Hot Guy Monday: Chris Meloni

I recently re-discovered Oz as I finally got the fifth season on DVD. It reaffirmed my adoration of Chris Meloni. He's not someone you look at and say "wow, you should so be a model" but anyone who has seen him as Chris Keller would surely agree that he is the very definition of hot. In Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, his character and performance are the polar opposite of Keller, yet there's still something about him in that show that makes me go a little weak in the knees. So sit back and appreciate yourselves some Meloni. Be careful scrolling down to the last pic though. It's on here because you gotta love a man who is constantly getting naked for the camera, but it might not be something your boss should catch you looking at.

Ticket trauma

I blame the internet. It's been so long since I booked tickets over the phone that I had forgotten just how frustrating it can be.

A little backstory. I love PJ Harvey. I have since Rid Of Me was released and have been an ardent fan ever since. I have seen her live on several occasions, starting with the tour to promote To Bring You My Love. She has gotten better and better and the pre-release gigs for Uh Huh Her were truly phenomenal. I've been on her mailing list for ages and on Wednesday morning last week I checked my old email account to find out that a solo gig at the Royal Festival Hall has been scheduled for 29th September and tickets are on sale at 9am. You can book on the phone with the venue or with their website.

I ensured I was at my desk at five minutes to nine, logged in, website up and ready to go. At 9am, I refresh the screen, the gig isn't there. I continue to refresh until ten past nine when it's still not there I admit defeat and start calling. Of course, the phone lines are completely jammed and it takes me over half an hour to speak to someone. The entire time I am on hold, a helpful voice informs me every 15 seconds that my call is still in a queue and very important to them, however I might like to book online at their website. Every time they say this I refresh my screen and the gig is still not listed. After doing this multiple times, my temper begins to fray and I start talking to the automated message, saying things like "I can't", "well how can I if the gig I want isn't on the website?" and "for sobbing out loud would you JUST PUT ME THROUGH TO SOMEONE?" By the time I do actually get put through, the whole office is looking at me like I have gone insane. It's possible that I might have.

Luckily, the lady I was connected with was so very nice and helpful, and there were still tickets left, though not that many. So I got two tickets and all is right with the world. All the times I've seen her live, I've never seen her solo. I CANNNOT WAIT!

Sex And The City headed for the big screen

That begs one very simple question: Why? Why is a show that was so of its time being given the big screen upgrade four years after its final season?

I was not a fan of the show. I tried on more than one occasion to watch it and after about ten minutes I wanted to poke my eyes out with a sharp stick and, figuring that a bit drastic, switched off the TV instead. Maybe my dislike stems from the fact this show has the entire world labouring under the impression that Sarah Jessica Parker is beautiful. Maybe I didn't watch any episodes that dealt with serious stuff in a heartfelt way, but lucked out with female ejaculation and funny tasting cum. The fact remains, I could not deal with watching this show.

There are some half hour comedies that I did love watching though. I don't want to see a big screen version of those either. Can you imagine a 90 minute movie of Will & Grace? Or Friends? It's a horrible idea, right? The thought of a flimsy little show writ large and stretched to almost four times its natural length made you feel a bit queasy didn't it? So WHAT THE HELL ARE HBO THINKING? Is it not enough that they randomly and indiscriminately cancel their best shows before their time, but they foist a show I am glad to finally see the back of on to the big screen for one last death gasp? Sigh.

Hot Guy Monday: Matt Dallas

I know that I shouldn't even know who Matt Dallas is. His breakthrough show, Kyle XY, is very much not aimed at my demographic. And yet I watched the show (I'm sure it will feature in a TV round up at some point). What's more I liked the show and there's no denying that Matt Dallas is a hottie.






Delicious, no?

Do not see this movie

Words have been failing me since last week when I saw this execrable excuse for a film, but as it has now chosen a US opening date of next Friday, the 13th, I feel I need to say something about it. It’s a benchmark for how low the genre has sunk and I sincerely hope that this plus the failure of Hostel II signals an end to torture porn.

My first problem with Captivity is the offending ad campaign pictured here. The issue I have isn’t with the images (remove the descriptive text and they lose a massive amount of impact anyway) but with the hysterically disingenuous response from Lions Gate when the hooha that the billboards created led to their removal. Are we really honestly supposed to believe that Lions Gate had no knowledge of the posters, hadn’t approved them as final or sanctioned their placement on Hollywood Boulevard? Because I don’t. There is no such thing as bad publicity and this got a lot of people talking. And then May 18th came and went and the film never materialised.

And this leads me to my second problem with Captivity. The reason for the delay in its release. After opening in Spain and Russia in March to hateful hateful reviews and audience derision, a third of the film was reshot. Why was it reshot? To add gore. Yes, that’s right, apparently the film wasn’t bloody enough. The original idea for the film was to be more psychological in its application of terror. All those elements have now been removed and in their place are some deeply unpleasant sequences full of blood and body parts.

I have no problem with gore, per se. My problem with torture porn comes from the films being deemed scary or even terrifying by people. No. There is a gigantic difference between gore and terror. Films like Cabin Fever and Hostel being deemed truly frightening is frankly laughable. There is nothing frightening about seeing someone eaten from the inside by some flesh eating virus. Unpleasant? Yes. Gruesome? Yes. Frightening. Nope.

Interestingly, two horror films from the recent past are often accused of being filled with gore when they’re nothing of the sort. Saw is unfairly maligned, particularly when seen in the shadow of the two (soon to be, God help us all, three) inferior sequels. However the first Saw movie is not really that bloody and it has some sequences that are really edge of the seat stuff. The sequence where Leigh Whannell’s character is kidnapped and he is running round his apartment searching for the intruder using his camera flash for example. And the last few minutes packed quite a punch and having nothing but Whannell’s desperate screams play over the end credits ensured that I for one left the theatre somewhat traumatised.

The remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is also beaten with the gore stick on occasion. I had a lengthy disagreement with a friend of mine over the gore content of this movie, I claiming it was not really that bloody, he claiming it was a blood soaked atrocity. Eventually he watched it again and had to concede that I was right. It’s bloodier than the original that’s for sure, but in terms of blood spillage on the screen, it’s no Kill Bill. The original Halloween was often criticised for its level of bloody gore when it has hardly any. It was shot so suggestively and so brilliantly, people THOUGHT they’d seen something far gorier than they had. I shudder to think how horrendous Rob Zombie’s remake is going to be.

When will the new breed of so called horror film makers wake up and realise their films are not frightening? When will they realise that what you DON’T see is far far more terrifying than what you do? What is being passed off as horror right now is coming ever more uncomfortably close to exploitation as a bunch of pretty people of questionable talent spend the better part of 90 minutes in various states of undress being subjected to difficult to watch torture sequences.

In the case of Captivity, these extend to acid showers and being force fed entrail smoothies. It’s ironic that after the studio ordered more explicit material, the MPAA then asked for over 30 cuts to be made. This is the same version submitted for release in the UK. The cuts have made the film incoherent as whole sequences have no grounding and when you factor in the re-shoots and re-edits, the whole film is very patchwork and when it’s not making you want to throw up it’s because you’re too confused by the herky jerky plotting to care what the hell is going on.

In addition to this, it doesn’t have an original bone in its body. The plot twist can be seen coming from about three seconds in and is revealed in the exact same way as the exact same twist is revealed in My Little Eye (I mean for heavens sake, if you’re going to steal, at least steal from something GOOD). The overall set up owes far too much to Saw. However, that film had the courage of its convictions and offed the two protagonists (offscreen too, so it was left to the viewer to work out how). I’m sure I’m spoiling nothing when I say that some of the reshoots have rendered the final panel of the original ad campaign redundant. Shame.

So please. Don’t see the movie. It’s a worthless piece of crap. And I say that as someone who loves horror movies, studied horror movies for a year in college and wrote a five thousand word essay on the social relevance of the slasher movie. Anyone who doesn’t think the slasher movie HAS any social importance should listen to Sean S. Cunningham’s commentary track on the DVD of the first Friday The 13th movie. These movies said something, they just said it with scares and with blood. The current crop of sadistic rubbish pretending to be movies are empty vessels. The writers and directors seem to think it’s sufficient entertainment as long as there’s enough blood and guts to satiate the audience’s appetite. It’s not, and it shows a marked disregard for the intellect of your audience. Not everyone is as dumb as Eli Roth and his friends seems to think we are.

I guess Isaiah Washington doesn't read my blog...

Grouchbutt and Limecrete have both got their wish. Stupid Dumb-Face Washington just will not shut up. In addition to the "I was fired because I'm black, and it was all TR Knight's fault anyway" nonsense he's been spouting, he's now started saying that he tried to resign in the wake of Faggotgate but Shonda Rimes wouldn't let him. Yes, mean old Shonda refused to let him resign JUST SO SHE COULD FIRE HIM.

And now, having blamed TR Knight, he's decided to also blame Patrick Dempsey. Apparently Mr Dempsey's constant on set tardiness pissed off Stupid Dumb-Face so much he just had to say something. And Patrick got really angry about it, causing Stupid Dumb-Face to get all up in his business and use many expletives and insults, including faggot, which wasn't meant as a gay slur, but to refer to someone who is weak. Oh well that's alright then.

Firstly, Dumb-Face, are you ten? It wasn't me it was him, he started it. Dear God. Second of all, who the fuck cares if people are late to set? It's not YOUR job to make sure everyone is punctual, is it? Rather than deciding to be all noble and take up the Tardy Cause yourself, you could have had a word with people higher up, who in turn could have spoken with Patrick about his shoddy timekeeping. I'm just saying. Seriously, drop the whole "I was trying to do a good thing and it went bad so everyone else is at fault except me" bullshit and shut the fuck up.

Piano Fatigue

Tonight is the second of Tori Amos's two London shows on the American Doll Posse tour. I did not go to either of them. I haven't blogged about the new album either, mainly because I didn't want to have to admit that I don't really like it.

There is some great stuff on there but there's TOO much on there. It's as long as her previous two albums but they were very easy on the ear. American Doll Posse is decidedly difficult listening and by the halfway mark I am really flagging. Trimmed by twenty or thirty minutes, it would have been amazing. But as is, it's just too much.

I have been following the set lists of the tour too and I haven't been exactly overjoyed with what I was seeing. Three songs ("Precious Things", "The Waitress" and "Cruel") have all reverted to their extended and overblown 1998 live versions with the band. "Heart Of Gold", the unlistenable cover version from 2001's otherwise fantastic Strange Little Girls is inexplicably now sometimes being performed. It's a shame that after really hitting her stride playing with a band on the 2003 Scarlet's Walk tour and doing such great things on 2005's solo Beekeeper tour that she should suddenly feel the need to step back almost an entire decade.

I'm in the front row, the front row

Yes I know it's an Alanis Morrisette song and so applying it to a Suzanne Vega concert may seem silly, BUT I was in the front row for Suzanne Vega's Brighton concert last night. She was glorious, as always. The set list was:

Tom's Diner (original version)
Ludlow Street
New York Is A Woman
Caramel
Frank & Ava
Anniversary

Gypsy
Small Blue Thing
Left Of Centre
Blood Makes Noise

Angel's Doorway
Zephyr & I
Pornographer's Dream
In Liverpool
Luka
Tom's Diner (DNA remix version)

Queen & The Soldier
Marlene On The Wall


So the focus was on the new album, of course, which given that it's not out for a couple of weeks yet meant that the crowd were mainly politely appreciative of those songs. I was very happy that my second favourite from the album got an early airing ("Ludlow Street") though was a bit gutted that my favourite ("Bound") did not. On the whole though, she steered away from the more recent personal material she's written, which is fair enough. In between songs, she was as warm, personable and funny as she has always been. The only misstep, in my opinion, was choosing to close the main set with the hateful dance remix of "Tom's Diner". I have never ever ever liked that song and there's something ill fitting about someone as graceful and folky as Ms Vega trying to get down with her bad self. And it seemed to go on forever, so I was wryly amused when she returned for the encore and said "I bet you never want to hear that song again" before mockingly singing the "da da da duh, da da da duh" refrain one last time.

