The Tonight Show: Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler is her usual hilarious self. Special things are revealed--specifically, that the Emmy's bit was actually pre-planned! For those who didn't watch, all the nominees walked up on stage, and the winner, Melissa McCarthy, was crowned queen of the ball. It was pretty funny and quite a surprise. Poehler also delivers her opinion on Steve Carrell losing the Emmys for Best Actor in a Comedy.

Interview: Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling interviews with Vulture.

Click here.

Interview: Chris O' Dowd

Chris O'Dowd appears on The Graham Norton Show and talks about playing 'Would you rather...'

Interviews: Mindy Kaling

To continue the Mindy Kaling theme, here are some interviews with the actor/writer/producer. I particularly like her description of Charlie Sheen (he who once dominated the news--where's he now?) as "verbally facile." Yeah, I think that's pretty accurate.

Book: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Read a pretty long excerpt from Mindy Kaling's new book here.  I am so excited for this book to come out! I realize I've read a lot of books written by comedians--Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, Bossypants by Tina Fey, Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher, and This Is A Book by Demetri Martin. I can't wait to add this to my list!

For some more of Kaling's work look below:

• An interview with Spin magazine
• Her blog (mentioned in this New York Times article)

Interviews: Aziz Ansari

Aziz appears on Conan and Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about his movie. Aziz is funny on Parks & Recreation, and the same holds true here. I especially like how Aziz, admittedly not built for the movie promotions interview circuit, expresses his exasperation (more clearly shown in the Jimmy Kimmel Live clip, but then reappearing in the Conan Clip).

Video: Aziz tarnishes the 'glamorous' life of promoting films
(Sorry, Aziz, for the face Youtube decided to give you on this still)


Video: Aziz cracks jokes and gives the film's PR department a headache in the process
Warning: Some jokes are of an explicit nature

Moving Pictures Magazine

Today I went to Barnes & Noble and found a new awesome film magazine. Moving Pictures is a quarterly mag, which features beautiful glossy pictures and long, in-depth interviews with all those involved in the movie industry.

This afternoon I read the Spring 2011 issue featuring interviews with Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, and James Caan.

Of all of the interviewees, Vera Farmiga was my favorite. I think the best way to describe her conversations are hilariously articulate.

Her interview is divided into three parts. Click on the following links to be directed to the transcripts on Moving Pictures' website: One, Two, and Three.

Miss Farmiga lookin' cool.

Another nice surprise in the magazine was the interview of Gerardine Wurzburg, director of the documentary Wretches and Jabberers. The film follows the international travels of Larry Bissonnette and Tracy Thresher, two autistic adults advocating for autism. To read her interview, click here. I enjoyed the film very much, and would recommend it highly. Tracy and Larry are two of the many individuals who communicate via typing; their conversations are terribly witty and some of the remarks awfully wry. Their statements reveal a self-awareness which they share during various speaking panels. In their travels to Sri Lanka, Japan, and Finland, they meet with other young adults with autism. And in every country, their drive to communicate their life experiences is contagious.

I enjoyed the movie greatly. I thought Tracy was the most eloquent, with Antti of Finland being a close runner up. For me, one of the most memorable parts occurred in Japan--specifically the reaction of Naoki's mother on the last day of Tracy & Larry's stay in Japan.

Tracy and Larry

Below are some trailers. One for Farmiga's Henry's Crime, and one for Wretches and Jabberers. The former  has already hit select theaters in April 2011 after making its rounds at the Sundance Film Festival. The latter has also been released, and is currently available to rent or to own on iTunes. 

Video: American Talk 2 with the Harry Potter Cast

Thanks to M for sending this to me!

In this video, three of the Harry Potter actors appear on the MTV segment American Talk 2. Bombarded with American stereotypes, these guys do well.

Do you hear that Liverpool accent in Tom Felton? Sounds a lot like John Lennon! Also, if you were having trouble identifying the third cast mate they interviewed...no worries. Because the actor who plays Neville Longbottom, originally a very awkward looking boy, definitely grew into/out of his awkwardness. You can watch an interview with Matthew Lewis here.

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

NY Mag Interview: Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood's in the news once again (click here for a previous post featuring 'ze actor). His new FX comedy, Wilfred, has debuted to record-breaking audience numbers, and critics have responded mostly well. (You can read the Huffington Post article about the show here.)

Amused? Disgusted? Confused? Check out the show to figure out your own true feelings. 

In this interview with NY Magazine, Wood talks about the hectic schedule of his new show, post-Lord of the Rings life, and basically oozes coolness. Oozes may be an unflattering word choice, but I'm confident that Wood's awesomeness can successfully overturn it.

