Happy 22nd birthday, Kristen Stewart!

Best known as Bella Swan in the Twilight films, Kristen Stewart has an impressive list of acting work that she continues to build upon. I recommend checking out some of her earlier films, such as Panic Room (2002), in which she played Jodie Foster's daughter, and Speak (2004), in which she portrayed a high school freshman shutting out the world after being raped at a party. Speak is based on the book of the same name by Laurie Halse Anderson, and the heavy subject matter was deftly handled by Stewart as a young teen. Stewart also had a small role alongside Emile Hirsch in Into the Wild (2007). Two of my favorite performances of hers are in Adventureland (2009) and The Runaways (2010). Adventureland found Stewart amongst a stellar cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader; The Runaways showcased Stewart in a new light and made me forget Bella Swan.

In 2012, look for Stewart in On the Road, Snow White in the Huntsman (which I'm already very excited about--see below), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part Two.

For a change of pace I wrote in haiku to celebrate Stewart's birthday:

"A New Snow White"

Twenty-two today--
Kristen Stewart, yes she is.
Human or vampire?

Bella had to chose
in the Twilight movies, right.
Bella plus Edward

Forever, juntos.
Breaking Dawn Part One, wedding.
Part Two, red eyes! Woah!

And soon (well, in June)
Snow White and the Huntsman with
Charlize Theron, Thor.

Cannot wait to see
Stewart as a tough Snow White
Riding horses and fighting.

Forboding and dark;
Creepy, sinister trailer.
Awesome fairy tale.

Happy 100th birthday, Lucille Ball!

Comedienne Lucille Ball would have been 100 today. She was born on this day in 1911 in Jamestown, New York. After working as a showgirl and model in her twenties Lucy started to get small movie roles, beginning with Roman Scandals in 1931. In 1940 she met future husband Desi Arnaz on the set of Too Many Girls; they married in November that same year. After several years of dealing with schedules that kept them apart, Lucy and Desi worked together on the radio show My Favorite Husband, which debuted in 1948. With the growing popularity of television, CBS decided to adapt My Favorite Husband for TV, which became I Love Lucy. The first episode aired October 15, 1951. Lucy played Lucy Ricardo, a housewife who longed to break into show business. Desi played her husband, Ricky Ricardo, a bandleader. Their friends and landlords, Ethel and Fred Mertz, were played by Vivian Vance and William Frawley.

I Love Lucy episodes demonstrate how great Lucille Ball was at physical comedy.Whether it be stomping on grapes in an Italian vineyard or reacting with her unique facial expressions, you never want to take your eyes off her. I think my favorite Lucy facial expression is when she opens her mouth really wide without making a sound and raises her eyebrows as if to say, "WHAT?!" In honor of Lucille's Balls 100th birthday check out seasons 1-9 of I Love Lucy on DVD and re-watch some of the best moments in TV history.

The Complete First Season
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This DVD set also includes the lost pilot. Highlights from this season include "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" for the product Vitameatavegamin, which contains vitamins, meat, vegetables, minerals... and is 23% alcohol. "Do you pop out at parties? Are you unpoopular?" In "The Diet" Lucy almost starves herself in order to fit into a size 12, the size of the dress of the girl appearing with Ricky in his show.

The Complete Second Season
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In "Job Switching" Ricky and Fred stay home to cook and clean while Lucy and Ethel get jobs in a chocolate factory. Lucy isn't able to get Ricky alone to tell her the news she is pregnant in "Lucy is Enceinte." She comes to his show at the club and writes down a song request; when Ricky walks to each table asking if they are the happy couple, he is surprised to find it's Lucy.

The Complete Third Season
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In "Equal Rights" Lucy and Ethel wind up washing dishes at the restaurant where they just ate dinner after Ricky and Fred split the bill into four checks.

The Complete Fourth Season
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During this season Ricky, Lucy, Fred, and Ethel visit L.A. and meet such celebrities as William Holden and Eve Arden ("L.A., At Last"), Cornel Wilde ("The Star Upstairs"), and Harpo Marx ("Harpo Marx").


The Complete Fifth Season
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At the start of this season the gang is still in L.A. I always liked the episode "Lucy Visits Grauman's" where Lucy and Ethel steal the slab of cement of John Wayne's footprints. Later in the season the group leaves for Europe, visiting London, Scotland, Paris, the Swiss Alps, and Italy, which features the classic episode  "Lucy's Italian Movie."

The Complete Sixth Season
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In "Lucy and Superman" Lucy asks Ricky to invite Superman (George Reeves), who is in town to sign autographs, to Little Ricky's birthday party. When Ricky tells Lucy that Superman cannot make it, Lucy dresses as Superman and goes out on the ledge outside their apartment in preparation to surprise Little Ricky and his guests. And when Superman changes his plans and does show up to the party, Lucy can't join in on the fun as she gets locked out on the ledge in the rain.

The Final Seasons 7, 8 & 9
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These seasons were called The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show, or The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

Happy birthday, Natalie Portman!

Oscar winning actress Natalie Portman celebrates her 30th birthday today. This past year has been a busy one in her career. Portman portrayed a ballet dancer consumed by the idea of perfection in Black Swan, for which she was nominated for and won countless awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actress. Portman also starred as a medical resident looking for only a physical relationship with friend Ashton Kutcher in the comedy No Strings Attached. And don't forget her role as a warrior who joins princes James Franco and Danny McBride in the David Gordon Green-directed tale of chivalry Your Highness (out on DVD in August). Or maybe you've watched her as Jane Foster in the summer blockbuster Thor.

Drama, comedy, superhero-action flick, she can do it all. But what about writing and directing, you say? Well, Portman did both for a segment in 2009's New York, I Love You. Okay. She sings, writes, and directs. But she doesn't sing, right? I don't know about singing, but she does rap; check out the track "Natalie's Rap" from The Lonely Island's 2008 album Incredibad and hear a completely different side of the actress. Portman has accomplished quite a bit for someone who has only just turned 30. I'm sure her career will become even more eclectic in the years to come.

Elizabeth Taylor: 1932 - 2011

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor passed away this morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was 79. Considered by many to be the last link to Hollywood's so-called Golden Age, the much-loved actress led a passionate life both on and off screen. Married eight times (twice to actor Richard Burton), Taylor's personal life was often as melodramatic as that of the movie heroines she portrayed.

Elizabeth Taylor was quite literally raised in public; from her child acting days in Lassie Come Home and National Velvet, to her acclaimed performance opposite Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun, to her mature, complex performance as "Maggie the Cat" in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. By the early 1960s, she was Hollywood royalty, commanding a cool $1 million dollars for her role as Cleopatra in the opulent 20th Century Fox biopic. Her gritty performance in the 1966 Edward Albee adaptation Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is, without question, one of the most fearless onscreen performances I have ever seen.

Taylor was twice awarded the Best Actress statuette by the Academy (for her performances in Butterfield 8 and Virginia Woolf). In 1992, she received the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Academy Award for her HIV/AIDS advocacy. Taylor was a notable gay rights activist, consistently stressing the point that the struggle for gay rights is the struggle for human rights. More than a mere actress, or one of the "most beautiful" women in the world, she was also a fiercely loyal friend and an advocate for those that society at large was not yet ready to help.

Selected film highlights:

Under Milk Wood (1971)

The Taming of the Shrew (1967)

Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Cleopatra (1963)

Butterfield 8 (1960)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Giant (1956)

A Place in the Sun (1951)

Father of the Bride (1950)

Little Women (1949)

National Velvet (1944)

Actress to watch: Emma Stone

I think Emma Stone is one of the more talented young actresses working today. She currently stars in the comedy Easy A. Stone plays intelligent (and invisible) high school student Olive, who tells a lie to her best friend about losing her virginity. The lie is overheard and then spreads around school. Other students begin noticing her for the wrong reasons and Olive feeds the rumor mill as she agrees to pretend to have slept with nerdy, unpopular students. She embraces her bad reputation by wearing an A on her clothes to see what it feels like to be an outcast like in the book The Scarlett Letter. Stone is wonderful in the movie, and I especially enjoyed the scenes where she interacted with her parents (played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci). Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire deems her performance worthy of an Oscar nomination ("Emma Stone should be on short list of Oscar nominees").

Saturday, October 23 she will host Saturday Night Live. Stone has also been cast in the film version of the popular Kathryn Stockett novel The Help, and it has been confirmed that she will play the role of Gwen alongside The Social Network's Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in the next Spider-Man films. Check out her earlier work:

Superbad (2007)
DVD COMEDY SUPERBAD
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High school students Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) look forward to going to Jules' (Stone) party. Seth has a crush on Jules and wants to impress her by buying the alcohol, which they think they'll have no problem doing thanks to the new fake ID of their friend Fogel aka McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). When the guys finally make it to her party Seth finds out that Jules wasn't too concerned about the alcohol (she doesn't even drink!) and really was just looking to hang out with him.

The House Bunny (2008)
DVD COMEDY HOUSE
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The Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority, so unpopular it only has seven members, is on the verge of losing its charter. The members are clueless about how to talk to the opposite sex, and the other Greek organizations on campus make fun of them. Stone plays sorority sister Natalie, who decides to let former Playboy bunny Shelby (Anna Faris) come in to the sorority as their new house mom and help them fund raise and recruit pledges. The comedic chemistry between Stone and Faris is great. Natalie's awkwardness shows through in Stone's facial expressions, body language, and pure enthusiasm for activities no one else really understands. For example, Natalie's fundraising ideas for the sorority include starting a bee keeping club, paleolithic bake sale, and BYOM (bring your own mouse) party, where everyone would dress up mice. Her delivery, facial expressions, and arm movements are hilarious when she's trying too hard to be cool, such as the scene where Shelby suggests they go out to a club and Natalie adds on her own suggestion:

"We could tie our shoes together, our tennis shoes, and throw them over telephone wires because I see that everywhere and it seems people would have fun doing that. Like, how hard can you throw? You know what I mean?"

The Rocker (2008)
DVD COMEDY ROCKER
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Stone plays the "kind of ironic, post-modern punk girl" Amelia, bass player for the band A.D.D. After their drummer is suspended from school, they recruit Matt's uncle, Robert Fishman (Rainn Wilson), a forty-something out-of-work former drummer for '80s hair band Vesuvius.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
DVD COMEDY GHOSTS
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Womanizer Connor Meade (Matthew McConaughey) visits ghosts of his ex-girlfriends with the help of Allison (Stone), a ghost herself and one of his high school girlfriends (and his "first"). Wearing scrunchies in her curly permed hair and an acid-washed jean jacket, Allison is hilariously enthusiastic. "This is my favorite part!" she exclaims as they watch Connor as a kid with Jenny (played as an adult by Jennifer Garner). Allison is especially excited when they watch Connor at a past middle school dance. After the dance, she then gives Connor a hard time as they watch his uncle (Michael Douglas) bring him into a bar and then share tips about women: "Would someone please call Child Protective Services?" In my opinion Stone steals the movie with her supporting performance as super-bubbly Allison.

Zombieland (2009)
DVD COMEDY ZOMBIELAND
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Almost all of the humans have been wiped out due to the 21st century plague of zombies, leaving deserted grocery stores, roads, and homes. Ohio (Jesse Eisenberg) and Tallahasee (Woody Harrelson) meet sisters Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) at Blaine's Grocery and fall for one of their cons. Wichita and Little Rock are on their way to Pacific Playground amusement park because they've heard it's zombie-free.

Scene stealer: Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig is arguably the most valuable cast member on Saturday Night Live for her characters that include Target Lady, Gilly, and Suze Orman. Earlier this year she provided the voice of Ruffnut in How to Train Your Dragon (on DVD in October) and also voiced the character of Miss Hattie in Despicable Me over the summer. In recent DVD release MacGruber Wiig plays Vicki St. Elmo. In the coming months you'll also see her on screen in the drama All Good Things (out December 17), co-starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst; Paul (March 2011), written by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg and including a cast of who's who in comedy; and Bridesmaids (May 2011), co-written by Wiig, directed by Paul Feig and co-starring Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Maya Rudolph (SNL), Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls), and Ellie Kreiger (The Office), just to name a few. Here are some Wiig highlights you can check out from the library's collection:

Knocked Up (2007)
DVD COMEDY KNOCKED
As E! TV executive Jill, Wiig steals her scenes with Katherine Heigl. Early in the movie Alison (Heigl) receives a promotion and Jill can barely hide her lack of enthusiasm: "I was so surprised." Then, along with boss Jack, she strongly suggests Alison lose weight: "We don't want you to lose weight, we just want you to be healthy. Y'know, by eating less." Months later when Alison is confronted about her obvious pregnancy, Jill tells her she should have been truthful with them: "This is Hollywood. We don't like liars."
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Scene Stealer: Lizzy Caplan

 Lizzy Caplan is probably best known for playing sarcastic best friend roles.  Her break out performance was as Janis Ian in the teen satire Mean Girls.  Janis is easily the best thing about that movie with her mean but funny comments on the general stupidity of high school life.  Anyone who felt like an outcast in high school will relate to her character.  On the HBO series True Blood she played Amy Burley, Jason Stackhouse's V (vampire blood drug) addicted girl friend.  Amy was a ruthless and fairly unlikable character who corrupted the semi-moral but stupid Jason into kidnapping a vampire to get his blood. Caplan's performance as Amy was an interesting departure from Janis Ian.  Amy is a bohemian and pseudo-intellectual, she's selfish and manipulative and yet you can kind of understand why Jason falls for her in the first place.

My favorite role of her's is Casey Klein from the brilliant but canceled Party Down.  Casey is an aspiring comedian working temporarily as a catering waitress.  Casey has a lot of flaws, she's insecure, a disrespectful employee (always taking personal calls while working), and she can be insensitive (like when she leaves Henry to take a job as a comedian on a cruise ship).  But she's also funny, smart and the only person who encourages and believes in Henry's acting career.  Henry and Casey are one of my favorite TV couples.

Lizzy Caplan is frequently compared to manic pixie dream girl extraordinaire Zooey Deschanel.  Both actresses have similarly husky voices, frequently play sardonic characters, and are masters of the side eye.  However, I think Lizzy more consistently chooses believable and complex characters. 

Check out Lizzy in one of the DVDs we have at the library:

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010).
Probably the closest Caplan has come to playing a manic pixie dream girl.  She's the girl John Cusack's character notices the second time he relives his 80s ski weekend.  It's easy to see why the older and more mature Cusack would fall for her instead of his pretty but vapid girlfriend.
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Party Down (2009-2010).
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True Blood (2008).
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Cloverfield (2008). 
Caplan plays Marlena Diamond, who in her typical fashion is a sarcastic outsider.  However, when she and her friends get chased by the Cloverfield monster, Marlena is surprisingly heroic.
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Mean Girls (2004).
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Freaks and Geeks (1999). 
Here she plays Sarah, a disco enthusiast who dates Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel) after his mega crush Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) dumps him.  Probably one of my favorite TV shows ever and a great place to see all of the Judd Apatow regulars before they were a big deal.
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Patricia Neal: 1926-2010

Patricia Neal, an Oscar Winner Who Endured Tragedy, Dies at 84

If you have not seen the 1963 film Hud, I strongly encourage you to do so. What follows is a list of highlights from Neal's decades-long Hollywood career.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
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A Face in the Crowd (1957)
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Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
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Hud (1963)
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Cookie's Fortune (1999)
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Date Night: Comedy Mashup

Date Night, currently in theaters, stars two of the most popular comic actors in America: Tina Fey and Steve Carell. These two funny people rub shoulders every Thursday night on NBC (Carell on the The Office, Fey on 30 Rock), but this is our first opportunity to see them share screen-time. Date Night casts the duo as a 40-something couple who are afraid to admit that their marriage is in a rut. When Carell suggests a night out on the town as a respite from their routine, things go drastically awry. The mistaken identity/suburbanites out of their element scenario has been done countless times, so plot-wise this is nothing you haven't seen before. (This script may well have been pitched as The Out-of-Towners meets The In-Laws.) The real draw here is the opportunity to see these two fine comic sensibilities play off each other, and the film succeeds on that level. Fey's notoriously wry wit is a great match for Carell's equally well known aptitude for charming idiocy. Ultimately, they bring a certain amount of tenderness to the relationship they're enacting. Keep an eye out for James Franco and Mila Kunis, who nearly steal the movie with their hilarious bickering. Directed by Shawn Levy (Just Married, Night at the Museum).

Follow the jump for a look at their respective filmographies.

Scene stealer: Jane Lynch

"I am the coach. I'm the coach and I'm the point guard, I'm the two forwards, the center, and I'm the other guard. I'm the entire organization."
~ Jane Lynch as Gayle Sweeney, Role Models

Currently seen on TV's Glee, Jane Lynch has been stealing scenes in movies for years. I first noticed this actress when I watched Best in Show, the Christopher Guest-directed mockumentary about a national dog show that focused on several dog owners, where Lynch played Rhapsody in White's dog trainer and romantic interest to one of Rhapsody's owners. She was Steve Carrell's boss Paula at Smart Tech in The 40 Year Old Virgin. The scene in which Paula sings a Guatemalan lullaby to Andy (played by Carrell) in the Smart Tech electronics store is without a doubt one of the most hilarious moments of the movie. Lynch also played the founder of Sturdy Wings, Gayle Sweeney, in Role Models. Recently she took on the role of Julia Child's sister Dorothy in Julie & Julia. I put together a list featuring some of her memorable roles. You can find more DVDs that feature Jane Lynch by searching jane lynch and dvd in our online catalog.

Best in Show (2000)
DVD COMEDY BEST
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A Mighty Wind (2003)
DVD COMEDY MIGHTY
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The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
DVD COMEDY 40

"I'm very discreet... but I will haunt your dreams."

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For Your Consideration (2006)
DVD COMEDY FOR
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Role Models (2008)
DVD COMEDY ROLE

"I've been to prison. Oh, I have. I've been to prison. A prison of drugs, alcohol, and sick thoughts. I used to have sick thoughts." 

Find it in the catalog!

Julie & Julia (2009)
NEW DVD FICTION JULIE
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Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009

Clueless (1995)

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

8 Mile (2002)

Spun (2002)

Just Married (2003)

Uptown Girls (2003)

Little Black Book (2004)

Sin City (2005)

The Dead Girl (2006)

The Ramen Girl (2008)

Scene stealer: Rinko Kikuchi

Last night I watched The Brothers Bloom, about a pair of con men brothers working their last con. I enjoy caper movies, and this did not dissapoint. It's also not hard to enjoy great actors such as Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo, and Adrien Brody. However, the actor that stood out to me was Rinko Kikuchi in the role of Bang Bang, obviously the least high profile (in this country) of the actors.

Kikuchi was able to set the mood and style of the movie perfectly and was responsible for most of the humor throughout the film. And she did all of this with virtually no dialogue. There are a few moments that stand out in my mind, one of which being when Bang Bang and Stephen (Ruffalo) are watching Bloom (Brody) ride a bike precariously into the path of the mark, Penelope (Weisz), and they hold up score cards to indicate his form. Bang Bang adjusts her cards as the scene becomes further complicated. It's funnier than my explanation could ever be.

When the credits rolled I recognized her name, but could not place her. I realized then that she was in the ensemble cast of Babel, another excellent turn by this Japanese actress. She was nominated for an Oscar for this role in which she played a deaf daughter trying to get the attention of her emotionally absent father. Once again, no dialogue for Kikuchi.

It seems she should seek out parts that do not require her to speak . . .

The Brothers Bloom Find it in the catalog!

Babel Find it in the catalog!