6 posts tagged “ellen page”
In honor of Canada Day, show us your favorite Canadian.
Well now, off the top of my head I'd go for the Wainwrights, Rufus and Martha, for the gorgeous music that they make (both together and independently)... but Rufus was technically born in America, and I'm not sure about his sister.
So, as far as kosher Canadians go, I'd plump for Ellen Philpotts-Page, straight outta Halifax, Nova Scotia. Academy Award nominated, and cute as a button, with a fiercely smart and sardonic on-screen presence. And funny! Did I mention how funny she is? Well, yeah. That too. Bless her.
This weekend I noticed a new review for an Ellen Page flick called Mouth to Mouth. It was made around 2004, but has been re-released on the back of her Juno buzz... assuming it ever got a release to begin with. Incidentally, she had to shave her head for the role, which explains why her hair is so short in Hard Candy, as it was just starting to grow back. She almost didn’t get that latter gig, because of how severe her ‘do looked when she auditioned! Anyway, Mouth to Mouth did not get a great write-up, and is classified as only 50% “fresh” at the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregate site. Really, it’s rather mean of them to go dredging up her old work... especially since I’m sensing something of a backlash, based on her more recent work.
I’m no cinemaven it’s true, and I can only go by vague “vibes” I pick up from comments sections, reviews and interviews, but here’s how I see it: Ellen Page is a fantastically gifted and talented young actress, with nuance up the ying-yang. She’s also quite short, petite and brunette, and is in severe danger of being typecast as the go-to “Acerbic Teenager”... and there’s no doubt that she plays those roles brilliantly, but by now she could probably play them in her sleep... to the point where she’s played out, if you see what I mean. I know Christina Ricci has commented that she feels her height holds her back, in terms of the roles she’s offered. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know... but I’d place Page in the same general category as Ricci and Thora Birch... her fellow “Enids”... and unfortunately Enids never seem to get the careers they deserve. There may or may not be justice in The Universe as a whole, but there sure ain’t any justice in Hollywood. I know this is an old gripe, but look at where Birch is now, compared to where Scarlett Johansson is! Come to think of it... where is Birch these days? Dammit!
Compounding Page’s “problem” (which may all be in my imagination, I admit) is the fact that almost all of her roles have been in fairly naturalistic pieces... either indie flicks, or pseudo-indie-flicks. The one exception to that rule is X-Men: The Last Stand, which she was apparently very reluctant to sign on for. And that’s a shame, because I think a “genre” film would be just what her career needs at this point... whether or not she thinks it’s “beneath her” (and there’s some evidence to suggest that she probably does), the fact is that it would help break the pattern of superficially similar roles we’ve seen her in. Also, genre fans are notoriously loyal (i.e. obsessive) once you’ve won their hearts, so it doesn’t hurt to have them on side... right? Granted Dungeons & Dragons didn’t do much for Birch’s reputation, but that’s about as bad as “genre” movies get. I think a full Kitty “Shadowcat” Pryde flick could be good for Page... as well as for her fans. As Robert Downey Jr. explained to Jonathan Ross recently, he took the Iron Man role partly because he wanted more than seven people to actually see his work! There’s no harm in being an Artist, and in having high intellectual standards, but... heck, even Crispin Glover did the Charlie’s Angels films! And why did he do them? For the money, plain and simple... so that he could continue to fund more personal, and “artistic” films to satisfy his own muse. There are plenty of performers out there who manage to balance the films they do for themselves, with the films they do for their bank balance. Life, sadly, is about compromise... or so I’m told.
Of course, it’s none of my business, and I know nothing. I just find myself caught in a frustrating dilemma where I love watching Page work, but simultaneously have no interest in the actual projects she’s pursuing at present. And if she insists on putting the fcking Moldy Peaches in another film, she might well break the back of my goodwill. But heck, why would FHM’s 61st “Sexiest Woman in the World” need career guidance from me? Answer: She doesn’t. But Thora Birch should totally call me.
