Don’t let the surprise triumph of Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy at last Saturday’s SAG awards…don’t let that bizarre surprise define Oscar voting! Please! This is Giamatti’s year…don’t let the moment slip away!
Don’t let the surprise triumph of Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy at last Saturday’s SAG awards…don’t let that bizarre surprise define Oscar voting! Please! This is Giamatti’s year…don’t let the moment slip away!
This morning Blocked and Reported‘s Katie Herzog and Brad Palumbo posted a discussion about last weekend’s Los Angeles sidewalk-cafe debate between the progressive-wokey, mask-wearing Taylor Lorenz and Libs of TikTok‘s conservative-minded Chaya Richik.
It’s asserted early on that Chaya, a Hebrew name, is pronounced “Haya.” That fits when you consider that l-chaim is pronounced “luh-hime.” The “ch” is basically an “h.”
It took me two full days to recover from some of the ghastly fashion choices I saw during last Saturday’s SAG awards telecast. I was literally groaning, shuddering in my seat, in some instances convulsing with disgust.
This, I told myself, is why 96% of the U.S.population (i.e., those who are straight hot-dog eaters and/or don’t work in the entertainment industry, and who don’t live in slavish obedience to the “suggestions” (i.e., commands) of eccentric fashion designers)…this is why average Americans loathe and despise effete male industry entertainers. Some at the SAG ceremony looked like permanent residents of Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz. Actresses can do whatever but dude-wise people want real men, which is to say non-eccentric, stylish but sensible, tone down the fucking feathers and affectations, etc.
But before sampling the worst, here’s one of the evening’s best-looking outfits, worn by Taylor Zakhar Perez, who plays the gay son of the U.S.President in Red, White and Royal Blue (Amazon Prime).
And now the awful-awfuls…
Robert Downey Jr.s’ gray horrorsuit…bizarre jacket slits, flesh-colored shirt without tie, baggy-ass pants and heavy, shiny-brown clodhopper shoes with light-brown soles. General Mireau, the man behind the forthcoming firing-squad execution of three babygirls, would like to include Downey’s fashion adviser in the line of fire.
One of the most self-satirizing fashion calamities of the night was worn by Queer Eye‘s Tan France, known for his silver-white pompadour hair. The instant I saw his 18-inch wide chopstick bowtie during the pre-show red carpet sequence, I muttered to myself “you fucking pretentious asshole.”
Abbott Elementary‘s Chris Perfetti…the curly red hair and giant-sized ears blended with the suit’s light malted brown color, the black cumberband and the peaked black lapels…totally sickening, and those godawful, reprehensible baggy pants…yeesh.
Comedian Alok Vaid-Menon…yeah!!
Rustin‘s Colman Domingo in a light pink and black tux…an outfit that needlessly underlined his sexual identity and in so doing compromised his cred as an actor of a certain chameleon mystique.
The light powder-blue Martian pants worn by Abbott Elementary‘s Tyler James Williams…imagine some guy in Montpellier, Vermont, or Guerneville, California, or even in Austin, Texas wearing pants like this to some formal-ass event.
If there’s any way that I, the honcho of Hollywood Elsewhere, can bring pain, anguish and acute suffering into the life of any actor who believes in a babygirl persona…if there’s any way I could make a babygirl howl in agony and weep and beg for mercy on his knees, I would flip the switch.
Death to all babygirls…death to Zoomers who believe in wearing black sequins and shorts on a red carpet and chunky black boots with knee socks and anything else that smacks of wimpy Zoomer anal-lube squishiness.
Brigadier General Paul Mireau (George Macready) in Paths of Glory: “Colonel Dax, I want you to choose three babygirls — one from each regiment — and have them prepare for a firing-squad execution tomorrow morning at 7 am. Don’t tell them that, of course. Tell them we need them to serve as judges for a fashion show featuring Pedro Pascal…whatever it takes.
“I can’t wait to see those little sweethearts tied side by side to a post, standing in front of sandbags with tears streaming down their cheeks.”
I would actually feel fine about her not attending at all. Really. HE to Zendaya: I really don’t mean this in a hostile way. I’m just saying if you change your mind…no worries!
Honestly? The new trailer for Kevin Costner‘s two-part Horizon: An American Saga (Warner Bros., 6.8.24 and 8.16.24) seems all over the map. It feels vague. I can’t get a handle on it. Apparently it’s about covered wagon settlers and the usual hostilities from Native Americans as the settlers make their way west during the Civil War era, but it feels more like an eight-part Max miniseries than a sprawling, big-canvas two-part theatrical.