The highlight of the night for me though was after "Anniversary" the band left the stage and she performed a beautiful rendition of "Gypsy". Then Mike Visceglia returned to play bass for "Small Blue Thing" to accompany her acoustic guitar. But then "Left Of Centre" and "Blood Makes Noise" had been reworked so they were performed with ONLY the bass guitar as accompaniment. They both sounded fantastic in this stripped down format and were the real stand outs for me. I can't wait to see her again.

Hot Guy Monday: Jared Leto

Is there anyone who watched My So-Called Life and didn't join in with Angela Chase in her swooning over Jordan Catalano? Is there anyone who didn't say a silent prayer of thanks when he bared all in Last Of The High Kings? Now while he may have gone entirely off the rails of late, Jared Leto's early career will always ensure he has a place in this gay's heart.






And when he used to be as hot as this into the bargain, then it's really no surprise, is it?

An open letter to Isaiah Washington

Shut the fuck up. Seriously. Stop your lame ass whining and move on. You were not fired because you're black. Have they fired Chandra Wilson? No. Have they fired James Pickens Jr? Again with the no. Have they fired your difficult and homophobic ass? Yup.

Since the announcement that Shonda Rimes would not be inviting you back for the fourth season of Grey's Anatomy, your public statements have done nothing but underline in red precisely why they let you go. Stating that you did everything asked of you but they still fired you and that's just mean was an eye opener. Everything THEY asked of you. Did you offer? Did you do it willingly? I'm going to guess no.

That was amusing enough, but even more hilarious was the "they should have fired TR Knight" statements that followed. Why should they? Because he stemmed the whispers and gossip about his sexuality that your argument with Patrick Dempsey caused by coming out? Because he went public after the Golden Globes to refute your "I did not call TR a faggot" statements? Because he's handled the whole situation with professionalism and a cool head while you have been a raging prick? I'm just asking.

And now, it's that old standby, that they're picking on you because you're black. This is really the last refuge of the desperate and if you really want to be given the second chance you seem to think only white people are given in Hollywood, then seriously, stop talking.

"That'd be the French"

The other day, I consulted IMDb and made a list of all the movies I've seen on the big screen in 2007. There have only been a handful of really enjoyable movies and not one of them do I want to own on DVD. Now, that is a sorry state of affairs. But, much like buses, you wait months and months for a good film and then two come along at once.

Last night I did a French movie double bill, starting with Tell No-One. Harlan Coben's novel is transplanted to Paris and with Guillaume Canet (who very few people will remember from The Beach) at the helm, it is a very confident and totally gripping thriller. Certain moments of the film do stretch credibility a tad and when all the cards are finally on the table, you may find yourself going "now hang on a minute", but the ride has been so intense, the destination is forgiven.

And then, I saw La Vie En Rose. Marion Cotillard might stand almost a foot taller than Edith Piaf and be much more attractive, but her performance puts any thoughts of physical mismatch right out of your mind. It is quite possibly the performance of the decade, totally real and completely mesmerising. The film itself is also completely involving and while it may elide some of Edith's off stage life, the point of the film is to show Edith Piaf as the diva star who shone so brightly, nobody else around her got a look in. And in that it was a complete success. An early front runner for my film of the year (admittedly against no competition at all, but still), I have to say I hope Marion Cottilard does a Helen Mirren style clean sweep of the awards for her performance here.

Now I feel like I am in an Alfred Hitchcock movie

I cracked the not sleeping issue. Unlike Blood Ray, it didn't turn out to be that I was crazy. It merely transpired I needed to flip my mattress. Some of you may recall the whole bed disaster that occurred when I moved rooms. In purchasing and installing a new bedframe, the mattress got a little effed up. Now that it's been flipped all is right with my sleeping pattern.

Or at least it would be if it weren't for one small thing. The nest of seagulls on the roof opposite my bedroom window. Anywhere between 4 and 6am, they start up with the most ungodly racket of screeching that I would defy Marlee Matlin to sleep through. I'm hoping I become accustomed to the noise soon and learn to sleep through it because if I don't then I may be forced to take drastic measures. Like putting bicarbonate of soda into bread and feeding it to the fuckers.

Hot Guy Monday: James Purefoy

The second and sadly final season of Rome has started showing in the UK. Just two episodes in and it has already offered up a pair of deliciously funny quotes (both from Polly Walker's magnificent Atia): "fine, fetch the German slut from the kitchen" and "Mark Anthony buggers boys like you for a morning snack".

Well speaking of Mark Anthony, James Purefoy is so very hot, isn't he? I have had a crush on him since Bedrooms and Hallways so said hotness was not news to me. But just look:







He's so dreamy.

I feel like I'm in a Stephen King novel

And to make matters worse, it's not even a GOOD Stephen King novel. For some reason I absolutely cannot fathom, I am having the worst trouble sleeping right now. It has become progressively worse this week and the past three days I have woken up at 4am and while I have dozed between then and 7am, I haven't gone back to sleep properly. I haven't had to use my alarm clock all week. It's KILLING me. There's been some stuff happening at work that usually wouldn't bother me at all, but yesterday it took the most superhuman effort not to unleash a furious stream of vitriol on a lot of my co-workers. And there's still today to get through. Whee!

Hot Guy Wednesday: A Random Shirtless Hunk

So I was looking at Just Us Boys this morning, catching up on the Eye Candy, when I found the above stud in his own photo gallery layout. You'll see from the name of the website he is featured on that he is gifted in other areas too. If you want to check out said gift, click on over to JUB. While there, you'll see the best comment EVER from a silly faggot:

Nice Dick! Too bad he's fat and ugly...nature compensates?

Now, you could argue said comment is sarcastic, but I don't think it is. I think it's some 7 feet tall twink who weighs 3 pounds and looks like Zac Efron or someone actually thinking the above specimen truly is fat and ugly. In which case, I officially despair.

Hot Guy Monday: Hiatus

Ooops. I had all the pics set out and ready to go then I got totally sidetracked and forgot to put the entry up. So it'll have to wait until NEXT Monday now. Watch this space.

