Editor’s note: Welcome to The Fug Report! Each week our fashion blogger friends Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, the sartorial geniuses behind Go Fug Yourself, will feature some of the most memorable looks of the week in this space. We hope you enjoy it!
This week, on Go Fug Yourself, Charlize Theron was a hot, surprise surprise, in large part because of her Charlizeness. Serena Williams: also hot. So was Jessica Simpson (no, seriously!). Something must be going around. In other news, Meryl Streep blew our minds by hanging out with some Real Housewives, China Chow sported a festive luau poncho, Kate Beckinsale went out in what looked like granny panties, and Piper Perabo’s hair looked like something out of Star Trek married to a pastry. Finally, we decided that someone at Cosmo must really hate ScarJo — and her boobs. Can anyone explain what’s happening on this cover and why?
It’s the most ambivalent time of the year! No, not the holiday season — the awards season, which is now officially underway. The New York Film Critics Circle has just finished announcing this year’s winners via Twitter, and its picks have certainly raised our eyebrows. Of course, it’s a surprise to no one that critics loved Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, which took home two acting awards for its prolific principals, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt, and an incredibly well-deserved cinematography prize. But it was French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius’ much-loved, just-released silent-era throwback The Artist that earned both their Best Picture and Best Director prizes. Also notable: Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, which we loved, didn’t win anything. Check out the rest of the critics’ favorites after the jump, and feel free to speculate wildly on what this means for the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Independent Spirits (which announced their nominees today) in the comments.
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Last week we had one of our periodic Flavorwire editorial meetings, and the conversation turned to Zooey Deschanel. Contrary to whatever direction you might presume we’d lean on her, there were a wide variety of opinions in the room, from indifferent to stubbornly affectionate (yours truly) to exhausted (“I’m about up to here with her”). While everyone basically agrees that her new show New Girl is nothing to write home about, there is a divergence as to why — some say it’s ill-conceived and mediocre, while others place the blame squarely on Ms. Deschanel. When I heard the phrase “She always just plays herself,” my ears perked up. Here’s a favorite topic that I’d not had the chance to engage in for a while: the question of persona vs. versatility in acting.
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Have we mentioned before how much we adore Meryl Streep? Even Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia. We’re helplessly drawn to her in every role; it’s like director Mike Nichols once famously explained, “She looks like she swallowed a lightbulb.” That’s why we were thrilled to hear that the 62-year-old icon — who has scored more Academy Award nominations than any other actress — is among the five performers who will receive this year’s Kennedy Center Honors, an annual award “given to individuals in the performing arts for their lifetime contributions to American culture.” Also being recognized: Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, and Sonny Rollins.
As you might expect from her past behavior, Streep’s reaction to the news was incredibly humble: “I am deeply honored by this news, and wish my mother and father were alive to hear it,” she said in a statement. “All that education, allowance, tuition, voice lessons, summer jobs, scholarship application deadlines and loving care and discipline – all that they gave me, bore fruit in a way they never dreamed. I am so grateful!”
This year’s ceremony, which will be hosted by Caroline Kennedy, airs on December 27 at 9pm on CBS.
Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week, we’ve got new films from Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Steven Soderbergh, and Guy Ritchie — but don’t get too excited, there’s a new Adam Sandler movie too. Check ‘em all out after the jump.
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1. According to Nielsen SoundScan’s midyear sales report, music sales are actually up for the first time since 2004. [via ArtsBeat]
2. It’s a cruel, cruel world: The producers of Modern Family are reportedly looking to recast the role of Lily. “Lily will definitely be more prominent in season three,” explains series star Jesse Tyler Ferguson. “It’s interesting with children because we can’t force this 2 and a half-year-old child to start speaking, and we don’t know if the twins who play Lily are inclined toward acting, so maybe we’ll cast another older child who can talk and who wants to be an actress to play Lily.” [via Aol TV]
3. If you need a distraction from counting down the days until July 15th and you don’t mind spoilers, you can watch eight new clips from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 here.
4. ABC has sold the online rights to its canceled soaps All My Children and One Life to Live, and the shows are now expected to live on with the same casts and crews on a currently unnamed, Hulu-like site. We’re wondering if this could be the start of a new trend. [via Vulture]
5. This first teaser for The Iron Lady makes us wonder if Meryl Streep made the right choice in taking on the role of Margaret Thatcher — but maybe it’s just the prosthetic teeth that are throwing us off. What do you think? [via The Playlist]
Bonus link: How 8 Acquitted Defendants Spent the Rest of Their Lives
John Cazale may not be history’s most well-known actor, but he appeared in five films that were all nominated for Best Picture within a six-year period — and a new documentary intends to give him the recognition he deserves.
Cazale left his mark on film history by lending his talents to The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation, and Dog Day Afternoon. In total, those films garnered 40 Oscar nominations throughout the 1970s, and became an intrinsic part of what many critics have deemed the last Golden Era of American film.
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1. Goldman Sachs has instituted a ban on swearing in electronic messages that encompasses emails, instant messages, and texts from company phones. [via NYO]
2. Forget Jessica Simpson or Justin Timberlake — Diddy says that he wants to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on American Idol because of the awesome salary. [via TV Squad]
3. You can watch the first episode of Showtime‘s new cancer drama The Big C, which stars Laura Linney and premieres August 16 at 10:30pm, for free online right now. [via Vulture]
4. Meryl Streep and Tina Fey in a mother/daughter comedy that’s directed by Stanley Tucci? We don’t even know the storyline, and we’re sold! [via THR]
5. Steve Carell makes a lot of fat jokes in the latest installment of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis… and it ends in tears. [via The Daily What]
Bonus link: E-books article drinking game
1. This should be juicy: Aaron Sorkin will make his directorial debut with Andrew Young’s John Edwards tell-all The Politician. [ via PopWatch]
2. Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are reportedly pitching a bringing-up-baby reality show. So that’s probably why they’re back together. [via TMZ]
3. Art legend Claes Oldenburg has plans to build a giant paintbrush sculpture for the plaza in front of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. [via UnBeige]
4. Actor-director Stanley Tucci is shopping around a film tentatively titled Mommy & Me, starring two of our biggest girl crushes, Meryl Streep and Tina Fey. [via L.A. Times]
5. Country music songwriter Hank Cochran, who penned classics including Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” has died at age 74. [via BBC]
1. Judd Apatow is momentarily turning his back on the Frat Pack and developing a new Pee-wee Herman movie because he says, “Let’s face it, the world needs more Pee-wee Herman.” Agreed. [via Variety]
2. Meryl Streep is in talks to play Margaret Thatcher in Thatcher, a film directed by Phyllida Lloyd, who she previously worked with on Mamma Mia!. We hope this one’s a musical too. [via THR]
3. Yesterday Amazon acquired one-deal-a-day website Woot. Today they’re hawking the Kindle for $150 a pop. [via GalleyCat]
4. Why the internet couldn’t save Party Down: “Nobody wants 75,000 viewers.” [via Capital New York]
5. Charles Saatchi is giving his Chelsea gallery and more than 200 works – including Tracey Emin‘s My Bed — to the UK government. The new publicly-owned space will be known as the Museum of Contemporary Art, London. [via Guardian]
Bonus link: Surfing mice