The names of the Michael Clayton surveillance guys were “Mr. Verne” (Robert Prescott) and “Mr. Iker” (Terry Serpico). I know faces and I can sense gaydar undercurrents, and there’s no way in hell either of them were gay. They just didn’t have that faintly swishy vibe, but if they did Verne would be a top and Iker would be an ambivalent bottom. But they weren’t so forget it.
Greetings to HE fans and Oscar Poker loyalists (posted on Sunday, 2.26, 10:10 pm):
Podcast-wise longtime HE partner & soulmate Sasha Stone and I have decided to politely and graciously part company, at least for the time being.
HE’s “The Misfits” is the new deal — a Zoom video group discussion thing as opposed to the two-person audio chat that “Oscar Poker” was — it’s now three or four revolving participants per weekly episode, discussing the usual ebb and flow, twists and turns, industry razmatazz, etc.
HE founder and relentless, rat-a-tat-tat author Jeffrey Wells is, as you might expect, a locked-in, never-say-die fixture.
Today’s trio was comprised of Glenn Kenny, author of the forthcoming “The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface”, “Exit Interview” author Kristi Coulter, and Manhattan & East Hampton movie hound, comedy writer and co-host of “Talking Pictures” co-host Bill McCuddy.
Others will join in as things evolve. We’re playing it by ear for the time being. Perhaps Jeff Sneider and Eddie Ginley will jump in next week or down the road. The door is open. I would love it if I could persuade Sasha to drop in from time to time, but that’s up to her, of course.
You have to visit HE’s Oscar Poker Substack page and join up and listen. McCuddy says 90 minutes is too long, but I’m too whipped to cut it into two segments. I’ll make sure next week’s episode is carved into two shorter segments. Again, the Substack link.
These two video clips were recorded late Sunday morning (2.25.24, 10:40 AM) at Jett, Cait and Sutton’s home in West Orange, New Jersey. They’re not newsworthy or topical or even amusing — they simply represent the happiest and most serene interlude I experienced all day. I was saying to myself “this is perfect…life can’t get any better than this.”
I left soon after recording these two clips and arrived back in Wilton around 1:15 pm or so. Less than two hours hence HE’s video Zoom capture of the debut episode of “The Misfits” (myself, Glenn Kenny, Kristi Coulter and Bill McCuddy) began — roughly 3:30 pm and ending at 5 pm, give or take.
Discussion topics included (a) “Exit Interview,” Coulter’s well-reviewed book about her 12 years at Amazon; (b) Alcoholism and addiction, and how a person feeling really and truly delighted about his/her life can be an excellent reason to start drinking again; (c) Successfully suppressing an urge to blow off 12 years of sobriety in the tragic wake of The Holdovers‘ Paul Giamatti losing SAG’s Best Actor trophy to Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy, and especially KOTFM‘s Lily Gladstone elbowing aside Poor Things‘ Emma Stone to take SAG’s Best Actress award; (d) the straight-male intrigue factor (or lack thereof) in two new lesbian movies, Rose Glass‘s melodramatic and fleetingly surreal Love Lies Bleeding and Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke‘s Drive-Away Dolls, a mildly farcical sexual odyssey set in ’99 or thereabouts; (e) Kenny’s forthcoming Scarface book, “The World Is Yours,” and a casual reciting of several making-of anecdotes, etc.
I’m currently trying to figure out how to upload our lively “Misfits” discussion, which we were quite happy with. Okay, it ran a little bit long, which prompted me to think about editing it into two segments. I’m way too much of a douchenozzle to figure this stuff out quickly, but I might manage to upload something within an hour or two….who knows?
Today’s “Misfits” podcast records at 3:30 pm, and, as mentioned, will post sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.
Participants: Glenn Kenny (“The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface‘), Kristi Coulter (“Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career“), Manhattan & East Hampton movie hound and “Talking Pictures” cohost Bill McCuddy.
I’m in West Orange, New Jersey as we speak. I need to hop on the NJ Turnpike, traverse the GW Bridge and be back to Wilton no later than 1 pm.
Fair weather, blue skies and a positive attitude despite what happened last night last the SAG awards.
HE to Sasha Stone: I didn’t want Lily Gladstone to “lose”. I wanted an actress who had given a truly Oscar-worthy performance to win. Was that such a bad thing?
Yes, who didn't? No one in that room wanted to watch her lose. https://t.co/VDTqYWYwbn
— Sasha Stone at Awards Daily (@AwardsDaily) February 25, 2024
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