All we can do is step back in time

So I decided to re-read all the previous Harry Potter novels in readiness for book 7 next month (more about the actual books themselves later). I also decided as I would have books 5-7 in hardback, I would treat myself to re-buying books 1-4 in hardback from Amazon UK (I am nothing if not wantonly bourgeois). So I ordered them this Friday just gone and selected the free shipping option as there was no real rush to get them. The free shipping option told me the dispatch date would be today and they would arrive anywhere up to the 22nd June.

So I was a little confused when I checked my email on Friday evening to find an email telling me how pleased they were to have dispatched my order. I figured it would arrive today at the earliest. 6:55am on Saturday, the postman is hammering on my door with the parcel. I was simultaneously impressed with the speedy service but so very bitter to be woken up even earlier than I have to get up when I'm actually going to work.

PCB's Television Round-Up, Part 4

Jesus Christ, I watch a lot of television. And with one show still running (Heroes) and several shows yet to start their UK runs (Brothers & Sisters, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, 30 Rock, Dexter, Rome, Without A Trace), the end is nowhere in sight. Hey, I could be addicted to worse things I guess. Anyway:

Grey's Anatomy

There has been something of a backlash against this show during its third season. I can only imagine this is because the show's second season was so fucking brilliant that it set the bar too high and its return would inevitably disappoint. Expectation is a bitch.

For the most part, I absolutely loved this season. It was intense and emotionally tough going with some absolutely sterling work from Katherine Heigl. I've loved her since Bride Of Chucky (shut up) so the current wave of Heigl love sweeping the US makes me happy. Anyway, while for the most part Meredith continued to irritate me, even she had a couple of episodes which made me like her. Those were when she was dealing with her mother being suddenly lucid. The big showdown she had with her was tip top.

I was very glad I had all the episodes to watch in one go as I really could not get enough of the show and waiting week to week would have pissed me off something fierce. But then, the last four episodes of the season got lazy and slapdash, forcing some square plot points into round holes, just to allow the Private Practice spin off. Far worse, it threw in some plot twists that made ABSOLUTELY NO LOGICAL SENSE (Miranda not becoming chief resident, George failing his intern exams) just so there could be something to carry over into next season. Sigh.

Prison Break

Before I start this, I want to make it perfectly clear that I am totally aware this show is the most ridiculous load of unbelievable nonsense. That being said, season 2 kicked ass.

The show's first season was too long and the break out plot felt wayyyyyyy toooooo streeeeeeeeeetched out. I tried watching it when it aired and after the third episode I was all "oh for heaven's sake" and stopped. But the show was a hit and something kept drawing me back so I ended up buying season 1 on DVD and watching it all before Season 2 aired.

And it was infinitely more exciting than season 1. One cliffhanger episode in fact got me so riled up I committed a PCB cardinal sin and READ AHEAD because I couldn't stand the wait. I think what did it for me this season was how, amid all the insanity, there has been a shining beacon of verisimilitude and her name is Sarah Wayne Callies. Her performance has been so real and so brilliant, her reactions to situations so genuine that she has kept me coming back for more. That and they killed off that ghastly old ham Peter Stormare very early on.

Sadly, once again the season finale was a let down. Something of a recurring theme here. I have absolutely no idea what was going on in the last five minutes. Oh well.

Hot Guy Monday: Daniel Sunjata

The first time I laid eyes on Daniel Sunjata, he got naked and soaking wet. That kind of introduction is really going to stick with you, isn't it? It's been five years now since that fateful evening when I was in the audience of the world premiere run of Take Me Out and I would still climb over barbed wire for a slice of the Sunjata.







Wouldn't you?

PCB's Television Round-Up, Part 3

24

What a crashing disappointment this season turned out to be. The opening four episodes were the best and most exciting the show has ever been. The stakes were high and with the detonation of a nuclear bomb at the end of episode 4, all bets were off. But, of its six seasons, 24 has managed only one that was, in my opinion, wholly satisfying (season 4). Other seasons have all suffered from either dragging out the storyline or, worse, dragging out the 24 episodes by tacking on other plots after the main arc finishes too early.

That's not to say I don't love it though and after that four hour amazing opener, I was ready for brilliance. It didn't quite arrive. The retconning decision to make Paul McCrane's character into Jack's brother (unless that was always the plan and I wasn't paying attention during his initial arc in season 5) was intriguing but having their father as the root of all evil was perhaps a scooch too much. Once the main plot was wrapped up, too early, the show meandered on and tested my patience as multiple plot strands were discarded without resolution. The season finale ending with Jack apparently contemplating suicide was hopeless. Shame.

Apparently next season the show is being completely reinvented and only its real time format will be carried over. We'll see if that means a complete cast cull (don't get rid of Chloe though!) and a re-location. Whatever it means, for the love of God, people, find a plot complex enough that it can actually run the course of the season.



Ugly Betty

The best new show on television. There was a moment when it looked like Heroes would win out (and as the UK is only up to episode 17 of that show and Ugly Betty finished its run already, it still might win out, who knows?), but with one scene in one epsiode, Ugly Betty claimed the crown.

The scene? Michael Urie's deliciously evil Mark's showdown with his mother in Betty's house. It was utterly brilliant, not to mention emotionally tough going. Michael Urie was top notch in the scene and I seriously hope he is showered with awards love for it soon. The fact that the writers had the balls to NOT have that scene end happily just made me love it all the more.

So that was what did it. The fact that a show as frivolous, bitchy, hilarious and downright silly as this was not afraid to put the brakes on for some drama was what made it my victor (so far) of the recently concluded season. However, I must note my dissatisfaction with the season finale. While I don't necessarily have a problem with the overcrowding of cliffhanger plot points, what I DO take issue with is the unnecessary and frankly mean killing of Santos. At least, given Hilda's reaction in the final scene, I assume he's dead, though it was never actually stated at any point. The scene where Hilda accepted his proposal, running out to find him only to discover he'd waited for her, made this girly boy cry. The Suarez family are going to have enough to deal with in the second season (adding in all the drama from the finale, there was also the revenge on her father in Mexico, mentioned in the penultimate episode that will presumably come back up at some point) without throwing in a wholly unnecessary amount of grief for Hilda and Justin.

