In Defense of Gosling

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new podcast in town, The Courtesy Laugh.You can find them on iTunes, or click the link to go to their Tumblr. In their introductory episode, one of the topics the guys touch on is the talent of Ryan Gosling. For whatever reason, Haley Bragg and I latched on to this and really delved into the issue at the place in Nashville that seems to inspire our pop culture sensibilities the most, Fido. Here are the results:

Wait. First, here’s a link to the podcast for a little background info:

The Courtesy Laugh, Episode 1

Now, the discussion:

Haley: My first thought is that Ryan Gosling is a GREAT actor, how dare you suggest that he isn’t?! Then I started to examine his roles, and I have to admit – they guy has made a career out of being Ryan Gosling. But that’s kind of the thing, right? How many A-list actors do you know that can disappear into roles and really transform themselves into someone completely unrecognizable? And don’t say Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s the exception to this rule. You also have to rule out Johnny Depp. He might disappear into roles with the use of makeup and costumes, but his behavior is still very much Johnny Depp.

Consider this: If Will Smith is America’s only true movie star (have you heard this argument?), you have to acknowledge that whether he’s playing an alien hunter in Men in Black or a matchmaker in Hitch, he’s still essentially The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. BUT, I think that as a movie going society we’ve allowed this and in most cases, encouraged it to happen. For instance, when we go see Crazy Stupid Love, we want Ryan Gosling to have the same inherent Ryan Gosling-ness that he will also have in The Ides of March and Drive. And I think that the choices he’s made in the past couple of years have allowed that, while also serving as a pretty calculated strategy to elevate him to his current status. The exception being Blue Valentine, of course. Nothing Gosling-y about that.

Jen: My first thought is that Ryan Gosling is a pretty good guy and a good actor and really incredible looking. (I mean, he can pull off a cardigan, Navajo tee and necklace AT THE SAME TIME and look pre-ty good doing it.) I agree with Haley that his success is based firmly in his Gosling-ness. (The counter to Haley comes in my belief that even in Blue Valentine, he was thoroughly Gos-tant. File under “Characters who are attractive yet inherently flawed.” File contents include Blue Valentine, Drive, Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson, Crazy Stupid Love, etc., etc., etc.) I don’t believe that his playing to type excludes him from being a good actor, though – you only have to look as far as Johnny Depp to see that sometimes, when script meets man, the results are pretty fantastic (e.g., What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Finding Neverland). I’m not going to bring Will Smith into this, because to be honest, trying to figure out his being the only true movie star makes my brain hurt. Nothing against Will Smith, but that is a discussion for another day (don’t even get me started on The Pursuit of Happyness).

Consider this: Praising Gosling, Depp, Smith…and I’d probably include Brad Pitt in there…for ultimately being themselves (and for good measure, let’s throw in some supporting actors – Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jude Law, et al), I feel like we’re talking about…what?…maybe 70-75% of all of the critically acclaimed performances in a year. The flipside are all of these equally great (because I’m totes not knocking Brad Pitt for continuing to film installments of Legend of the River Running through Joe Black*) actors who continually reinvent themselves for roles. This is where both Haley and I place Leonardo DiCaprio. I’d also throw in Christian Bale and Kevin Spacey. Then there are the guys who kinda play the same role, but totally against type. (An example of this type would be Edward Norton.**) THEN there are the guys who were phenomenal, and probably still are, but are moving quickly into pigeonhole territory (Russell Crowe. Sidebar: Ask me about my Hanks/Crowe theory sometime.) I’m not really sure where I’m going with my THENS, except to say, basically, it takes all kinds. All kinds, you guys. And sometimes that means embracing the Goslings as well as the DiCaprios. It doesn’t hurt that no matter which one is ultimately your cup of tea, they’re both smokin’ hot.

*Wayans brothers, I’ll give you this one on the cheap.

**What’s funny is, you think we (the audience) would totally start thinking “Well, maybe this is his type. I mean, he’s a really skinny yet angry and effectively violent guy in all of his movies, right?” However, probably because he’s really smart (Edward Norton and his characters) and not very imposing, it takes about 15 minutes post-film to forget that he’s a total badass and not the geekboat next door.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Haley and I sent the above off to the Courtesy Laugh guys, and then, in typical fashion, couldn’t let it go. Some follow up:

Jen: I feel the need to do this:

Goslings:                                      DiCaprios:

Ryan Gosling                               Leonardo DiCaprio
Will Smith                                    Kevin Spacey
Brad Pitt*                                     Jonah Hill (shocker!)
Johnny Depp                                Edward Norton
George Clooney                           Russell Crowe*
Tom Hanks                                  Casey Affleck
Jude Law*                                    Ben Affleck
Phillip Seymour Hoffman             Robin Williams
Seth Rogen                                 Jeff Bridges*
Joseph Gordon Levitt
Al Pacino
Matt Damon
Denzel Washington
Keanu Reeves
John Cusack

And let’s waste no time:

Gosleighs:                                   DiCaprias:
Sally Field                                   Meryl Streep*
Kathy Bates                                Marisa Tomei (shocker!)
Julia Roberts*                              Cate Blanchett
Scarlett Johannsen (sp?)              Judi Dench
Meg Ryan**                                 Marion Cotillard
Kate Hudson
Diane Keaton*
Embeth Davidtz

*These guys get an asterisk because I feel like you could make valid arguments either way. I might disagree with you, but I’d listen without immediately writing off your argument.