PS. In the same newspaper supplements as the review I mentioned above, there was an interview with Hayden “The Cheerleader” Panettiere, in which she supposedly claimed “I know for a fact I have a higher IQ than 99 per cent of brunettes”. No offence, but I think that may be a slight over-exaggeration... or she's confusing herself with Ellen Muth.
No matter how much older and supposedly wiser I get, I always end up posting humiliating nonsense on the internets when I'm too tired (or sun-crazy) to censor myself. Oy! So, embarrassing faux pas and typos aside, I was very impressed last night to discover (via an unrelated Google search for various Zappa offspring), this "super-cute" photo of Diva Zappa, on a Vox blog. It's there to promote Worn Free T-shirts, a company which copies vintage T-shirt designs worn by famous musicians, and then recreates them for discerning hipsters like you and I to purchase. And if their Tees are good enough to grace the bods of Diva Zappa and Ellen Page, then (by crikey) they're good enough for anyone!
In other Zappa news (this, in fact, being the report that spurred the above random Googling):
"A bronze statue of Frank Zappa is to be erected in Baltimore in the US. A group of Lithuanian artists built a bust of the late musician in the capital Vilnius in 1995 and has now donated a replica to his home city. A Zappa fan club pitched the idea to Baltimore's public art commission, which voted unanimously to accept it. Lithuanian PR consultant Arturas Baublys said before the decision: "It's carved already, and it's ready to be shipped to the US. Whenever Baltimore says, 'OK,' and gives us an address to ship it to, we pack it and we ship it on our costs. And that's a nation of three and a half million giving a present to the United States." Baublys estimated the cost of creating and shipping the bust at around $50,000. The art commission is now in the process of deciding where to place it. Zappa died in 1993 from prostate cancer, aged 52. He had no known connection to Lithuania." - Digital Spy
In other, other Zappa news... Confessions (of a Deprived Youth), by Dweezil and Ahmet is still one of my favourite albums of all time. And 'Vanity' remains one of my fave songs of all time... can't find the video on YouTube, so I'm glad I have my own taped-off-TV-on-to-VHS-on-to-DVD copy to enjoy!
PS. See! I can spell "Zappa"!! Dammit!!!
Almost entirely spoiler free!!!
Apparently I was wrong on a number of points in my previous post. The weekend screenings were in “advance” of a full opening, next week... and no one goes to the cinema for a Saturday matinee anymore. There were only five people there to watch Juno, and one of them was me. Front and centre, baby! Two chuckling teenage boys did dash in halfway through, to hide out from the staff, but were eventually removed. I wish the same treatment had been meted out to the teenage couple, who had apparently paid to see the film, but made out during the sad scenes and giggled. Pesky!
For me to truly love a film, everything has to be as near to perfect as possible... the performances, the “moral” (if present), the story, the dialogue, the music, the editing... and a film that ticks all those boxes for me is very rare indeed. Sadly, Juno didn’t make the cut. My main complaint is very specific to me, and totally petty, but... I really can’t stand The Moldy Peaches. I bought their CD back in the day, and really liked it at first... but every time I played it, the songs got less and less endearing, and became more and more annoying. So to sit through a film featuring their songs, plus original work by Kimya Dawson of said band, was a bit of a pain for me. And they crop up during really sweet, or intense scenes, so... they sorta spoiled it for me. As I say though, that’s very specific to me, and really the cast kept bringing me back to the characters, with the strength of their performances... no question they were firing on all cylinders.
Other reviews I’ve read have suggested that the dialogue was over-written, and you could certainly make that argument, but so was the slang in Heathers, and that’s a stone-cold classic. John Waters constantly spins sentences that no human being would ever, or could ever, spontaneously produce, but it just adds to the charm and appeal of his work. When screwball comedies were in vogue, it was all about the verbiage. No harm in bringing a bit of that back, I say.