At World's End

I went to see the third installment of the Pirates Of The Carribbean movies the other night. Some people think if you have nothing nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all.

In which case, thus concludes my review of the movie.

6 for 6/6: Rufus Wainwright

I was lucky enough to get return tickets, along with three friends, to the final night of Rufus Wainwright's five night run at the Old Vic in London. As far as I am aware, these were the only dates on the tour billed as "An Evening With" and had no opening act. I have to say I am a little huffy when it comes to Rufus. I only discovered him thanks to Lottie and when I first saw him live it was in a tiny tiny location that was fairly easy to get tickets to. Since then, he has slowly become more and more popular to the point where he now sells out gigs in seconds and charges a lot of money for them. And his newer fans are all "OMG I luv u Rufus. I have seen him five times, he's da bomb". Fuck off.

Anyway, my audience quibbles aside (I wanted to knife several people in my immediate vicinity), it was an amazing concert. The set list:

Release The Stars
Going To A Town
Sans Souci
Rules & Regulations
Tulsa
Art Teacher
Tiergarten
Leaving For Paris
Between My Legs

Harvester Of Hearts
Do I Disappoint You
Foggy Day in London
If Love Were All
Nobody's Off The Hook
Beautiful Child
Not Ready To Love
Slide Show
Macushlah
14th Street

I Don't Know What It Is
Pretty Things
Complainte De La Butte
Get Happy
Gay Messiah

Cunningly it's the same set list for the whole tour. He has really made this into a show, a piece of theatre. He's a true performer. It's been fascinating to watch that develop over the few years I've been a fan and seeing him live. The whole of the new album was played which I love plus some Judy Garland numbers and a traditional folk song that was performed without microphones and was AMAZING. Of course, the highlight was the encores. Returning to the stage in a bath robe to perform the "I Don't Know What It Is" with the band, they left and he performed the next two songs solo at the piano, still in the bath robe. He then walked to the front of the stage, donned some blinging jewellery and some lipstick. The band returned, the bath robe removed and all he was wearing was a suit jacket, a pair of tights and a fedora. This was what he wore to perform the last two numbers. He then came back on and performed another solo folk song, without a mic. People were yelling out Rufus songs (ugh) for him to sing and he looked at the crowd and said "I am Judy Garland right now".

Sian Phillips popped up to perform the dialogue at the end of "Between My Legs" which was most interesting. In the interval, Rufus changed out of the tightest pair of striped pants I've ever seen into the lederhosen get up which was most amusing. Vocally he was a little strained in places and he totally fucked up "Tulsa" but that song is all over the place anyway. All in all, it was a quality evening and I am glad I went. I forgot my camera though so I stole the pics from another website.

Hot Guy Monday: Mark Ruffalo

I saw Zodiac last week. It is easily the best film of the year that nobody saw. There were three flawless performances from the leading men of the picture. One of them was Mark Ruffalo, who I have loved since You Can Count On Me. He's not conventionally attractive in a Hollywood or model kind of a way, but there's something about him that makes me all hot under the collar.

PCB's Television Round-Up, Part 2

Supernatural

Not that the first season was bad, but this season has been a huge improvement. The first season’s overall arc didn’t seem to really kick in until the last few episodes and it all seemed a little, I don’t know, random. The second season occasionally suffered from the same problem (Certainly Sam’s powers came and went without any discernible reason), but as stand alone stories, the episodes this time around were much stronger.

The chemistry between Jared and Jensen is fantastic too. Despite looking not even remotely similar, you could really buy that they are brothers. The “Tall Tales” episode was an absolute riot and generally there was humour in every episode. They also know how to pile on the emotion and the last five minutes of “Heart” with both the brothers in tears was very moving. And the season finale was very clever in that it has given the upcoming third season an overall arc AND a deadline. Smart thinking.

Bones

I started watching this show primarily for David Boreanaz. I loved him as Angel and he’s easy on the eyes too. When the show began airing, I had never read a Kathy Reichs novel. This was apparently to my benefit as die hard Reichs lovers were none too happy with the changes made to Temperance Brennan and her team. I read a Reichs novel recently and found it to be over plotted and FAR too gruesomely detailed.

Anyhoo, the first season was amiable enough, the cast had good rapport and their banter and interplay made up for some less than inspired storylines. It was never less than watchable and to be honest, it was never more than that either. That all changed with episode nine of the second season, “Aliens in a Spaceship”. Holy mother of God. With that episode, Bones became must see TV. That episode was true edge of the seat, heart in my mouth television. The final moments of it, with a tearful Hodgins confiding in Angela that he couldn’t close his eyes without being back in the car, buried alive, brought a lump to my throat. The rest of the season couldn’t sustain that level of brilliance but it didn’t dip THAT far below it. Quality stuff. Mercifully renewed for a third season, I can’t wait for it to start airing already.


Lost

Hmmmmmmm. An odd scheduling idea (six episodes before a thirteen week hiatus, followed by non stop showing of the next sixteen episodes) didn’t really work. Mainly because the six episodes that aired before the break were deeply uninvolving. The cliffhanger, meant to make the viewer desperate for the thirteen weeks to be over, was hopeless. I couldn’t have cared less about anything at that point.

And then the hiatus was over and the show picked back up. I don’t know if they fired the writers in the hiatus and got new ones in but slowly the quality crept up and with the stand alone episode dealing with the demise of Nikki and Paolo, the show finally tipped over into being worth watching again.

And then they delivered the best season finale I think I have ever seen of any show, ever. The flash forward revelation answered some questions, but posed about a bazillion more (not least “if this is the future, how come Jack’s dad is still alive?”) and somewhat more crucially the potential for the final three seasons is H U G E. I am cautiously optimistic that now there’s a definite finish line, the show will stop dicking around and be drop dead brilliant. However, the middling second season is a big reminder that they can take a massive amount of potential and bugger it up completely. And they also pissed off all the LOTR fangirls by killing off Dominic Monaghan. I figured as soon as I read the interview with him complaining he was bored by how little he’d been given to do that his days were numbered though so I was not surprised when he left the show feet first.