**Even though she tries really hard to change it up.

I know there are more males than females on my lists but I tend not to like actresses. I guess because I’m not also mentally calculating if they’re in “my range.” Here’s my question – of all of the entertainers out there today, who’d you like most to see pull an upset and just blow everyone away with their completely unexpected critical acclaim? It can be comedy to drama/drama to comedy/acting to music or vice versa. What do you think? I’m already a little biased because of my Jim Carrey Theory, so I’ll admit that mine is Russell Brand. He’s either going to do something really tragic, or really unbelievable.

Sweet LIME! I realized a second ago that we forgot about the king of all Nortonians, Daniel Day Lewis. Has anyone ever played such diverse characters to type (Type: Awesome) as well EVER? I say no.

Haley: One thing that I feel like wasn’t really clear in my argument was that the bigger the star, the more likely they are to fit into their persona. I would argue that Kevin Spacey, Ed Norton, Casey Affleck, etc. aren’t really mega-stars and that’s why they find it easier to disappear into characters. That’s why Leo is such an exception.

______________________________________________________________________________________

What do you think? Who did we forget? Who did we get horribly wrong?

Follow me and those I mention on Twitter!
Jen
Haley
The Courtesy Laugh

Things I meant to say before…

I was on this grand quest to view and write about as many awards’ season movie contenders as I could, but awards’ season has come and gone. Here are some things I started and never finished:

Going into this movie, I knew three things:
1) It’s about politics.
2) I love every single actor and actress in this movie.
3) The poster made me do a double-take literally every time I saw it.

And then I watched it. (Yet apparently didn’t think to write anything down.)

Side note:
During the Golden Globes, I had this idea that while Morgan Freeman
has had his fair share of nominations and wins, his best “role” is that of a
facilitator. I mean, really – think of all of the actors and actresses
that he’s starred with who’ve won awards, or movies that have won awards) without him receiving a nomination or award for the same film. This is what I’m starting to think about Marisa Tomei. I call it the Cazale Effect.

Thoughts on Drive:
1. Christina Hendricks got a leading credit for that, y’all.
2. I think a single viewing of this one is going to do it for me.

(I actually have many, many more thoughts about this one. Let me know if you want me to talk about it.)

Email conversation about The Descendants:
From: Haley Bragg
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 11:34 AM
To: Clapp, Jennifer R
Subject: The Descendants

I meant to tell you this last night, but I watched an episode of Inside the Actor’s Studio with Clooney yesterday. They were talking about that scene were he runs to that couple’s house after he finds out about the affair and James Lipton refers to the woman as his sister-in-law. That make a lot of sense, but the movie NEVER defined that relationship! I know it doesn’t really matter, but that’s kind of a monumental flaw, in my book. Their reaction makes so much more sense! On the other hand, I don’t really understand why we don’t see them with the parents. Does that make sense?

Anyway, thought I’d pass that along. Hope you’re having a good day!

—
Haley Bragg | designer
www.haleybragg.com

From: Clapp, Jennifer R
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 11:46 AM
To: ‘Haley Bragg’
Subject: RE: The Descendants

Yes!

In my head I put them together as girl friends who got married and tried to make themselves couple-friends, but Clooney never really gelled. Does that make sense? I don’t buy the sister-in-law thing, unless there was also a cut out scene where the father, in one of his rants about how amazing Clooney’s wife is, talks about what a disappointment the other daughter is. But seriously, they should’ve put that in the movie. ALSO, if she was the sister, I’d like to think Clooney’s character wouldn’t’ve broken the news about taken her off the machines that way…I mean, look at the grace he showed the dad, who he repeatedly admitted to not having a good relationship with?

Weird.

I’m having an okay day. I’m eating lunch (more soup…it tastes good, but I’m glad that I’m on the last portion) and trying to write what I want to say about The Ides of March (which I keep mentally turning into 50/50…I blame it on the movie poster). I feel like I wrote a pretty good piece in my head right after I saw it, but that was weeks ago.

Would you want to co-write something on The Descendants with me? We can include the above snippet, filed under “Relationships: File not found.”

Jen

Let’s Go to the Movies: Midnight in Paris

images from soundcolourvibration.com

Midnight in Paris

I was lucky to watch this on DVD with another person (HBragg) and I say this is lucky because we could pause and discuss it whenever we wanted, as opposed to having to wait until the end of the movie if we saw it in the theater. Seeing a movie on the big screen is nice and all, but sometimes the ability to pause is nice.

Some things we talked about:

1. Is there a statement being made with the clothing? Inez (Rachel McAdams) wore basically the same thing throughout the movie. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but if it was, here are a couple of things I thought about: a) Woody Allen’s strong yet unlikeable female characters are usually in more masculine clothes, while the passionate and more likeable characters dress in a more feminine style (see also: Vicky Christina Barcelona). b) Maybe the linens and soft colors were supposed to represent a faux relaxation in Inez.

2. At the beginning of the movie, I would’ve said that Gil (Owen Wilson) was the obvious stand in for Woody Allen. However, later in the movie I feel like he was more what Allen strived for…HOPED he could be. My turning point: After watching the walk in the rain vs. take a car battle, there’s a scene where Gil comes up to Scott, Zelda and Adriana and does a familiar grab to Scott with a joking “Is this guy bothering you?” kinda thing. We’re led to believe this is their third meeting (or, at least, the third night Gil has known this group of the Lost Generation). It’s so perfectly familiar – fitting to Gil’s personality, but so unlike Inez and her family that we haven’t been able to see him as himself to this point. It might be my favorite moment in the whole movie. It’s also, though, so unlike how [I see] Woody Allen. He seems too self-concious and introverted to ever have that same level of familiarity in such a public setting. I do understand that I’m projecting everything I’ve ever stereotyped as Woody Allen onto him from only seeing his movies (and a PBS special), though, so…

3. Owen Wilson had some truly inspired reaction shots. Two I especially liked: a) When he first gets into the cab. b)His eyes when Hemingway is talking to them about hunting.

4. Allison Pill needs to work on her Southern accent.

5. You know what the movie needed? More Dali. I could’ve done with more Dali. (Maybe we didn’t talk about this, but I thought it.)

Let’s Go to the Movies: Tree of Life

image from frontroomcinema.com

Some stream of consciousness thoughts from my viewing of Tree of Life:

All these boys look like Ricky Schroder.

Why does Bradd Pitt have to make himself look less attractive in movies than he is in real life?

Mrs. Dursley!

I didn’t know Sean Penn was in this!

What is this?

Why am I watching this?

Is this Fantasia?

DINOSAURS?!?! This is so freaking Fantasia!

WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?

If I saw this in the movie theater, I would be so upset about losing my $10.75.

[This is when the song Iko Iko got stuck in my head for 20 minutes.]

How much does a movie cost now?

I wonder if I can get this movie in the mailbox before the mailman comes?

I’m glad they put the Job verse before the movie or else I’d be even more upset.

I wish more of this movie showed the boys growing up, and less of the galaxy.

What is this movie trying to tell me?

Well, this movie has taken a turn.

I feel like this is the most realistic portrayal of male familial relationships in a long time.

I need to Google what Ian McEwen thought of this movie…it reminds me of his writing.

The Rapture?

Not the Rapture. Acceptance?

Huh?

Let’s Go to the Movies: Catch-all of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Bridesmaids

Quite the match-up, huh? I saw these long enough ago to not have too much to add, but in the spirit of Oscar-preparedness, here goes:

image from theman-cave.com

First of all, I’m not sure if this is a movie you can say you enjoy without inviting quizzical glances, but I can comfortably say that I didn’t hate it. I’d read all three books (and if you’re someone that hates spoilers and plan to read all of the books, I’d recommend reading them all before seeing this US movie) and see all of the Swedish films, and went into the movie interested to see the true Hollywood take on the story. After all of the poster hype, the movie was actually much, much tamer than both the books and the Swedish films. If you’d ever describe your sensibilities as “delicate” but feel like you should experience this story somehow, go ahead and see this and set the others aside.

I’m not sure if my opinion would be different if I hadn’t seen the Swedish version first, but while Rooney Mara’s performance is good, I don’t think it’s that difficult or ground-breaking. Actually, that pretty much sums up everything I think about the film. The hardest part for me wasn’t watching violent scenes or putting together the puzzle pieces of the mystery, but instead getting over Robin Wright’s weird early Jessica Lange haircut. Best part of the move: Any (and every) scene starring Stellan Skarsgard.

BONUS! I think I watched a new NIN video as the opening credits…

image from collider.com

LOVED this movie. It’s funny, and I love that a female cast is getting recognition instead of just the next incarnation of the Frat Pack, but we’re nominating this for awards? This is what we’re doing now? I don’t really have anything to add. Good movie? Sure. Really good movie? Sure! Great movie? Eh…