Some commenters have referred to the short shrift that The Abortion Option is given, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a political thing in every case... if a writer wants to spin a humorous tale about a teen-mother screening potential adoptive parents, then obviously there’d be no story without the baby. Maybe some day someone will make a quirky rom-com with an abortion in it, but I can’t see it happening myself. Silverman has done jokes about the subject, of course, but they wouldn’t be to everybody’s tastes...
Overall, I thought the film was very funny... but if I had to make a list of “Snarky Teen-Mother Dramedies”, it would still come in second place after The Opposite of Sex... which is a far heavier ride, on the drama side, but also pays off with much bigger laughs. It has a more complex and rewarding emotional arc... far less predictable, and genuinely heart-breaking in places. Respect to Don Roos.
And now I just feel mean, because I am a big fan of Ellen Page... the L-Page... bless her little red hoodie. There’s been a lot of hype about where her career will take her, after all the attention that Juno has brought. Ironically I read one article which suggested she would become a big star, ala Scarlett Johansson! I say “ironic”, because if this very film had been made a few years ago then Thora Birch would have been playing Juno, and Johansson would be playing her preppy cheerleader friend. The quirky brunettes, with the cute faces and the brain-heat, don’t generally become The Big Stars... they generally end up cutting the tags off clothes they haven’t bought yet, or covering their faces with scarves playing the-chick-with-the-pig’s-nose. As I said before, I think L-Page is the greatest thesp of her generation, and I want to see her enjoy a full and fruitful career... so, for her sake, I hope she can find a happy medium between Big Star and Where-Is-She-Now?
But hey, if the success of this film means that we’ll see The Tracey Fragments hitting the screens sometime soon, then I’m all for that. And it was an enjoyable flick... it just wasn’t a “Wow!” for me. It has got award nominations up the ying yang though, so hopefully that will all help to soften the blow of my lukewarm reaction. Meanwhile, I’m still oddly proud of the fact I was one of the first five people to see this film in my town. Such a geek...
edit:
Went searching for the "Scarlett Johansson" thing and found it here, in an interview where L-Page explains that it was her idea to have The Moldy Peaches on the soundtrack. Ooops! Guess I'd better take that engagement ring back to the pawn shop again... :(
Crikey! My local cinema will actually be showing Juno after all... I thought it might be too hip for this hick town, but it's part of their "Aren't Baftas and Oscars nice and shiny?" themed week. Lovely. Of course, it's only playing for two days, this weekend, in early evening slots... which means rather expensive ticket prices... and the film has been getting very mixed reviews. On the other hand, Ellen Page is the greatest thesp of her generation, and super cute to boot. Oh, what a quandary!
Edit: I've just seen the trailer being given the nod by Richard & Judy... the most mainstream, middle class, middle of the road TV show on our screens, and this does not bode well for me. It's been a while since I went to the cinema with normal, stand-up citizens around... normally I prefer the off-peak times, when I generally get the whole room to myself. It's always nerve-racking when certain films bring out the Normals, and I have to weave my weird way between them... ack!
And nobody came?
Apparently the Golden Globes were announced yesterday, from a secret strike-proof bunker, in a hollowed-out volcano... as is usually the case with such things, I haven't seen the vast majority of the nominated shows and films, so I should keep my stupid, stinky opinions to myself... but there was one win I was glad about, and that was for this chap:
Not for that particular film (Smokin' Aces), of course... but Jeremy Piven walks home with this year's award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television! Whoop! Do they really write all that on the little plaque?
As mentioned before, I've never seen Entourage, but I've also never seen Piven give a performance I didn't like, so I'm saying it was well-earned. Meanwhile, I'm a little sad that Ellen Page didn't collect any, because I think she's a genius actor... Juno might be too obscure and "indie" to play in my hick town, and the reviews I've read (here on Vox and elsewhere) were rather mixed... but she's scary-talented, and deserves some props.
That said, the fact that Sarah Silverman wasn't nominated for anything (not even Prettiest Picketer) renders the entire thing null and void. Fact.