"but all of my internet searches kept coming up with Tiny Tim's autopsy photos"

After they announced that Elaine Paige would be taking on the title role in the London mounting of The Drowsy Chaperone, I saw it in NY instead. I happened to be there at the time and I really can't tolerate Ms Paige, so it seemed perfect. I vowed not to see it in London.

However, I know the theatre manager of the show's London home and he got me an insanely good deal on tickets. So I went with a friend to the show last Thursday. In NY, I dismissed it as good but not great. Cute and fun but trying a little too hard.

I don't know WHAT I was thinking. I loved the show when I saw it a second time. LOVED IT. Yes, some of the American accents are ropey in the extreme. But as far as the cast go (with one exception) that's probably the biggest criticism I have. The energy, the enthusiasm and the obvious fun they're having makes anything else very hard to fault. It's MEANT to be over the top and silly. And for the most part, the cast nail the tone and style to a T.

Of course, the exception is Elaine Paige. The title role is one that it is writ particularly large. Beth Leavel found the key to playing a role like that is to take it in the opposite direction is to underplay everything and she did so to huge acclaim and many awards in LA and NY. Ms Paige, on the other hand, thinks too much is never enough and her performance sails wildly over the top. Which is a shame as it deadens the laughs the role provides and makes one wince to see her trying so hard to land all the jokes. You only need to listen to the Cast Recording of "As We Stumble Along" and her Beth Leavel's delievry of "Antarctica? Oh please" and then compare it to Ms Paige to see the difference.

There was one reason I was happy to see the show in London. Bob Martin is recreating his role of Man In Chair. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful performances I have seen on stage. Pitch perfect. He's funny, he's wry, he's charming but the air of melancholy and loneliness tugs at the heartstrings. The last 5 minutes are so beautiful that I actually cried this time around. See it.

PCB's Television Round-Up, Part 1.

As the television viewing year draws to a close, I thought I would post about what's been fab and what's been drab this past few months. As the shows in the UK all have different air dates, there will be more updates in the future. But for now....

Rescue Me

The third season of the show and it’s not showing any signs of wear and tear at all. I may have some issues with how some storylines were handled but I’m reserving judgement as said storylines are still not concluded and the rumour mill suggests that they will be in season 4 (which starts in the US next month but won’t be in the UK for bloody ever, annoyingly enough).

I discovered this show completely by accident, randomly channel hopping one night and stumbled across the season 1 episode where the guys all fix Tommy’s neighbour’s porch. I enjoyed the episode so I immediately added the first season to my Lovefilm queue. I watched it in the space of about a week and then couldn’t wait so I bought season 2 from the US. Ho. Lee. Shit. Season 2 was fricking incredible, ramping up all the elements that season 1 put in place. The final episode’s arc of the death of Tommy’s son in a drink drive hit and run, the disintegration of his marriage (again) and the retribution against the driver who killed his son was breathtaking. I didn’t think season 3 would be better. I was wrong.

As if killing his only son wasn’t enough, season 3 saw Tommy deal with the return of his crazy sister (a knockout turn from Tatum O’Neal, Paper Moon is but a distant memory) and the death of his brother, killed in the line of duty. The finale with him at the mercy of the screamingly bonkers Sheila as her house burned down around them was intense stuff. This season was a little guest star-tastic (Marisa Tomei, Kate Burton, Susan Sarandon) and some of those arcs didn’t really feel complete, though apparently Ms Sarandon is making an appearance in season 4. It will be interesting to see how the other unfinished arcs all pan out, particularly Mike’s sudden gayness which was somewhat fumbled. The only duff note though in an otherwise fantastic show.

Oh and some of the guys are HOT.

The Dresden Files

I really don’t know why I started watching this. I am not a fan of anybody in the cast nor have I ever read a Harry Dresden book. And yet I thought I would give it a whirl. So I did. And after a shaky start (though I never judge any brand new show on its opening episodes as I may have said before) I actually enjoyed it a lot. Paul Blackthorne is an agreeable enough presence as the titular wizard and he has a good chemistry with Valerie Cruz. Some of the effects are a scooch ropey and some of the resolutions in the occasional episode felt a little rushed. But other than that, a fun way to pass the time. I couldn’t seem to find a definite answer on if the show is coming back for a second season, but here’s hoping.

Busy week for PCB

Well it’s been an exhausting week. Regular readers on my blog will know I live with a disabled lesbian. She has fibromyalgia and lupus as well as two separate back injuries. When she moved into the flat we’re living in now with her emotionally fragile and batshit crazy sister, she took the smaller bedroom, allowing Crazy to have the big room. Moving into the flat, by the by, was what caused back injury numero uno, leaving her bedridden for a year.

So, when the crazy sister moved out, I moved into her bedroom. Taking into account, the second back injury and her battle with the insane lupus flare up, the disabled lesbian has been bedridden for the best part of four years. As she’s now feeling a lot better and is slowly getting back out in the world and no longer has to kowtow to her insane bitch of a sister, she made noises about maybe swapping bedrooms. The noises coincided with my parents coming back to the UK for a month to do a house swap with my aunt who is passive aggressively keeping all my stuff up in her loft. So the first weekend my parents were here, they bought all my stuff to me. So I now had a whole crap load of books, DVDs and CDs and nowhere to put them as my big bedroom was, at that point, furniture-less.

So we agreed to swap rooms, after she made the very good point that emotionally she would benefit from not being in the bedroom where she’d spent so long being ill and in pain. I don’t really care what room I’m in as long as I have a bed and my stuff, you know? However, I absolutely hate hate hate living amongst unpacked boxes. So on Friday, my friend Ruth and I went to Ikea to buy me some furniture.

