Around the Globe

Above: Helena Bonham Carter on the Golden Globes red carpet and once again proving why she’s my hero. Different coloured shoes and John Lennon specs? Why Mrs Burton, you’ve just gone and rocked my world.

It’s the Golden Globes today! Yay! And I know they are in no way as significant as the Oscars, but with Mark Wahlberg, Inception, The Fighter, Christian Bale, Colin Firth, Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling, Jesse Eisenberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Andrew Garfield, Christina Agulira and Sia up for awards – how can I not be exited? Anywho, with both of the office TVs trained on me with the Golden Globes broadcast playing live, I will bring you the complete results when they come through.

Ciao :o)

P.S. For my post on all the nominees see here

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The unconventional auntie goes to . . . .

HUZAH! The Golden Globe nominations were announced today and wooooow, talk about a few surprises. Okay, everyone knows the Golden Globes are like the unconventional auntie to the Oscars upstanding Republican first-child, but c’mon! The Fighter and Inception have nominations across the board so how can I NOT get excited! AND Mark freakin’ Whalberg is up for a best actor gong again! If you were near my computer right now you would be witnessing some panty throwing.

In surprising news, kudos Globe academy for nominating Emma Stone in Easy A because not only was it a wicked lil’ movie, she gave a smart and star-making performance which, although was great, isn’t usually something they would award despite its merit. Wahoo too for talented Brit Andrew Garfield, who’s co-staring in the Spiderman reboot with Stone and who’s up for best supporting actor. Shame he doesn’t have a chance in hell against Geoffrey Rush, but it’s nice to see someone we were raving about a few years ago come full circle. Big snubs for the cast of Inception, but you win some, you lose some.

The nominations council must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel with all the nods The Tourist got, but at least Burlesque got well-deserved kudos in the best musical or comedy and original song (go Christina and Sia).

While the results of the Globes are completely superfluous once it comes to the Oscars and there are things in here that will never get a nod at the Academy Awards come February . . . it’s still fun. Anywho, I have highlighted the things I would like to win, likelihood be damned, and the full list of nominees is below.

Best Picture, Drama: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The King's Speech, The Social Network.

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque, The Kids Are All Right, Red, The Tourist.

Actor, Drama: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network; Colin Firth, The King's Speech; James Franco, 127 Hours; Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine; Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter.

Actress, Drama: Halle Berry, "Frankie and Alice"; Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"; Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"; Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine."

Director: Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"; David Fincher, "The Social Network"; Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; David O. Russell, "The Fighter."

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Johnny Depp, "Alice in Wonderland"; Johnny Depp, "The Tourist"; Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Love and Other Drugs"; Kevin Spacey, "Casino Jack."

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"; Julianne Moore, "The Kids Are All Right"; Anne Hathaway, "Love & Other Drugs"; Angelina Jolie, "The Tourist"; Emma Stone, "Easy A."

Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter"; Michael Douglas, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"; Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network"; Jeremy Renner, "The Town"; Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech."

Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"; Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"; Mila Kunis, "Black Swan"; Amy Adams, "The Fighter"; Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom."

Foreign Language: "Biutiful," "The Concert," "The Edge," "I Am Love," "In a Better World."

Animated Film: "Toy Story 3," "The Illusionist," "How to Train Your Dragon," "Despicable Me," "Tangled."

Screenplay: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, "127 Hours"; Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg, "The Kids Are All Right"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; David Seidler, "The King's Speech"; Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network."

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The King's Speech"; Danny Elfman, "Alice in Wonderland"; A.R. Rahman, "127 Hours"; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, "The Social Network"; Hans Zimmer, "Inception." Original Song: "Bound to You" (written by Samuel Dixon, Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler), "Burlesque"; "Coming Home" (written by Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges), "Country Strong"; "I See the Light," (written by Alan Menken, Glenn Slater), "Tangled"; "There's a Place for Us" (written by Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey), "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"; "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," (written by Diane Warren), "Burlesque."

TELEVISION

Series, Drama: "Boardwalk Empire," HBO; "Dexter," Showtime; "The Good Wife," CBS; "Mad Men," AMC; "The Walking Dead," AMC.

Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Hugh Laurie, "House."

Actress, Drama: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"; Piper Perabo, "Covert Affairs"; Katey Sagal, "The Closer"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."

Series, Musical or Comedy: "30 Rock," NBC; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS; "The Big C," Showtime; "Glee," Fox; "Modern Family," ABC; "Nurse Jackie," Showtime.

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Toni Collette, "The United States of Tara"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Tina Fey, "30 Rock"; Laura Linney, "The Big C"; Lea Michele, "Glee."

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Thomas Jane, "Hung"; Matthew Morrison, "Glee"; Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory."

Miniseries or Movie: "Carlos," Sundance Channel; "The Pacific," HBO; "Pillars of the Earth," Starz; "Temple Grandin," HBO; "You Don't Know Jack," HBO.

Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Hayley Atwell, "Pillars of the Earth"; Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin"; Judi Dench, "Return to Cranford"; Romola Garai, "Emma"; Jennifer Love Hewitt, "The Client List."

Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, "Luther"; Ian McShane, "Pillars of the Earth"; Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack"; Dennis Quaid, "The Special Relationship"; Edgar Ramirez, "Carlos."

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Hope Davis, "The Special Relationship"; Jane Lynch, "Glee"; Kelly Macdonald, "Broadwalk Empire"; Julia Stiles, "Dexter"; Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family."

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Scott Caan, "Hawaii Five-O"; Chris Colfer, "Glee"; Chris Noth, "The Good Wife"; Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family"; David Strathairn, "Temple Grandin."

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert De Niro.

The 68th Golden Globes are on January 16.

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Hey! Ho! Lets Go!

(Above: From L-R Dee Dee, Tommy, Johnny and Joey Ramone)

Uh-oh. Consider me seriously worried. The specialty division (yes, that’s actually a division) of Fox Searchlight is in negotiations to make a movie about the Ramones. For those of you playing at home the Ramones are my favourite band EVER and although the thought of a movie based on their lives does excite me, their status as the founding fathers of punk rock and cultural rebellion is so sacred, I don’t want to see it fucked up on screen. Also, I’ve been known to hang out on a rooftop with a sniper rifle looking for people wearing Ramones logo t-shirts without even knowing any of their music!!! GAH! I hate those posers.

Anyway, deep breath, count backwards from 10. The film is going to be based on the soon to be published memoir I Slept With Joey Ramone written by the musician’s brother, Mickey Leigh and Ramones chronicler Legs McNeil. It would feature the band’s tunes, obviously. A former executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, Rory Rosegarten, bought the rights to the book several years ago and most importantly, he bought the rights to the music. So Searchlight are working closely with him to try and close a deal, a process that hasn’t finished yet say people close to the project.

I Slept With Joey Ramone is considered the most film-worthy piece of source material and centers on the life of Joey Ramone (aka Jeffrey Hyman) who was the lead singer and key creative force behind the iconic punk act. To be frank, this is such a complicated tale I don’t think the Ramones on the big screen could be done any better than the 2004 documentary End Of The Century which is an incredible, comprehensive piece of filmmaking.

A bit of background on the Ramone; they were formed in Queens, in 1974 by John Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Thomas Erdelyi and Douglas Colvin as teenagers who changed their names to Johnny, Joey, Tommy and Dee Dee Ramone. They went on to become the fathers of the punk movement and cult symbols, still recognizable today. They attained little commercial airplay but had a huge cult following with songs like Blitzkrieg Bop, I Wanna Be Sedated, Rockaway Beach and my personal favourite, The KKK Took My Baby Away. They’re cited as a huge influence in modern music with bands such as The Clash, The Sex Pistols and U2 all naming them as inspiration. They famously broke up in 1996 due to infighting and other members included Marky, C.J. and Richie Ramone who also played with the band at various points. They coined the phrase `Gabba Gabba Hey’ which is commonly used amongst rad people aka myself.

And that’s just skimming the top of their sordid history. On top of that Dee Dee, one of the key songwriters, worked as a male prostitute in his late teens/early twenties, battled a lifelong drug addiction and tried his hand at a career as a white rapper. Johnny ended up running off with, and later marrying, Joey’s girlfriend, an act which the pair never quite got over and that fuelled many feuds (besides their obvious political differences; Joey was very liberal and Johnny very conservative). Joey also overcame a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which hindered him earlier in his career. Oh, and then there was that time the Ramones worked with Phil Spector on the End Of The Century album and he made them play the opening rift of a song 400 times before holding them all at gunpoint until they got the composition `just right’. I guess they should consider themselves lucky they didn’t end up like Lana Clarkson or worse, one of Spectors discarded hair pieces . . .ew.

The Ramones, all of which have died in the last decade, besides Tommy, have been on the silver screen before in the awesome cult-classic Rock ‘n Roll High School, a teen-rebel comedy made in `79 which sees the band star as musical mavericks who help teens face off against a disciplinarian principal. Howard Stern last year signed on to produce a remake of the pic which is almost as disturbing as the guy behind Everybody Loves Raymond wanting to make their biopic. It’s just an all around disturbing extravaganza.

So, that pretty much sums up the Ramones movie so far . . .except for casting, director and a heck of a lot more information. But hey, this is everything that’s available for now so lower those pitchforks. Hopefully the future of this movie will mimic the storyline from the third season of Entourage where a Ramones biopic gets buried in studio development after Ari screws over one too many people. Boom.

Thoughts? Who do you reckon would make a good Ramone in the biopic? Personally I’d love to see British rising star Andrew Garfield in there, perhaps as Dee Dee (even though Dee Dee bares an uncanny resemblance to Steve Zahn). He would make a great Dee Dee and he definitely proved himself as an amazing performer in The Red Riding Trilogy: 1974 earlier this year. Jesse Eisenberg as a Ramone would also be awesome, as he could pretty much slot in anywhere. And how could I not mention the character-actor brilliance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt! You know he would tear up any part he was given but I say cast him as Joey, he could handle the difficulties of playing someone so complex. I wouldn’t mind seeing Jack White try his chops at acting, he can literally do everything else so odds are he could be good at this too. Jack White to play a Ramone, hmm it could work. I’m stumped on any other ideas though.

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