, I am convinced that her personality counted for something, mainly as a contrast to be able to appreciate the depth and complexity of her performance. With a personality like hers, she can over come anything.

Most of the press go on about how she is not 'Hollywood' enough (read too dark and big), yet here she is, doing the circuit and having a laugh. She worked the red carpets for all she i s worth and has been the most enjoyable presence in awards season. She didn't win the Oscar (Mo'Nique may have won for performance over politics, but Gabby certainly lost due to politics over performance) but she is fiercely determined to continue on acting, even shouting out Tina Fey as someone she wants to collaborate with. She is not playing by the rules and she is having fun for all it is worth.
What she is, is refreshing. That is something Hollywood certainly needs to embrace in order to survive.

Regrets

Nothing makes me wish I was there more than hearing news like this.
I would so be in the middle doing 'The Bump'

'Precious' sweeps spirit awards

Best Feature: 'Precious'

Best Director: Lee Daniels ('Precious')

Best First Feature: Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall, Rob Carliner, Judy
Cairo, T-Bone Burnett ('Crazy Heart')

John Cassavetes Award: Lynn Shelton ('Humpday')

Best Screenplay: Scott Neustader, Michael H. Weber ('500 Days of Summer')

Best First Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher ('Precious')

Best Female Lead: Gabourey Sidibe ('Precious)'

Best Male Lead: Jeff Bridges ('Crazy Heart')

Best Supporting Male: Woody Harrelson ('The Messenger')

Best Supporting Female: Mo'Nique ('Precious')

Best Foreign Film: ('An Education')

Best Documentary: ('Anvil! The Story of Anvil')

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins ('A Serious Man')

Robert Altman Award: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel
Tenner, Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Fred Melamed,
Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff ('A Serious Man')

Piaget Producers Award: Karen Chien ('The Exploding Girl', 'Santa Mesa')

Acura Someone to Watch Award: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ('Easier With Practice')

Chaz and Roger Ebert Truer than Fiction Award: Bill Ross and Turner Ross (45365)

'Precious' at home

Out on DVD in the US today! Yippeeeee!

Not only do you get Lee Daniels harrowing and stirring triumph of a film, but you get some wonderful extras including Gabourey Sidibe's awesome audition, and some other extras.

Buy it today.

Also, for those of you who are hotly anticipating Daniels next project 'Selma' which is based on the US civil rights march in 1965, there is casting news. Not Robert DeNiro was circling the project (perhaps to play president Lyndon B. Johnson or Alabama Governor George "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" Wallace) but the only official casting new is that Hugh Jackman has joined the project - no matter what IMDB says.

Now the only role I can see him playing is that of George Wallace (evil, racist = Oscar bait) or civil rights campaigner and Unitarian Universal minister from Boston, James Reeb who was beaten to death while marching (saintly martyr = Oscar bait).

The roles of Johnson (DeNiro would be a good fit physically), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (please say no to Jamie Foxx and yes to Jeffrey Wright - he was born in 1965 so it is fitting), Coretta Scott King (Viola Davis (born same year) or Regina King please!) are yet to be cast.

Anticipating this one very much!

Love and Hate

I am so having the above relationship with the Oscars.

I always think "What would I do if I were an Academy voter?" when the season comes around. And it is for this reason that I constantly really hate the Academy Awards. Every year they get so much wrong, even when they are getting some things right.

I was in shock in 2007 when they managed to award what I thought were the best (or close to) in each category.
Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Daniel Day Lewis, The Coen brothers x 2 and Diablo Cody all went home with an award and I could not deny any of them, based on the performances given. But that is indeed extremely rare - I can barely remember when it has happened before.

Now of course it could just be my opinion that casts this fog over ever Oscar year.
Just because what I think is the best hasn't won should not mean me going into a little sulk.
Yet that is exactly what I am doing right now.
I have hardly posted on the blog. I have not even gotten close to doing the MAFFE awards, and I really do not care.
What fuels this Oscar depression is reading the constant bloggers going on and on about the 'Avatar' vs 'The Hurt Locker' scandal. Apparently emails have been sent and everyone is up in a tizzy.
Who cares?
Well I care.
The Academy Awards want to be the gold medal of the movie year, and in fact they are.
However they constantly embarrass themselves by nominating films and performances that are many times less than great.
Did they not see Tilda Swinton in 'Julia' this year? *
Or more disturbingly, did they honestly think Sandra Bullock gave a more impressive performance than Swinton?
When the presenters come out, do they not say "The nominees for best performance by an Actress in a leading role are.."? Perhaps they should change it to "The people you have decided to include in the Best Actress category are...". At least it would be honest and not make a mockery of the craft of acting.
Did Bullock really give the best performance by an Actress in a leading role for 'The Blind Side'?
Not by a long shot.
Did she give the best performance of the nominated five? I would have to say no, yet she will still likely win the award.
Why?
Mainly because people think she is due, they want to reward her for her career. Funny, as one of the highest paid actresses working today I would think the gazillions of dollars are reward enough for her career.
It is not like she has been an awards bait actress before. Her nomination is mainly due to the fact her film was a hit, and the fact her performance was a good (not great) one, adds to this need to give her an Oscar.
This is a constant with the actress categories - which is rather depressing.
You are rewarded for being due, popular, sexy, making yourself physically unattractive for the performance and sometimes, very rarely, for giving the best performance of the year.
When that happens, it is usually because no one can deny the performance - this is something that only comes along once or twice in a decade.

This year it is Mo'Nique for 'Precious'.
She is winning an Oscar because no one can possibly deny the performance.

But what about 'Best performance by an Actress in a leading role'?
Well there are only really two nominees who are there solely because of the strength of their performance - Carey Mulligan for 'An Education' and Gabourey Sidibe for 'Precious'.
Meryl Streep is here because she is the greatest living actress and is still turning out wonderful work. The performance is great, but on a Meryl scale it is merely a good one.
Helen Mirren is here because she is another actress who has managed to stay on top of her game for many years, plus she is great in the film, even if she can do that in her sleep.
And we know why Bullock is here.
Yet when these members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences come to vote, most of them will not do so based on the performance. And they wonder why, as an institution, they are losing respect with the public. And they wonder why their ratings are so low.
Treat the voting power you have with the respect you feel your craft deserves! How else will the younger generation know what to strive for if they think Bullock gave the greatest female performance by a lead actress in 2009?
They will strive for mediocrity.

Of course I will be watching the awards. I want to see Mo'Nique come out victorious more than anything.
It will break my heart to see Gabby again ignored, but here is hoping she gets the Spirit Award the night before.

And in case anyone was wondering, my own personal ballot would look like this:

Best Picture - “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Actor in a Leading Role - Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Actor in a Supporting Role - Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
Actress in a Leading Role - Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Actress in a Supporting Role - Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Animated Feature Film - “Up”
Art Direction - “Avatar”
Cinematography - “The White Ribbon”
Costume Design - “Bright Star”
Directing - “Inglourious Basterds” - Quentin Tarantino
Documentary (Feature) - “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
Film Editing - “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
Foreign Language Film - “The White Ribbon”
Makeup - “The Young Victoria”
Music (Original Score) - “Up” Michael Giacchino
Music (Original Song) - “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”
Short Film (Animated) - “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park
Sound Editing - “Avatar”
Sound Mixing - “The Hurt Locker”
Visual Effects - “District 9”
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Writing (Original Screenplay) - “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino

* To be a member of the Academy you really should have seen every film and performance of note for the year.

BAFTAS

A few thoughts on last nights BAFTA awards.

Jonathan Ross was EMBARRASSINGLY bad as host. Not funny, not witty and not clever. The horrid silence after each joke was almost enough to make me turn off. I seriously sat there with my fingers in my ears going "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA" until I saw him leave the stage.

Sad Mo'Nique was a no show, but the lady is a busy bee with her talk show so I understand.

Saoirse Ronan is bloody stunning - she is growing up to be a real looker.
On the same note Kate Winslet looked fantastic. I guess finally winning the Oscar has helped her loosen up on the red carpet. All flowy and natural looking.

Again Jonathan Ross was horrendous - I mean, I swear I could hear the rain outside after his jokes, it was that quiet.

I am feeling really sorry for Gabourey Sidibe. I would hate having to go to all these award ceremonies and constantly hear other peoples names being called out, when you are arguably just as good, if not better than those names being called - frustrating. They really need to change the award name to 'Favourite Actress' and cut the 'Best Performance by an......" bull shit. Call it what it is.

Vanessa Redgrave overflows with grace and humour. I want to go to a tea party with her and Uma.

Carey Mulligan was a lovely winner, and she looked the best she ever have on the awards circuit.
The hair was lovely, the make up perfect, and the dress was just jaw droppingly lovely - one of the few times this awards season where I was taken aback.
I love a girl who can pull off pattern.

It was very nice to see someone else win something, just a shame it wasn't Gabby, but knowing those two are friends makes me fell pretty sure that Carey let Gabby hold it.

I really want Colin Firth to win the Oscar.

Most presenters and winners were 10 times as funny as the host. The Foreign language winner was a pure highlight.

I like Kristen Stewart, even thought she looks like she needs a good wash. She seemed genuinely embarrassed to have won the Rising Star award, considering her fellow nominees were much more deserving. She knew it, we knew it, the room knew it. Too bad the Academy opened that award up to public voting. It ensured 20 million 'Twilight' fans bombarded the voting system.
I voted for Tahar Rahim and the boyfriend voted for Carey Mulligan.

'The Hurt Locker' was an excellent film, but really this is overkill. All those awards. I agree with Director and to an extent Picture, but the rest of those awards are silly. It was like the BAFTAs were purposely being anti Avatar, and in doing so took away some awards from other nominees (I refuse to believe 'The Hurt Locker' was a better achievement in screen writing than 'Inglourious Basterds' was.

'District 9' went home empty handed. Boo. As mush as I loved 'Avatar' what 'D9' in terms of budget available was jaw dropping. A shame budget never comes into it.

Jonathan Ross was terrible.

Full list of winners here:

Best Picture – The Hurt Locker
Best Actress – Carey Mulligan, An Education
Best Actor – Colin Firth, A Single Man
Best Director -Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Film not in the English Language – Un Prophete
Animated Film – Up
Adapted Screenplay – Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner for Up In The Air
Orange Rising Star Award – Kristen Stewart
Production Design: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg & Kim Sinclair for Avatar
Original Screenplay: Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker
Outstanding British Film: Fish Tank
Supporting Actress: Mo’nique, Precious (Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire)
Makeup and Hair: Jenny Shircore for The Young Victoria
Costume Design: Sandy Powell for The Young Victoria
Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Visual Effects – Avatar
Cinematography – Barry Ackroyd for The Hurt Locker
Editing – The Hurt Locker
Sound – The Hurt Locker
Music – Michael Giacchino for Up
Outstanding British Debut: Duncan Jones for Moon
Short Film – I Do Air
Short Animation – Mother Of Many

PLEASE!

Love it. She really would make a fantastic winner, such a shame they hardly ever reward individual performance anymore. I say when Bullock is deserving for a single performance....give it to her. She has it in her, she was (IMHO) the best thing in 'Crash'.

However this totally brightened my day. Can you imagine.

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Really hoping for a few spanners to be chucked into the awards race this year.

The SAG awards sometime do like to throw some odd choices out there when picking their winners. These are actors voting so I am hoping that performance will win over popularity.

Could Gabby get some recognition here? It seems likely as I cannot imagine actors rewarding Bullock. Sure she may be popular, but by performance it should be a race between Sidibe, Mulligan and Streep. Streep just won so could they reward a fellow American in Sibide?

Lets hope so.

My out of left field predictions are ripe for upset and mocking, but what the hey.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges - 'Crazy Heart' - He has yet to win one and is well respected.

Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe - 'Precious' - I am sure I will be disappointed here, but how wonderful would it be for her to get some credit for a turn as equally wonderful as Mo'Niques.

Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer - 'The Last Station' - Remember Ruby Dee. They like to pay respect to a veteran.

Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique - 'Precious' - Head and tails above all the other performances.

Best Ensemble - 'Inglourious Basterds' - Has to be really, unless they go with 'Precious'. Both are truly wonderful examples of ensemble performance.

GO GO GABBY GO!

Gabby x 2 (with quote)

“People always ask me, ‘You have so much confidence. Where did that come from?’ It came from me. One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl….It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see. Your body is your temple, it’s your home, and you must decorate it.”

I love FYC ads.

I even love this one, even if they are airbrushed and Gabby was photographed out of character, and Mo'Nique looks far too much like a loving acting teacher.

Still fantastic

Stunning

From Vanity Fair

Mo'Nique rocks

All this backlash against the woman not doing any PR for 'Precious' is a load of hooey. Love it when people's bad intentions end up making them look so petty. Gossip mongers!

Anywho I was doing my usual searches for anything 'Precious' related on You Tube last night and came across these two, different, yet very entertaining interviews.

The first is from 'The Ellen Show'. It i strange the Ellen seems completely unprepared for Mo'Nique, it is almost as though she is really intimidated of her.
Mo'Nique is wonderful though. She looks great, is extremely honest and unsentimental and most importantly never comes across as wanting an award.
Love the bit at the end when she talks about her weight loss, but still Ellen just didn't seem able to cope.



A much better interview was on the Late Night Show with Craig Ferguson. She was sexy, sassy, extremely funny and her rap pour with Ferguson is priceless.



Both of these interviews prove one thing to me. There is nothing I would rather see then this force of nature on stage accepting an Oscar and giving a speech. I mean how awesome would she be?
I also love how she both praised Gabby and constantly says that the success of the film and her performance is all due to Lee Daniels. It is modestly, but it never comes off as false.
I honestly think should she not win or even get nominated, she will not really mind. It seems that doing this film was reward enough.
I think she would be more upset should Gabby or Lee be passed over.

Also interesting is this interview over at Interview Magazine where Mo'Nique interviews Gabby.

Quote of the morning

From Lionsgate President of Distribution David Spitz of the successful weekend for 'Precious' - $100,00 per screen on only 18 screens making $1,8000,000 and coming in 11th over all (a record).

"We are hearing stories from that people didn't want to leave the auditorium because they wanted to decompress,"

If they were anything like me, then needed a few minutes to compose themselves. Also found a great interview with leading lady Gabby.

For José (the obsession is officially out of control)

Jose apparently (so he says) comes here for all his Gabby news.


You gotta watch this. The more interviews I see, the more I want to see her up on that stage.
So genuine and real.

Oh and she is also going to me coming to Showtime in a series. WooooHooo!

Ram it down your throat time.

Since most bloggers are going on and on about 'An Education' I will continue going on and on about 'Precious' it you beg me to stop (and then I may ignore you).

Saw her on Ellen and she is just so much fun.



Also check out this interview wonderful and enlightening with Sapphire. It is 45 minutes but informative and sheds a lot of light on the book and film. Well worth it.

Mother and Child

A wonderful article (and further proof Mo'Nique will do the press)

Gabbie x 5

She is just awesomeness! Taken from a Bruce Webber photo shoot with German Vogue co-starring Heidi Klum