Before we could do this though, the room swap had to take place. Due to having tickets to see The Drowsy Chaperone in London on Thursday night (more on that later), this had to take place on Wednesday. So I spent the best part of Wednesday evening dismantling both beds and putting them back together in their opposite rooms. I was dreading moving my superking size bed into what looked like a much smaller room. After getting her bed out though, it transpired her room only looked so much smaller because it was packed to the gills with the most spectacular amount of crap. I am still reeling with how much unnecessary madness she managed to shoehorn in. So, bed flip completed and measurements for furniture taken, Ruth and I set out for Ikea.

Measurements for furniture is one thing. Measurements for the flat pack boxes and the back of Ruth’s car is quite another. I bought a gorgeous bookcase but after 15 fruitless minutes trying in as many different positions as possible, we had to admit defeat and take the bookcase back to the returns dept. There were 25 people in front of me. We had time to eat dinner, come up with a plan b for my room, go back and actually BUY the new bookcase and re-park the car, all before my number was called in the returns queue. Ikea is about an hour’s drive from my flat. We left at 5:45pm and we got back a little before midnight. Fun.
So anyway, on Saturday I planned to spend the day being a DIY madman and sorting out my room. On the Wednesday night, as well as flipping the beds, I only took the vital necessities out of each room to last a couple of days. So I had to move out all the mountains of crap from what was now my room before I could start putting together my bookcases. Luckily, I woke up at some ungodly early hour and so I started Operation Bedroom at 7am. I figured I’d be finished by the afternoon, could then take a shower and a nap before heading to work for my four hour overtime shift 8pm-midnight.

Throughout the day, it did not cease to both amaze and amuse me how solidly the bookcase and DVD unit were made and how many screws and bolts it took to hold them all together. Why am I so amused? My bedframe, my superking size metal bedframe from Ikea is held together with four small screws. Anyway, I toiled all day long, moving all the crap out of my room (which took a looooong time! I kept finding stuff in little nooks and crannies. It was truly unbelievable), putting all the furniture together, and then taking all my books and DVDs out of what used to be my room and unpacking them all. Unpacking was, I have to say, highly therapeutic. This whole operation did take longer than anticipated and by the time I had my room looking how I wanted it, it was after 6pm and I was still not showered. If I was going to make it to work for 8pm, I would really have to get a wriggle on.

One last thing remained to do in my room and that was change the bedding. I had bought some new sheets in Ikea and wanted to put them on the bed. As my bed is so big and I am in a smaller room and I appear to be terminally single, I have the bed up against the wall under the window. So in order to change the bedding, I had to move my bed away from the wall. I did this, changed all the bedding and then moved the bed back. At which point, it broke. When I bought the bed, it needed a lot of extra securing of the midbeam to the frame as the Ikea idea of a sturdy bed is very different to the rest of the world’s. Moving it to another room was the final straw I think. The slats would no longer stay on the midbeam on one side. I attempted to fix it a couple of times, the slats refused to stay put. I came to the sad realisation that in order to actually have somewhere to sleep, the bed had to go. So I had to take it apart and take the frame down and store it in the garage. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to work. I was absolutely freaking exhausted by this point, after 13 and a half hours of this madness.

Luckily, the crippled lesbian decided to rejoice in her new found bedroom largesse by investing in a superking size bedframe herself. Copycat. She went to the website where she purchased her old bed from and they were having a completely insane sale. She got herself a wrought iron work of beauty for £200. Reduced from £1200. We then found a bed frame for me for £100. Reduced from £800. I refuse to believe it will be any less sturdy than the Ikea bed. Hell, if it were made with paper mache and held together with paper clips, it would be sturdier than my Ikea bed.

Hot Guy Monday, Memorial Day 2 for 1 Special: The Supernatural boys

That's right. To make up for some blog silence, I'm kickstarting the week with not one hottie, but two. I recently watched and squeed over the season finale of Supernatural so I thought it only fair to pay tribute to its eye candy, both of whom one could call shirtless hunks.







See? Were it not for the fact his hair looked ridiculous for most of the second season, Jared would be the hotter of the two. As it is, right now, he's runner up. Anyway, enjoy the hotness and come back soon for some proper updates.

Hot Guy Monday Geek Edition: Paulo Costanzo

Here's a crush I have never really been able to explain. But ever since he appeared on my radar in 2000's Road Trip
(which as it stars Breckin Myer and Seann William Scott, I shouldn't really have even noticed him in), I have had a crush on geeky Mr Costanzo. He was one of the two saving graces of Joey and he captured the nerd geek perfectly in it. Which of course made me love him more.

Jerry Falwell died

Good.

The Tony Nominations are in

Best Play
The Coast of Utopia
Frost/Nixon
The Little Dog Laughed
Radio Golf

I’m both surprised and really really REALLY pleased that Little Dog was not forgotten. If anything other than Utopia wins, I’ll be shocked.

Best Musical
Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

No surprises here though. Apparently Legally Blonde’s omission is something of a shock. Really? A show that opens with the song titled “Oh My God You Guys” before reprising it twice throughout the show has been overlooked. I’m stunned.

Best Book of a Musical
Curtains - Rupert Holmes & Peter Stone
Grey Gardens - Doug Wright
Legally Blonde The Musical - Heather Hach
Spring Awakening - Steven Sater

I’m stunned it got a nomination here over Poppins, that’s for sure. I can see Doug Wright winning this one I think.

Best Original Score
Curtains
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb, John Kander & Rupert Holmes
Grey Gardens
Music: Scott Frankel
Lyrics: Michael Korie
Legally Blonde The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin
Spring Awakening
Music: Duncan Sheik
Lyrics: Steven Sater

And here. I guess Poppins was overlooked as not all of it was new. I haven’t heard Curtains. Grey Gardens has some outstanding songs in it but it also has a few forgettable tunes too. Spring Awakening is a concert. The songs work better out of context. Go figure. Ultimately, if only for "Another Winter in a Summer Town", I would like to see Grey Gardens take this one.

Best Revival of a Play
Inherit the Wind
Jouney's End
Talk Radio
Translations

I’ve seen none of these, but I do hope Journey’s End being nommed improves its box office. I love Hugh Dancy so it would be nice if the show found an audience.

Best Revival of a Musical
The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade

I have only seen Apple Tree out of this list. I don’t see it winning somehow.