Click here to read the original interview.

Nylon Interview: Elijah Wood

In the video, Elijah Wood talks about his music label, pizza, and basically makes me swoon. I've admired him ever since I first saw the Lord of the Rings extended DVD special features (I can't get enough of these behind-the-scene goodies. I'm sure I've rewatched them 2 or 3 times).

I looked up Simian Records (which if you google is more often called Elijah Wood's Music Label rather than its real name), and found this interview of Wood by The Independent. He explains his motivation for setting up a new label in the following manner:
"I didn't start a record company out of need. Certainly it's not the smartest thing to do financially. The idea for a label came out of a pure place. I've been a huge music fan for a long time. In part I started it due to a certain amount of frustration of being a fan of certain bands and realizing that those bands weren't as well known as I felt that they should be. I thought it would be interesting to start a small independent label to make a small contribution to the world of music. I just want to facilitate the bands that I'm working with – just to serve them as best I can. It's not about my ego."

Woods also spoke of 9, the Tim Burton-directed movie. I never saw it, but Elijah's name on the listing sways me towards seeing it in the future. Here's the trailer:



I think they characters are Burton-ized versions of the Little Big Planet sack people.

How cute!

At the end of the video, Wood revealed a list of things he wants to do--watch movies, read books, etc. These are all the same things that I love to do! Elijah, if you ever read this, we should accomplish our to-do lists together. ;)

Interview: Dramatic TV Actresses

The Hollywood Reporter is now ready to cover Emmy Season. That means weekly roundtable discussions! During awards season time, the magazine hosts and then publishes the transcripts of open discussions with various individuals in the biz--dramatic actresses, animation directors, film writers, film producers, leading actors, etc. I'm a big fan of primary source literature on entertainment, so these roundtables are always a big treat for me!

Here's a video from the most recent roundtable with Dramatic Actresses in a TV Series.


There are several more videos from this roundtable located here. Unfortunately, they appear in a gallery, so I cannot embed them. Behind-the-scenes pictures can be seen here. 

For more on THR's Roundtables, visit this site to get the videos and articles from the most recent roundtable.

The Daily Show: Guest Jimmy Fallon

Thanks to the Night Owl for sending this to me. It seems like I'm having a little Jimmy Fallon extravaganza on my blog recently. 


Check out Fallon's guest spot on the Daily Show. As the Night Owl writes, "YEAAAHH they LOOOVE each other :))" I couldn't agree more. 


In this clip, Fallon talks about his hit book, Thank You Notes (I think it was a smart move to make it paperback and more affordable in its first issue), and his 'Whip My Hair' duet with Bruce Springsteen. If you want to hear Fallon speak about what it was like to work on this song, check out the Nerdist podcast. If you have iTunes, you can listen to the 'making of' starting at 45:00 (It starts out slow because they were having technical difficulties. It lasts until about 55:00.)

The Daily Show - Jimmy Fallon
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Interview: Terrence Malick

I liked this statement by Terrence Malick. It's another way of saying cliches are cliches because they have a grain of truth to them. 


When people express what is most important to them, it often comes out in clichés. That doesn't make them laughable; it's something tender about them. As though in struggling to reach what's most personal about them they could only come up with what's most public. 


   -Terrence Malick, director of the much lauded and anticipated film, Tree of Life


From what I've read, Malick is a very reclusive director. His interview with New York Magazine was pretty short, and he is one of Hollywood's famously private elite. His most recent film, Tree of Life, received the Palm d'Or, the most prestigious award given at the Cannes Film Festival. Past recipients of the award include...I just wikipedia-ed it, and I don't know any of them! Except for Michael Moore for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roman Polanski for The Pianist. 


For a very rare glimpse at the movie, you can watch this clip exclusively revealed to EW.com. The trailer was released more recently, and I've included it below. 




You can read reviews about the film here.
NY Magazine ('Terrence Malick’s overblown, goofy, slightly ridiculous The Tree of Life should be seen immediately.')
Rogert Ebert (It's too difficult to identify a quotation from this piece. I recommend reading the entry in its entirety. I don't think you'll regret it. Ebert's an excellent writer.)
NYT ('“The Tree of Life” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Birth, death, the end of the world." These end bits of NYT film reviews are my favorite. Sometimes they get kind of snarky, which is always fun.)

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: James McAvoy

It's been much too long, Mr. McAvoy. The last time I remember him onscreen was in Atonement (which I basically watched just for him) and Becoming Jane (which I watched for the period-piece loveliness, found to be uncannily similar to Pride & Prejudice v2, was horrified by the scene copying, but then was calmed by watching McAvoy enjoy more screentime).


Here he is promoting his new movie X-Men: Evolution (Whoops, that was the cartoon I used to watch on Kids' WB) First Class. 

X-Men: Evolution--not to be confused with X-Men: First Class

Here's McAvoy's interview. Oh that Scottish brogue. Too bad I can't go around bragging about my American brogue. I don't even think that term exists! (Not like there'd be much to brag about anyway.)

When I first watched this clip the Baker sent me, I was expecting him to talk about his Confederacy-era period piece drama: The Conspirator. The film stars McAvoy and Robin Wright Penn (of Forrest Gump fame), with the former playing a lawyer set out to represent the latter's character--a woman wrongfully accused of assassinating Lincoln. I expect lots of fist-on-wood action in this film. Papers strewn, tempers flying, that sort of thing. Another thing to look forward to? Robert Redford's direction! Did you know he also directed Motorcycle Diaries? A film that excels for its music, acting, cinematography, and the filming locations.

Here's a trailer for the film. 

New York Magazine: Jimmy Fallon

I recently have been browsing New York Magazine articles thanks in part to the Night Owl. She sent me some Doctor Who videos from the Vulture, which is New York Magazine's Entertainment branch. 


I recently read an article they wrote about Jimmy Fallon. And I found myself in complete agreement with the author. 


I don't watch much late-night television, but I have seen enough bits and pieces to find Jay Leno's humor to be a bit mean spirited ('Jay Leno, by contrast, is known as the “nice guy” of late night, but even a signature bit like “Jaywalking” revolves around asking normal people questions, then chuckling at their dumb responses'), David Letterman to be a 'crotchety truth-teller,' and Conan to be a little off-kilter (the man just oozes 'wired energy'). And after listening to Jimmy Fallon on the Nerdist Podcast, I think the man is TV's best ambassador of 'unabashed celebration'. 


I also liked hearing Jimmy Fallon being compared with Hugh Grant. It's true, they both kind of exude a very likable charm, although there is a slight difference. I would describe Jimmy Fallon as a lovable dude, whereas Grant is a lovable man (Okay, even that word isn't quite right. But I hope you get my drift). And although I did love Fallon in Fever Pitch, I can see how America might not have seen Fallon as a leading man to carry romantic comedies. 


I was really interested when I read that Lorne Michaels 'was the only person on planet Earth who envisioned' a hosting career for Fallon. To think that someone could have more faith in me than I do is hard to imagine (no, not because I really think I'm that super), but also something that I would love to have reason to think. 


My favorite bit though, is probably the last paragraph of the article. 
After his taping, still flushed yet exhausted, Fallon recalls the story of a personal turning point, during a rehearsal on SNL. “I was in a bear suit, trying to do comedy. I was thinking, This is lame, this is a waste, they can’t even see my face. Then I looked over at Will Ferrell and he had metal clamps on his nipples and he was getting water thrown on him. And he was just doing it, no complaints. For me, that was a clicking moment. That this could all be a lot easier if you just go with it.” He jacks his eyebrows slightly and smiles. “It’s not: I’ve got to wear a bear suit. It’s: I get to wear a bear suit.”
This conscious self-restraint against complaining (to others and to myself) is something I'm still working on, and I hope to master it some day.

Interview: Chris O'Dowd

Thanks to the Baker to sending me this interview transcript with Chris O'Dowd. If you didn't know already, I'm a big fan.

Interview: Chris O'Dowd

I watched Bridesmaids this past Friday, and I absolutely loved it! The humor was highly varied; it ranged from the goofball antics of Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, to explosions of bodily secretions coming out of both ends, to exaggerated re-enactments of girls being 'frenemies.' And for every scene that emitted laughter from the audience, there was another that evoked 'Awwwwwws' from the audience--specifically, any screen time involving the comedic talent, Mr. Chris O'Dowd.

I'm pretty sure that Chris O'Dowd's popularity in terms of Google Searches probably skyrocketed after this film came out. I predict that he becomes Hollywood's next leading man. His pathway, I think, will resemble that of Michael Cera after his Juno fame. It seems that Conan O'Brien would agree with me, given a conversation he had with O'Dowd in a recent show.

In his interview with Conan, O'Dowd proves to be as hilariously self-deprecating as his character in the movie. This kind of reinforcement of my perception of O'Dowd only makes me love him more! That combination of a twinkling, smiling eyes (You know, when wrinkles perpetually sit at the corners of the owner's eyes due to constant amusement) and his accent do wonders for brightening my day. I mean, even the words 'threw up' sound adorable when delivered by O'Dowd.

Thanks again to the Baker for sending this video to me. It really brightened my morning, and I hope it brightens yours!