Best Special Theatrical Event
Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
Kiki & Herb Alive on Broadway

Say no to puppets.

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O’Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio

I managed to miss three of these five shows on both sides of the Atlantic. Quite a feat, that. My money would be on Langella here, but Brian F. O’Byrne might get it because he didn’t win for Doubt. Plus Utopia is going to clean up. Kevin Spacey is notable by his absence here. Good.

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Swoozie Kurtz, Heartbreak House
Angela Lansbury, Deuce
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed

I am absolutely fucking elated that Julie White got a nomination. However, if anybody but Angela Lansbury takes home this award, I’d be HUGELY surprised. Marian Seldes is probably sticking pins in a doll of her right now.

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains

Yay Gavin Lee!

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde The Musical
Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Debra Monk, Curtains
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

A couple of notable omissions here. Firstly Kristin Chenoweth for The Apple Tree. Good. Her performance had an air of “I’m really good aren’t I?” about it that drove me up the wall. Secondly, Ashley Brown for Mary Poppins. That was considered a guaranteed nomination. Ultimately though, this award belongs to Christine Ebersole.

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Ethan Hawke, The Coast of Utopia
John Earl Jelks, Radio Golf
Stark Sands, Journey's End

I can foresee Utopia doing a sweep of the Play awards. Anyone else? Shame that Hugh Dancy didn't get a nod. And Michael Sheen.

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Dana Ivey, Butley
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia

I love me some Plimpton. Almost as much as I love Jennifer Ehle.

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde The Musical
John Cullum, 110 in the Shade
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening
David Pittu, LoveMusik

It would be nice if Borle won so he and Sutton could have matching his and her’s Tonys.

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
Charlotte d’Amboise, A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker, Mary Poppins
Orfeh, Legally Blonde The Musical
Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens
Karen Ziemba, Curtains

Orfeh! Fucking hell. She’s a tiny woman with a BIG voice who has never really been lucky enough to land a long running show. And ok, she’s in Legally Blonde, which is not the best, but she’s been nominated. Good for her.

Best Direction of a Play
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
David Grindley, Journey's End
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Melly Still, Coram Boy

It'll be Jack O'Brien. I hope that considering it as one play doesn't detract from what a HUGE achievement Utopia is.

Best Direction of a Musical
John Doyle, Company
Scott Ellis, Curtains
Michael Greif, Grey Gardens
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening

I was bothered by the lame direction for some stuff in Gardens and I flat out HATED the direction in Spring Awakening. I would imagine John Doyle will take this award.

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Curtains
Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde The Musical

Yay Stephen Mear! I used to work with his sisters (his actual relatives, I’m not being super gay when I say sisters). Go figure. For the choreography in “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “Step In Time” alone, he deserves to win. The Spring Awakening choreography was occasionally inspired but mainly horrible.

Best Orchestrations
Bruce Coughlin, Grey Gardens
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik
Jonathan Tunick, 110 in the Shade

I am not going to pretend I even know the first thing about orchestrations.

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Jonathan Fensom, Journey's End
David Gallo, Radio Golf
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy

I wonder if the nominations and I’m sure eventual wins being showered on Utopia will result in a commercial Broadway transfer?

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Christine Jones, Spring Awakening
Anna Louizos, High Fidelity
Allen Moyer, Grey Gardens

I do love the Poppins sets, I have to say. I mean, they’re HUGE. I know Grey Gardens is handicapped as it’s a much smaller show but I did think their sets were a little flat.

Best Costume Design of a Play
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Jane Greenwood, Heartbreak House
Santo Loquasto, Inherit the Wind
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia

I can’t imagine Utopia’s streak will be broken here.

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Legally Blonde The Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Susan Hilferty, Spring Awakening
William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens

Spring Awakening, really? They’re school uniforms, for crying out loud. I would say this is a race between Poppins and Gardens.

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, Coram Boy
Brian MacDevitt, Inherit the Wind
Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, and Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Jason Taylor, Journey's End

Like I know anything about lighting, other than to go “oooh pretty”.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Christopher Akerlind, 110 in the Shade
Howard Harrison, Mary Poppins
Peter Kaczorowski, Grey Gardens

See above.

Hot Guy Monday: Justin Chambers

Over the weekend, I started watching season 3 of Grey's Anatomy, which I have been downloading (sssh!) for weeks now. For all the talk about McDreamy and McSteamy, the hottest guy on the show is Justin Chambers, aka Dr Alex Karev.







See?

Amendment

Cate Blanchett's entirely terrifying appearance is for the title role in the upcoming Cancer Vixen. Her involvement in the project was announced as early as last September so I don't know how I managed to miss it. It doesn't feature on her IMDb page, other than in the message boards though. ANYWAY, point is she's not fallen foul of the insanity sweeping through Hollywood, rather she's doing a Christian Bale. Albeit, for what sounds like a more worthwhile project.

Many of the comments left on the post I made about her appearance pointed me towards articles detailing the project and one person stated that their first thought was "she's doing it for a role". It's funny that the anorexia epidemic in Hollywood has reached such a horrifying level that my first thought when I see a newly thin celebrity is never "that must be for a role" it's always "fucking hell, Rachel Zoe got to you too?"

Cate Blanchett is going to die

While Ms Blanchett has never been someone you look at and think "ah, so THAT'S who ate all the pies", it's a little alarming to see that she has fallen foul of the starvation army currently marching through Hollywood. Don't believe me? Well here she is, 8 years ago as Susan Traherne in the London revival of Plenty:



and here she is, earlier this week at the Met Costume Institute Ball:



Terrifying, no? Her hair is clearly begging for some nutrients, her skin is no longer luminous but deathly pale and she looks like she's about 200 calories from death. That the Rachel Zoe inspired cult of scary and unhealthily thin could warp the minds of the young and impressionable Hollywood set is bad enough. That it has seemingly also broken the mind of the adult and intelligent Cate Blanchett is truly frightening. I hope she lives long enough to see the awards glory that will be showered upon her next year for The Golden Age though. The trailer gives me chills. Check it out for yourselves: