My 2000th Post

Okay, today is a joyous day here on the blog, one that I've been working toward for, literally, years, as we are officially on my 2000th post!!!!!!  Yes, I have officially written 2000 posts on movies, politics, my dating life, Broadway, tennis, Olympics, and at least one post where I randomly thirsted after Tim Tebow.  In honor of this, I figured it was okay to indulge in a little naval-gazing (that's such a weird phrase), and what better way to naval-gaze than making some narcissistic lists to celebrate the situation, cause lists are how we roll around here!

My 10 Most Viewed Articles

1. Happy Birthday Darren Criss! (this still is nearly twice as large as the #2 contender)
2. Ranting On...Mitt Romney's #NeverTrump Movement (for some reason this has been my most popular post for nearly a year now)
3. The YouTube British Invasion
4. Everybody's Linking for the Weekend 2/7/14
5. The Color Purple (my top-rated review)
6. Finding the Magic in the Harry Potter Movies (in my opinion the best of these ten articles)
7. Ben-Hur
8. What Democrats Should (and Shouldn't) Run for President in 2020? (I follow my stats pretty closely, and genuinely had no idea this was so high-ranking)
9. Who Doesn't Have an Oscar?
10. November Oscar Predictions: Music & Sound

I've been writing this for 2000 articles, and I'm still trying to figure out which articles really take off, if it's genuine love, a well-placed link somewhere, or just some bot software.  Either way, I hope people liked these!

The Ten Articles I'm Most Proud of Writing

1. What I Wish I Could Write on My Dating Profile
2. Orlando
3. History Only Has Time for Heroes and Villains
4. Barack Obama and the Midterms
5. What Should Count as Canon?
6. The Day I Realized I Might Never Get Married
7. 12 Unsolved Mysteries of Lost
8. Finding the Magic in the Harry Potter Movies
9. My Thoughts on the 2016 Election
10. Ranting On...Graham Moore's Weirdness

Each of these were some of the articles that stuck with me long after.  In some cases, because it was so much fun to write, in other cases because I felt I was able to sum up my opinion the best I could have hoped for, and in still other cases because it scared me to say some of those things out-loud.  Either way, if you've never read them, I encourage you to check them out.

16 Years We Weirdly Haven't Gotten to in the Oscar Viewing Project

1. 1934
2. 1940
3. 1952
4. 1965
5. 1968
6. 1973
7. 1977
8. 1980
9. 1981
10. 1987
11. 1988
12. 1989
13. 1991
14. 1998
15. 2001
16. 2005

Most of this is luck of the draw, but I'll prioritize getting reviews out for each of these years starting in December so that we have a completed set in case I missed your birth year (if you were born before the Oscars, we have the Silent Era tag for your perusal)

Top 10 Most Popular Tags

1. Oscar Viewing Project-588
2. Lists-286
3. Senate-193
4. Ranting On...-189
5. Democratic Party-187
5. White House-187
7. Official OVP Ballot-172
8. Republican Party-171
9. House-114
10. 2014-110

It brings me great joy (and a bit of surprise) that the Democrats actually have gotten more articles than the Republicans, but that may just be because I've been writing about the Republicans constantly in the past few months.

Heidi or Claire?

My two favorite senators to reference on the blog, Heidi Heitkamp and Claire McCaskill, have combined appeared in nearly 5% of these articles, but it is Heitkamp who bests McCaskill with mentions 51-43.

My Friends 5 Celebrities Mentions

1. Michael Fassbender-40
2. Prince Harry-32
3. Oscar Isaac-31
4. Michael B. Jordan-30
5. Colin Farrell-15

In the men I crush the hardest on, Michael Fassbender, ahem, comes out on top.

Battle of the Last Five Vice Presidents

1. Joe Biden-103
2. Mike Pence-90
3. Al Gore-86
4. Dick Cheney-26 (I'm surprised that's so low, tbh)
5. Dan Quayle-10 (and I'm surprised this is that high, though admittedly I like my historical footnotes)

Presidential Matchups

2016: Hillary Clinton (295) vs. Donald Trump (200)
2012: Barack Obama (338) vs. Mitt Romney (180)
2004: George W. Bush (92) vs. John Kerry (74)
1996: Bill Clinton (181) vs. Bob Dole (33)
1980: Ronald Reagan (42) vs. Jimmy Carter (18)
1960: John F. Kennedy (60) vs. Richard Nixon (27)
1876: Rutherford B. Hayes (2) vs. Samuel J. Tilden (1) (like real-life, Tilden once again loses by one vote)

5 Ways You Can Support the Blog

1. Comment!!!!!  I love comments, don't get nearly enough, and always comment back (even if it's on an old article)
2. Link my blog on your blog, social media, or however you communicate with people.
3. Follow me on Twitter
4. Read Daily (I write daily, so you should stop by and read daily)
5. Read the Back Catalog-I have 2000 articles and tags all to the side-I'm sure you can find something you haven't read before!

Thanks so much to everyone who reads, shares, & comments, on the blog.  It means a lot, and I love this part of my day/life.  Now, on to 2000 more!

Ranting On...Darren Criss' Silence on Orlando

I am not what you would call a casual fan of Darren Criss.  Frequently through the years I have basically worshiped the guy.  I started doing recaps of Glee just because of him.  I bought tickets to his concert when he finally toured, have his EP on loop on my phone, have his picture on my phone case, and have repeatedly championed him on my blog, including the most successful post I ever wrote.  He is even referenced on the side of my blog and my Twitter...until today.  After what happened in Orlando, I just can't get behind Criss in the same way I used to, I can't champion someone who forgets where his career started so quickly.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, you might not know that there are a number of celebrities who got in hot water after the shootings in Orlando.  In particular, Taylor Swift and Rihanna were lambasted for not taking the time to tweet any sort of sympathy or support for the victims of the Orlando shooting (it should be noted that on Friday Swift broke her silence, likely because she was the celebrity most loathed on Twitter for not speaking up about the shootings).  However, a number of gay fans (particularly gay men) were watching Darren Criss' account and noticed that Criss didn't say a word about the Orlando shootings on either Twitter or Instagram.  It's worth noting that Criss did have time to tweet about the Tony Awards, getting locked out of his house, and do a sponsored post on Instagram, but couldn't bother talking about the attacks in Orlando.

You may be thinking-isn't this a little bit overreacting John?  After all, he's just a celebrity, what could his support or showing up on social media mean to anyone?  Well, in my opinion it could mean a lot.  People look up to celebrities, particularly younger people, to champion different causes that are important to them, and up until this past week Criss had long been a champion of LGBT rights.  His voice was one that gave rise to the Trevor Project gaining more national stature, and his portrayal of Blaine on Glee was a really positive step forward for a number of young people trying to find themselves in media, as so often gay kids are ignored or have little depth when they are shown in major television series.  Criss has made LGBT roles a critical component of his career, playing both Blaine as well as Hedwig on Broadway.  Not voicing support during the largest attack in history on LGBT Americans feels like a miss.

In fact, quite frankly, it feels like he was trying to cash in on his gay fandom only when he had something that he thought was marketable to the LGBT community.  That may sound harsh, but nearly every single celebrity advocate who is famously pro-LGBT (save Swift up-top, whom it should be noted didn't tweet anything for over a month and has been going through a high-profile breakup so I'm cutting her some slack here since her first tweet after the silence was about Orlando) aside from Criss found time to tweet and make their voices heard this week as important conversations about LGBT rights and general unrest in the world of queer people who were clinging to their social media for a sense of community needed strong voices of support.  Stars like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Frank Langella even gave up portions of their Tony Awards speeches to devote comments to the Orlando shootings.  Not tweeting or being part of that conversation, but instead acting like it didn't happen (which is what tweeting only self-promotion and anecdotes does) feels pretty disingenuous to past actions.

After all, the attacks in Orlando have had a profound effect on the LGBT community that will be remembered by us long after the news media has moved on to another story.  I remember Matthew Shepard and his murder being one of the first things on my mind as I deliberated whether to come out of the closet, wondering if that was about to be my fate.  A generation of younger gay people, many of whom look up to Criss for his portrayal of Blaine, were looking to their hero for reassurance and he missed that opportunity.  I am not going to call Criss homophobic as that seems hardly true and a bit bombastic, but I do feel a bit betrayed, like he only used gay people to gain exposure and fame, and once he had that dismissed them for more self-promotion and money.  That's a tough thing to say about someone I admired so much for his talent and ability prior to this past eight days, but it feels like the truth absent some other evidence.  Will I ever go back to being a fan?  Maybe-time heals wounds, and I admired him as an actor/singer as much as I did as simply being a personal fan, but I will admit that I don't think the love will ever be as strong.  It's important to be there when your fans are hurting, and Darren Criss wasn't.  And I don't think that gets forgiven.

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

Sorry for the lighter writing output this week in terms of posts-it was one of those weeks at work where everything in the outside world just sort of fell by the wayside (in a good way-occasionally you need a good week where work comes first).  However, we'll be back to our regular twice-a-day schedule come next week as we finish up the Top 200 Songs countdown and the 2008 OVP, and start up some new projects potentially by Labor Day.  In the meantime, we have a link roundup to get to!

In Entertainment...

-DailyDot had a "preaching to the choir" moment for me earlier this week when they profiled Steve Harvey, perhaps the most obnoxious celebrity we don't instantly associate with obnoxious celebrities.  Seriously-Harvey has to be one of the worst people in entertainment right now, right up there with Donald Trump.  The article talks about how Jonathan Franzen and Wendy Williams both got lambasted by the media for comments they made, while Harvey's comments and actions, which run-the-gamut from having an all-male audience boo women for not giving their husband enough sex to saying gay men aren't "real men" to saying that men are only be friends with women because they want to have sex with them.  Really, Harvey's 1950's-style attitude is probably part of the reason why Donald Trump can get away with some of the things that he's saying-it feels like it's preaching to a similar choir.

-CBCRadio did an interesting take on the potential death of the one-hit wonder in the wake of Carly Rae Jepsen's success on her sophomore album (seriously-the Twitter gays are going bananas for this thing).  I agree with the idea that we are no longer going to have one-hit wonders, particularly in pop music as radio stations have become annoyingly similar and hyper-gentrified.  Even in the Minneapolis market, where something like Cities 97 (somewhat of an institution in the area) has transitioned to essentially being yet another Katy Perry/Imagine Dragons-style station rather than a network where you're consistently finding newer and lesser-known pop music.  All of this is to say that while I like pop music, I tend to get bored of the same ten songs over-and-over and the modern radio game has me just listening to NPR when I am in the car and scoring new songs on YouTube or perusing blogs to get a taste of music.

-With the US Open starting up on Monday, Nike did something awesome in New York, recreating the iconic street tennis match between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.  Both men were there again, along with current tennis stars Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Madison Keys, Maria Sharapova (pictured above), and of course Roger Federer.  Click over for some fun photos from the event, which also managed to get John McEnroe to be the umpire.

In Politics...

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD)

-I know that we discussed this a little earlier in the week, but Al Hunt has a piece out discussing how a Biden-Warren primary ticket would not be without precedent (though it would be without precedent in terms of announcing this early in the process).  While we echoed a lot of the ideas in my piece (hint, read mine if you haven't already!), it's interesting to point out that this concept has been floated around a bit before, and was actually executed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1976 when he chose liberal Sen. Richard Schweiker as his running mate to try and gain points in his close primary race against President Ford.  It's also interesting in hindsight to see Sen. Bob Dole, who had an impressive start to his 1988 presidential campaign, watch his chances at the presidency evaporate by not selecting Gov. Lamar Alexander, a young hotshot at the time, to build momentum headed into New Hampshire.  Dole and Alexander would both pursue the nomination in 1996, with Dole winning it, but they certainly would have had an easier time actually making it to the White House had they been the ticket in 1988.

-There's been a lot of talk this past week about whether or not Carly Fiorina should be included in the debates coming up on CNN, and how she is taking her frustrations out on the RNC rather than exclusively on CNN.  It's an interesting argument, and looking at CNN's rules (where they had a much-longer window than they probably should have considering the 2008 and 2012 GOP primaries and how quickly certain candidates fell), the network should have planned better, but I don't sympathize entirely with Fiorina for a couple of reasons.  One, her team knew long-in-advance that this would be the rule, and should have protested earlier that you need shorter windows for eligibility, and two, Carly Fiorina is not going to be the nominee or see her campaign skyrocket if she is included in the grown-up debate.  Ten people on the debate stage seems too high to me, quite frankly, and I think it should probably be closer to six.  Still, pragmatically looking at recent polls Fiorina should be in the debate over Gov. Chris Christie, who has endured a huge fall in his ability and will likely exit the primaries before a vote is cast and will, in 2018, leave the public stage indefinitely having squandered his star by assuming it would last forever (he was a fool for not reading the tea leaves and going for the nomination in 2012, when he likely could have beaten Mitt Romney-you can claim hindsight is 20/20, but I think we all kind of knew it was an unnecessarily big risk to wait when his window was very much open three years ago).

-Gov. Martin O'Malley came out swinging this past Friday in Minneapolis against the DNC while the subject of his ire, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz looked on in frustration.  O'Malley accused the DNC (never DWS by name, but it was clear she was who he was going after) of rigging the debate schedule to help Hillary Clinton win the nomination, and I could not agree with him more.  I have stated many times that I am supportive of the Clinton nomination (though not yet ready to endorse her), but the debate schedule is a joke.  For starters, DWS and the DNC have done a horrible job in countering the Republicans who are going to have had two debates and a forum before the Democrats even have their first get-together.  As a result, the GOP candidates have been dominating the airwaves and conversation for months, and the Democrats simply look late-to-the-party.  Wasserman Schultz, in my opinion, has been an absolute disaster in the chair with the Democrats losing horribly down-ballot during her tenure and the DNC's fundraising lagging behind its congressional counterparts.  Just add this to the list of why I can't wait for 2016 to get here, and hopefully for DWS to become a Democratic backbencher and not try to make a play at the House leadership.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-A gentle reminder to all of those liberals who say Bernie Sanders is way more progressive than Hillary Clinton.

YouTube Video of the Week...

-My brother emailed this to me saying "isn't this one of your dreams come true?"  And yes, yes it is-Darren Criss and Aaron Tveit dueting with each other (and yes, while Darren is perfect, I must acknowledge that Aaron with his more traditional Broadway-background is the better singer of the pair):

Just One More...

-I have to weigh in on this since it is one of my worst nightmares realized.  I'm sure you already heard about the boy who tripped and punched a fit through a 17th-century Paolo Porpora floral painting worth $1.5 million.  Seriously-I am petrified of doing this to the point where I have thought about wearing slip-on shoes at museums.  I actually attend art and history museums on a regular basis (I'm one of those people who actually visits their local museums when they have new exhibitions and doesn't just talk about it, and will in fact be going to the art museum next weekend in Minneapolis to catch the new Irises painting), but I constantly am shuffling my feet for fear of a shoelace-ruining a Monet or watching my grandma like a hawk since she has this petrifying history of walking backwards when looking at paintings, not realizing there's a statue in the middle of the room.  Anyone else have this fear?

Sleeping Beauty

I just finished a fun but very full weekend of family and festivity, as well as a 4.5 hour drive through a sea of downpours and road construction, so I am exhausted and will resume proper blogging tomorrow.  In the meantime, enjoy a groggy-eyed Darren.

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

I just dropped a bowl and smashed it to smithereens in my kitchen, so I could probably deserve a link (Marmie Hart!).  I'm guessing so could you, so let's get started...

In Entertainment...

-The new Fantastic Four movie appears set to completely tank, with star Miles Teller and director Josh Trank off complaining about the movie already (though I don't see them handing back the gigantic wads of cash they received for making it), Rotten Tomatoes having it in the toilet, and Friday numbers being thoroughly disappointing.  I honestly don't know why studios can't get this franchise right-it's one of the rare Marvel comics that is actually supposed to be dramatic, it has such a cool origin story, and four complicated characters.  This was my favorite comic series growing up, so it disappoints me to no end that they can't figure it out-perhaps it's that they don't understand the actual characters?  Or that they keep hiring actresses of questionable talent to play Sue Storm (or actors who are way to young to play Reed Richards?).  Whatever the reason, this is surely the final nail in the coffin for the series' big-screen opportunities, so I will just have to console myself with a pile of comic books and at least knowing that Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan got in spandex for the films (#silversurferlining).

-My love/hate relationship with Ryan Murphy and American Horror Story continued this week.  On the negative side there's Lady Gaga getting what clearly is the central role, playing a wealthy socialite who has an evil plan, a role that feels written for Jessica Lange, and probably would be better played by her.  I don't mind pop stars who cross over to movies (Cher, for example, proved to be an excellent actor and a great addition to the cinema firmament), but Gaga is too earnest and doesn't have any edge, she's just very good at creating catchy pop-I doubt that will change when she gets into acting.  Yet, I loved Finn Wittrock last season and he apparently is playing a coked-out male model, which seems really up my alley in a way I should probably discuss with a therapist, and now he's announced my beloved Darren Criss will be in the show, which I see pretty much everything he is in...ugh, I can't decide-in the comments share if you're a waning AHS fan and if you're coming back to the Hotel.

-I had never heard of this before, but now desperately want to go.  The 'Mostly Lost' Film Festival took place recently at the Library of Congress' Packard campus, where film fans look through fragments of films that historians and critics haven't been able to deduce who the stars are or what the film is.  The attendees shout out clues in the middle of the film to try to figure out through old databases, magazines, and records what the film is to identify it for the library.  If that doesn't sound like the best date idea anyone has ever had, I don't know what does (if you're trying to woo me, get me tickets to this and I'll go).

In Politics...

-Really has there been a politician who had a bigger week than Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)?  The presumed next Democratic Leader of the Senate started off with a huge moment for the left, kicking off a new push for gun control legislation in the wake of the shootings in Lafeyette, LA.  He even got his famous cousin Amy to help with getting some press for it on Twitter (Ms. Schumer's film Trainwreck was playing at the time of the shooting).  While Democrats were all abuzz about this new push, Schumer sort of derailed his positive press by going against President Obama on the Iran Nuclear Deal. Both sides were livid, as the White house was hoping to have Schumer delay his announcement as the Obama camp is trying to find as many Democrats as possible in the House and Senate to ensure that the GOP cannot override the veto, while Schumer said it was Obama who leaked his vote to the press.  White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest seemed to think this could jeopardize Schumer's position as leader, and while I don't think it will (Schumer is more popular in the caucus than Obama, thanks in large part to the number of freshmen he helped elect like Jon Tester, Claire McCaskill, and Al Franken when he headed the DSCC), but I think it should, quite honestly.  This is a huge moment for the Democrats and it couples Schumer not wanting to press for Obamacare a few years ago-his vision for the party isn't grand enough, particularly considering how ambitious the Right has been on their platform.  Dick Durbin has already announced his support of the deal, and Patty Murray is still on the fence but you have to believe will probably go for it.  Both of them should be reconsidered for the top spot in my playbook after Schumer completely rejected such a crucial part of the Democratic agenda.

-I haven't weighed in on the debates because quite frankly I didn't watch them.  The idea of watching FOX News host a bunch of Republicans hyperboling over themselves seemed like about the worst way to spend an evening that I could think of-throw in Donald Trump and I just couldn't.  I will say, though, reading both transcripts and watching clips from the next day, three things.  One, it does appear that FOX News did have a bit of an agenda to knock Donald Trump down a peg.  I don't usually buy into conspiracy theories and Trump clearly went overboard in the days since with his ridiculousness against Megyn Kelly (perhaps one of the few GOP powerhouses in the country he won't be able to take down), but I do think Roger Ailes told the moderators to give him a rougher go than the other candidates.  Secondly, John Kasich's stance on gay marriage is nothing to applaud.  Yes, he may have been the most moderate voice on the subject on that stage, but really-if the best the GOP can do is "I tolerate them with my whole heart" (bravo Tina Fey), then the party is still pretty damn pathetic on gay rights and this should not be accepted.  Rob Murray, Susan Collins, Ilena Ros-Lehtinen-these can be candidates who can be held up as strong examples of gay allies on the Right-not Kasich.  Lastly, the media has gone all over itself congratulating Carly Fiorina on her great performance, but I looked at this and her answers were all style and there wasn't anything particularly strong in her actual stances or remarkable in them.  This seems a bit ridiculous to me-every CEO of a Fortune 500 company could do what she just did-it doesn't mean that she should be president.  When your track record is only that you tanked at Hewlett-Packard and that you bombed in your Senate race (in 2010, no less!), you shouldn't be considered for a White House nomination, period.

-Moody's has accurately predicted every presidential election since 1980, and it came out that they are predicting that the Democrats will win, but only by two electoral college points.  While I do agree this is going to be a nailbiter, and I do think that the Democrats have the slightest of edges still (based on President Obama's popularity, the advantages they have in the Electoral College, and the uncertainty surrounding the GOP's eventual nominee), I do quibble on which states are the "most at risk to switch" list.  I'll buy that Ohio and Florida could both go GOP, but there's no way in hell that Nevada is more at risk than Iowa for the Democrats to lose, or that Minnesota is more likely to switch than Wisconsin or even Michigan.  Plus, New Mexico has consistently been blue in almost every election except governor, which is likely to go Dem in 2020, so again it shouldn't be ahead of Wisconsin, which nearly went for Bush in 2004 and with Scott Walker potentially on the ticket.  Still, good news for the Democrats nonetheless.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-The famed Jon Groff/Sutton Foster stage door photo is everything I always dreamed it would be.


YouTube Video of the Week...

-My single favorite recurring series on YouTube is back: Auguest!  Tyler Oakley's month-long series of collabs started out with the most perfect of guests, Ms. Grace Helbig (see the video below) and has continued with Zoe, Tanya, Joey, Ingrid, and Jenna.  Can't want for next week (and hopefully Marcus & Mamrie!), and am seriously hoping considering the amount of shade that Tyler is getting from Pewdiepie that they end up teaming up (weirdly Tyler hasn't commented yet on Twitter about the videos):

Just One More...

-My new obsession (NASA photos) came out with a doozy this past week, with a random 6000 meter pyramid that is randomly on the side of Ceres.  This is odd principally because it's the only mountain of its kind on Ceres, a dwarf planet between Mars and Jupiter, and there's no early explanation as to why it exists.  Stay tuned...

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

Happy Saturday dear readers!  I am feeling calm after a week that kind of just flew by and so there's a lot to catch-up on in the links.  Let's see what we have...

On Entertainment...

-I am following suit with the Huffington Post's ultimate shade-throw to Donald Trump this past week, putting his stories in Entertainment rather than in politics considering he has become more of a sideshow in the political arena that is taking away from the more serious discussion of whom should be the Republican nominee.  Trump, who has the tact of a four-year-old, lambasted them in the same week he also lambasted John McCain after the Arizona senator and former Republican nominee for president (a title Trump will never have) said that Trump had "fired up the crazies."  I maintain that the person who is most excited about this entry continues to be Jeb Bush, who is now in a Trump v. Bush battle, one he is sure to win, while Trump sucks the oxygen out of the air for the likes of Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, and Ted Cruz.

-In extremely exciting Broadway news this week, Tony Winner Jane Krakowski (who just scored an Emmy nomination for her hilarious work on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), will return to the boards for the first time in a decade next Spring, playing Ilona in She Loves Me.  Krakowski is an amazing singer and I am planning my first trip to NYC in three years in the Spring (cash-willing), so this will be toward the top of my "To See" list.  It's worth noting that Krakowski's role won Sally Mayes a Tony nomination in the 1994 revival of the show, so she might have a Tony chaser to go with her recent Emmy citation.

-In the wake of the recent Gawker outing of a Conde Nast exec and the subsequent uproar that followed, the Daily Beast did a piece about Gawker's obsession with James Franco's sexuality.  They focus in particular on Richard Lawson's inflammatory blind-item a few years back basically accusing Franco of being a rapist (Richard Lawson, who is arguably one of the smuggest people on Twitter, tries to back pedal this but his comments about Connor Franta in recent years make me think he has learned absolutely nothing about journalism and outing and just in general he seems to be a jackass).  The article is interesting because of the way that Franco has had to put his sexuality in the forefront of most interviews as a result since, and of course begs the question of the Frank Rule, since few actors have been as openly supportive of the LGBT cause as Franco, so if he does have relationships with men, then outing him is basically calling the Frank Rule crap, which I am not supportive of in the least.

-Oscar-winning writer Barry Morrow will make his directorial debut this upcoming year with a fantasy romance with the man who highlights all of my romantic fantasies (see what I did there?), Darren Criss!  That's right ladies and gents-after becoming the breakout star of Glee, a Broadway headliner (twice), and delaying his first full album for years (and counting...), Darren Criss is finally going to get the lead in a movie, and I couldn't be happier.  This comes on the wings of perhaps the biggest headline I missed out of this past week's Emmys: Darren Criss got nominated!!!!  He's competing against Amy Schumer's boy band parody and a pair of songs from the duo who brought you "Let it Go" (this is part of what Kathy Griffin would have called the Schmemmys), but it's still a real, true nomination.  Congrats my love!

On Politics...

-This is probably the most frightening thing I've ever read, but it's still something we should all investigate.  Yes, I'm talking about the Esquire article from this past week about the loss of glaciers in the Arctic, the damning situation of climate change, but in particular the way that the Right and the conservative nutjobs (sorry, look at the title of this blog and know what's coming) who have decided that their peace of mind and comfort in "everything will be okay" baloney is more important than saving the damn planet are targeting climate scientists and turning them into pariahs.  This is the equivalent to what happened to Galileo all of those centuries ago, and proof that people would rather destroy the truth than work hard to change it.  It's also fascinating how the climate scientists are starting to explore bug-out scenarios, buying property in Canada and Greenland.  If you skip every other article in this link roundup (and why would you do that when I worked so hard?), at least read this one.

-One of the more intriguing stories I read this week was regarding Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) who has decided that he will not be donating to the NRCC because they support gay candidates.  Now his logic is rife with eyebrow raises (he's donated to openly gay candidates in the past), but it does bring up an issue for the GOP that continues to rage-what do you do when you're base still doesn't support gay marriage and gay rights, but the overwhelming populace does?  It's been illustrated before that 2016 could be a weird reverse of 2004, when Republicans used gay marriage as a wedge issue to tear down John Kerry.  It's hard to imagine that, particularly with firebrands like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in the mix, that the eventual Republican nominee won't have to take a stand against gay marriage, ENDA, and gay adoption.

-Have you been following the presidential selfie girls?  I'm actually wishing that selfies had been a thing when I was their age as I would have been driving down to Iowa in 2004 to get pictures with Joe Lieberman, Wesley Clark, and Carol Moseley-Braun (remember the crew of contenders that ran in 2004?).  Emily and Addy are doing a summer project to get a presidential selfie with every presidential candidate (they live in New Hampshire), and so far they have landed fifteen, including most-recently Donald Trump.  One of the few candidates that seems to be missing is arguably the one that they plan on supporting, so Hillary it's time to step up to the plate here...

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-Okay, normally this is a shameless plug for you to follow me on Twitter or Tumblr (also, why aren't you following me on Twitter or Tumblr, I'm a delight!).  But I actually wanted to link to an old article that I updated.  On occasion when I'm narcissistically reading some of my old articles, I make corrections (usually to the typing-I move 100 wpm people, sometimes tihngs egt mised), but this article I actually realized that I missed two people in a trivia article, so I updated it, so if you want all-new original content that you weren't expecting, here it is!!!

YouTube Video of the Week...

-No huge videos this week, but we got our first Mametown in two months, and that's always a joy.  Particularly since the idea of Mamrie Hart doing the TMI Question is bliss:

Just One More...

-It's rare lately that I have any sort of news that genuinely excites me, but am I the only person who has been obsessed with all of the photos coming out of Pluto?  Honestly, this is one of my favorite stories of the year and a real accomplishment for the US (we are now the first country in the world to send probes to every planet in the solar system...and yes, Neil Degrasse Tyson, I think Pluto is a planet).  Click over to this NASA site to see all of the latest and here for ten great facts about the mission you can bring up at your next intellectual roundtable, including that there are still more space photos to come (my hope is that Eris is next).

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

Yesterday's post got a lot more personal than I anticipated, but occasionally you need to let something out into the universe and hope someone listens.  However, we'll be back to slightly lighter fare today (or at least heavier fare served up by someone else with a link roundup of different stories from around the internet that I found fascinating).  Let's begin!

On Entertainment...

-The Atlantic has one of this week's two major "must read" think pieces, this one about the state of the American actor which I found absolutely mesmerizing (you'll find with my links that I tend to favor longer thought pieces, so if this intimidates you, bookmark it and read them on the bus!) which shines a light on the weird sort of phenomenon with the decline of the American actor.  It's an interesting look at the state of the American actor as a serious thespian, and how so many American parts are now played by European actors (this was particularly noteworthy to me while watching the press tour for Terminator: Genisys and noting that Emilia Clarke, whom I adore, is having her first big-screen moment in a quintessentially American franchise, a role made iconic by American actress Linda Hamilton).  I do think there are American actors to be excited about right now (both Channing Tatum and Jake Gyllenhaal, arguably my two favorites at the moment, are name-checked amongst them), but he has a definite point that the superhero culture has created a sea of Chris's that seem more like performers stuck in uninspired work than a new breed of de Niros and Brandos.

-The other must-read article of the week is from the LA Times, which looks at the troubling 1% problem plaguing the US Box Office.  In it Steven Zeitchek points out that all of the radically large Box Office receipts of the year (the Inside Outs, the Jurassic Worlds, the Cinderellas) are not having a trickle-down effect to mid-range titles, which are seeing only a slight growth.  That people are watching less movies each year is not a new reality, but it is a frightening one for fans of good movies and for those who want diversity on their big-screen.

-Darren Criss, who is about to finish up his Broadway run as Hedwig, apologized for comments he made regarding Caitlyn Jenner this past week while on-stage.  I'm going to be honest here, though, and say this was entirely unnecessary.  If it had been Criss himself who had said the comments, yes, I get it, but he was in character as Hedwig, and quite frankly it was very much in-line with something the character would say in the performance and was actually pretty clever.  As a result, while I don't always attack the PC police, I'm saying this was one too far and they probably should have just let it be.

On Politics...

-My beloved favorite Senator Claire McCaskill was out stumping for Hillary Clinton this past week, pointing out that the media has been pretty darn soft on Bernie Sanders, and I have to say I agree.  I make no qualms about my support for Hillary Clinton (though, admittedly I really like Joe Biden and if he were in a horse race by the time the primaries were in Minnesota I would have a tough decision to make), but even someone who is supporting Sanders has to see that he is not being treated like a "serious candidate."  All of the questions about Clinton's age (Sanders is older than both she and Biden) and his position as a Socialist are things that a lot of more moderate Democrats are going to raise their eyebrows about, and you don't see that across the coverage quite yet.

-One of the untold stories about ISIS's occupation in Syria has been the iconoclasm that has been taking place in the country.  The terrorist group has been attacking different cultural landmarks, including potentially the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palmyra, which is deeply disturbing on multiple levels, not least of which is this region of the world's position as one of the first civilizations, meaning that some of these shrines, statues, and cities have been around for over 2000 years.  As an art lover myself, this is heartbreaking to watch beautiful sculpture and architecture that has survived millennia destroyed by such a hateful group.

-I find it fascinating, considering the shroud of secrecy that covers the court, how the little feuds of the Supreme Court seem to be spilling out this week, fueling speculation about frustration from Justices Scalia and Alito in particular.  While I tend to agree with former Rep. Anthony Weiner (though I wouldn't do it with such unfortunate language for a former congressman) that the Court is only liberal a minute amount of time while otherwise it has had a conservative slant (let us not forget Hobby Lobby), it is interesting to see the strange legacies set out by the Roberts Court considering that the majority of these justices were appointed by Republican presidents.

-Can someone fix that pesky 22nd Amendment and let Obama run for a third term?  Because I want a president who is going to put the rainbow colors across the White House to stay in office.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-Finn Jones, I'm ready when you are.

YouTube Video of the Week...

-This week's YouTube videos were all, I'm going to say it right now, pretty uninspired and WAY too product placement-y and self-promotion-y for my taste.  When Smosh and Mamrie Hart can't even muster particularly compelling videos, you're in trouble.  So instead I'm going with an old clip that I have been playing on loop for some reason, the "And I Am Telling You" scene from Dreamgirls, mostly just to keep hearing the line "Curtis was supposed to love me!" over and over again.  I have no reason why this is in my head this week, but here's Jennifer Hudson winning her Oscar:

Just One More...

-I couldn't be happier with President Obama this past week if I tried (well, climate change is there for next week sir, but I'll give you a break for the weekend), and I would be remiss if I didn't include a link to his amazing and unexpected version of "Amazing Grace," which left me in tears.  I'm so glad I voted for him twice.

OVP: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Film: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014)
Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz, Darren Criss, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Lucy Liu, George Segal
Director: Isao Takahata
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Animated Feature Film)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Animated films do not always have to be for children.  It's something that I think Disney has so ingrained in our heads that we feel weird when a movie like Waltz with Bashir or Waking Life comes along and shows us another realm of possibilities-it's a format, after all, and not a genre.  The same can be said, however, for fairy tales, as Princess Kaguya sets out to prove.  The film, while seemingly fit for children (it has a miniature princess from the moon, which screams Disney marketing team), is very much a movie for adults.  Adapted from a folk tale, the movie works at a deliberate (occasionally excruciatingly so) pace in hopes of attracting an adult audience for the work.  It's an interesting failure in this regard, therefore, but definitely one that if you wish that you'd get a fairy tale for grownups (and not just preteens flocking to Maleficent) then this is for you.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about a bamboo cutter and his wife who raise a child they find growing out of a bamboo shoot.  The little girl, whom they call Princess but whom the local boys call Little Bamboo, grows quickly and soon reaches adolescence and then adulthood.  After the bamboo cutter finds gold and silk growing out of another bamboo shoot, he assumes that his Princess should go to the capital and she should be treated as a proper princess.  As she has become friends with the boys and likes her simple life, she initially resists, but feels that she must respect her father's wishes.

In the capital we get an extremely long sequence where she receives her name (Kaguya) and goes through princess-training, which she fails miserably at being that she's a tomboy, but she eventually grows wise (somehow-not really sure where that came from as it's an unexpected and really convenient plot-twist) and is pursued by every rich man in the land.  These men spend another very long sequence fighting over her, after they are instructed by Kaguya to do an impossible task.  They eventually end up in squalor and ruin as a result of this, which plays in the film like it's something karmically that they did, but I interpreted it as Kaguya being unnecessarily cruel.  This is actually a vein that runs through the film, so the ending shouldn't have been too much of a surprise.  Kaguya ends up going back to the moon against her wishes, with the bamboo cutter and his wife left distraught (weirdly for a film that was already pretty long was the fact that they cut the ending of the folktale, where the Emperor burns a letter that Kaguya had left and places it at the top of Mount Fuji).

The film is a conundrum for me.  I will admit up-front that I didn't really care for it.  It was too slow-moving at times, and most of the story beats were pretty predictable and not really well-executed.  The scenes with the suitors I think were supposed to be interesting in the way that they sort of just abandoned their lives for this woman they've never seen, but after a suitor or two you just wanted to fast forward to figure out what happened next.  It seems crass and a little bit boorish to say such a thing, but it's the truth-I wish the editors had seen that they were being too deliberate.  I also have to say that the animation, while lovely and all that, wasn't really striking in an amazing way.  We've seen this style of animation before multiple times and in my opinion it pales in comparison to something like Song of the Sea which has a far more compelling color palette.

That being said, there were moments that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I loved the ending in theory, even if it doesn't make sense in practice.  The best scene in my opinion was the scene where Kaguya's childhood friend Sutemaru (Darren Criss y'all!) has a dalliance and flies around the sky with her, willing to abandon his life and spend it with her.  The only problem here, and one of those instances where the film is clearly meant for adults because explaining this to a child would be too complicated, is that he's married and has a child.  The fact that the film shows him totally willing to abandon his wife and child to pursue a beautiful woman is fascinating from an animated context, and it sort of puts a new perspective on, say, Ariel leaving her family in The Little Mermaid and other movies where a woman gets scorned or leaves everything for a happily ever after.

All-in-all, though, I wasn't wowed here.  The animation is nice but doesn't make up for a long story that could have been a half hour shorter and gotten the same message across.  This is a minority opinion, however (the film generally got raves)-do you agree with me or are you with the rest of the critics?  Share your thoughts below!

Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

Anyone else just have a ridiculously long week?  I sure did-that took forever to get done!  Let's take a look at some of the stories we haven't discussed yet on the blog that have been making headlines!

On Entertainment...

-It's of course Avengers weekend (I won't be reviewing this weekend-I'm saving my watch of the film for a Mother's Day present so I will be behind the collective internet on this one), and as a result everyone's ranking the Marvel movies, including IndieWire.  I will fully admit that I haven't loved all of the movies in the series, but they got the top film right of the ones I have seen (still haven't caught Thor 2 and obviously Avengers 2).

-Oscar winner Morgan Freeman gained a lot of headlines this past week for his comment "F&#^ the media" in regard to the protests in Baltimore.  While I don't condone violence, I do kind of see his point.  The media wasn't remotely covering this story in nearly as much depth when it was simply Freddie Gray's death, but they sure as hell do when a CVS is on fire.  Every time I watch this sort of media coverage, I am reminded of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and the reaction its ending (I won't spoil it, but you must see this movie if you haven't) got from white versus black audiences.

-Darren Criss broke the internet with his saucy photos from the Hedwig premiere, where he spends a good deal rocking glam makeup and sporting not much more than a black speedo.  If you didn't already know this, however, you should probably be following my Tumblr, which has devolved from random photos of my life to random men I find attractive, admittedly, but you get some substance on the blog and some fluffiness at the Tumblr-it seems only appropriate to have balance in life.

-Michelle Pfeiffer may or may not be in the next American Horror Story-I can't really tell.  While Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, and Lady Gaga all got huge headlines when they were announced for the cast, it seems like Pfeiffer's announcement has been shoveled under the rug.  I don't know if this is because she'll just be in one episode or because it hasn't been substantiated.  Either way, you'd think that a 3-time Oscar nominee who was one of the biggest actresses of the 1990's would get more of a media scurry for a return to television, especially if this is a regular role of some sort.

On Politics...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

-This past week saw Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) enter the Democratic primary for president, giving Sec. Hillary Clinton her first reputable challenger for the nomination (what?, I've seen his hair, but he is a two-term U.S. senator).  Honestly-my biggest problem with Sanders might be the fact that he's still an independent.  I get that the country has a supposed anathema to the two-party system and Bernie running as a third party candidate would be probably the worst thing in the world for the Democrats, but shouldn't he suck-it-up and become a proper Democrat if he wants our nomination?  Other than that, this is nothing but good news for Hillary, who probably avoids Elizabeth Warren (who might actually beat her), but ensures that Democratic issues and her race continue to make headlines.  This is why she tweeted Sanders earlier this week, which you can bet she wouldn't have been so cordial if Warren had gotten into the race.

-Gov. Chris Christie's year just continues to get worse and worse.  The New Jersey governor whom I feel is going to turn down a presidential bid any day now had a former official at port authority (David Wildstein) plead guilty to conspiracy in the Fort Lee lane closure and had two aides (Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni) get indicted on nine counts.  Perhaps most fascinating is that Wildstein's lawyer said that Christie knew about the lane closures and he has evidence of such.  While this isn't proof, if it is Christie would probably have to resign at this point considering the depths of scandal he's put himself in as a result of saying he had no knowledge of what occurred.  Either way, I cannot see a fathomable way he recovers from this and his severely weakened stance in the presidential race-it's pretty obvious that Rubio, Walker, and Bush have all moved on from him and are going after each other.

-The Daily Mail takes a look at why the new Princess of Cambridge (it's a girl!!!!) is going to be Prince George's best friend.  The new young "spare heir" will be getting her own post in the next couple of days, as soon as the family announces the name, but I figured I would share this link in the meantime as I have royal fever!

-If you're into statistics and rankings, this link may just eat up your weekend-it's a mathematical look at which states are "the best."  My native Minnesota usually does well in these contests, and this is definitely true here (Mississippi, not so much).

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-Scott Hoying and I are going to be very happy together.

YouTube Video of the Week...

-Shane Dawson meeting his queen Hilary Duff is wonderful-I love his epic ramble after meeting her:

Just One More...

-I get that they end the article with some pragmatic solutions to solve this problem and that promoting a healthier lifestyle is always a good thing, but seriously CNN?  "Sitting is the new smoking?"  This is why Jon Stewart constantly mocks you.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I'm not going to lie, today starts a pretty rough week for me personally and posting will be a bit sporadic, so I thought it would make sense to cheer myself (and hopefully you) up by sharing a few of my favorite things.  In completely random order and totally off the top of my head...

Share your favorite things in the comments!

Where's John At?!?

Sorry for the random disappearance over the past two days!  I have been sleeping (much like Darren below), as well as watching a couple of movies and doing some introspection (it is, after all, the new year and I always think it's a good idea to take advantage of that and figure out what's working and not working in your life).  However, one of the things that IS working is blogging daily, and we'll be back to that tomorrow afternoon/evening.  January should be jam-packed with reviews, finishing up the TV write-ups I started eons ago, continued check-ins with the Oscars, likely some politics (the Republicans are in charge now people, you know I'm going to have some opinions!), and even a surprise new series about an entertainment topic we don't broach much on this site, so stay-tuned!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that whether you're enjoying today with friends, family, or this is just a day off from work that you have a wonderful day.  For me, all I want for Christmas is peace, love, and maybe this fella:

1000 POSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, after several years of writing, I have officially hit 1000 posts on the blog.  I cannot even describe to you how exciting this is for me.  When I restarted this blog two years ago, I couldn't have imagined that it would soon become a daily blog, one that has received over 100,000 visits, and where we have meticulously chronicled five years worth of Oscar races, read through hundreds of film reviews, parceled through everything from the Midterm elections to what the royal baby should be named to my dating life.  We've commented on topics of the day, dissected through movies, television, and politics, and yes, even ranted a bit.  For those of you who have made this blog a part of your daily routines, I cannot thank you enough-we'll be getting back to our regularly scheduled blogging this afternoon, but until then, Darren and I are both glad you came!

Celebrity Intervention

It’s been a long time since we’ve done a new recurring feature on the blog, and some of the recurring features I’m behind on (cough favorite TV shows cough), so I’m not quite ready to say this is going to be a recurring feature just yet, but I thought it would be fun to take six completely random actors who are not having the careers I think they should/could (or Hollywood isn’t giving them the careers they deserve-it cuts both ways, people), and give some unsolicited, friendly advice.  Each column we’ll pick three women and three men and for the moment I’ll resist themes with this work.  If you have other celebrities you’d like to see me give advice to, share in the comments.  For now, we have…

Rebel Wilson

What’s Working: Rebel Wilson came to all of our attentions with her hilariously infected tattoo in Bridesmaids, and has since become a favorite of most American cinematic audiences.  She’s appeared in Bachelorette and most notably as Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect.  She’s managed to transcend her newfound fame into hosting gigs for MTV, and for the most part is riding her fame relatively well.

What’s Not Working: I have never quite gotten what Wilson was trying to do with Super Fun Night.  Very few movie stars go straight from major fame in a film like Bridesmaids or Pitch Perfect and then do network television.  Even someone like Melissa McCarthy (clearly the biggest star on primetime broadcast television right now) was on her show before her fame hit its new peak, so she’s in a George Clooney/Jennifer Aniston sort of situation.  Wilson chose to go there, and with failed results-a cancelled television show has put a sheen on her bright future.

What She Needs to Do: Forget about television.  At best you should have done a sort of semi-documentary style HBO show about a comedian or something (something Ricky Gervais would have greenlit).  You are better off in film growing your comic brand.  Also, try to find some variety in your roles-don’t just do supporting or you will be typecast.  You’ve got some bankability, particularly with Pitch Perfect 2 set to be a big hit-utilize it.  Signing up for Private Benjamin was a great start (speaking of which-Melissa McCarthy would be a strong choice to play your Captain Lewis).

Darren Criss

What’s Working: Lea Michele may have been the initial star of the series, but once Blaine Anderson showed up in his adorkable blue uniform there was no denying the show had shifted over to being the Darren Criss Hour.  Criss is talented, bright, and has a legion of deeply devoted fans.  His brief stint on Broadway and sold-out concert tour have shown that he has the followers to cross mediums.

What’s Not Working: Glee’s over both in a pop culture sense and soon in a literal sense, and Criss hasn’t really utilized his fame to go into different mediums (to be fair, with the exception of Jane Lynch and to a very lesser extent Chris Colfer, none of these actors have).  Criss has only made one film outside of Blaine, and hasn’t even made a full-length album.  These windows of fame don’t last forever.

What He Needs to Do: I mean this in the nicest way possible, but the guy needs better work ethic and follow-through.  He should be doing a film every break on Glee-not just one.  I admire his willingness to stay involved in a number of charities and with this StarKids venture, but as a fan, I’m also objective enough to know that he should have more movies out by now.  I don’t fault him for the failure of Girl Most Likely (turning down a Kristen Wiig/Annette Bening project is a foolish thing to do), but he needs to start signing up for more film roles and for the love of pizza, finish that album and release it.  You’ve lost all of the momentum from your concert tour (it should have been done before then to improve sales)-at least get it done before Glee is out the door.

Michelle Pfeiffer

What’s Working: An icon of 1990’s cinema, she’s a three-time Oscar nominee and a celebrated beauty.  She’s proven in cinema that she has what it takes both to sell prestige (Dangerous Liaisons, White Oleander) and blockbusters (Batman Returns, Hairspray).

What’s Not Working: Seriously-what is up with her acting choices lately?  For an actress that once seemed certain to win an Oscar someday she has made just awful movies now for years.  Dark Shadows?  The Family?  New Year’s Eve?!?  I get that you may want to work with people you like, but can’t you also pick decent scripts while you’re at it?

What She Needs to Do: First-resist the urge to do a Ryan Murphy show (you know that the follow-up actress to Jessica Lange is not going to get the career boost that she got, and you shouldn’t play second fiddle), and instead get back to making a few films, risky films.  Get in talks with people like Todd Haynes or Quentin Tarantino and see if there isn’t a plum role out there for you.  And get to working-Meryl takes a role almost every year, and while not all of them are winners, her willingness and continued familiarity with filmgoers helps when a Devil Wears Prada comes along.

Taylor Kitsch

What’s Working: Taking on The Normal Heart was a smart decision and umm, you’re still dead sexy.

What’s Not Working: It’s really hard to headline a major blockbuster and have it bomb.  It’s harder still when every film you touch seems to go up in flames: John Carter and Battleship are two of the highest-profile flops to hit Hollywood in the past decade, and you happen to have been associated with both.  This isn’t an easy badge to bear, particularly because even when you’re a major player in a hit (Lone Survivor), you don’t get any of the credit.

What He Needs to Do: Return to television, first and foremost.  The True Detective rumors are a great start.  This will remind people why they liked you in the first place: you’re a sensitive, beautiful guy who can act.  Meanwhile, try to avoid the blockbusters for a while and instead go the indie route.  You’ve already “played gay” in Normal Heart, which is a pity because that would have been better for an Indy, but there’s a bohemian road film with your name on it out there.  Carpe diem.

Kaley Cuoco

What’s Working: She is the star of the biggest sitcom on television, and rumor has it she makes over $300k an episode for The Big Bang Theory (and that number could well be half a million).  Plus with her beauty and youth, she’s the best shot the show has at a major crossover actress.

What’s Not Working: She doesn’t seem to be working at crossing over.  I get that $500k a week is hardly something to sneeze at and she’d be a fool to leave the show right now, but Penny cannot last forever.  Her film career is almost non-existent (Jim Parsons, who has a much more limited appeal outside of Sheldon, has done far more with his fame from the series).  When the most significant role of your film career is playing James Marsden’s sister in a Russell Brand movie no one remembers, you need to fix that.

What She Needs to Do: Honestly, this one’s a bit more on Hollywood, but this girl was made to be a romantic comedy star.  She’s funny, charming, gorgeous, and insanely likable-where are the While You Were Sleepings and Sleepless in Seattles for her?  I think she could quite easily be the most underutilized star in Hollywood right now, and some extremely smart producer looking for a cheaper alternative to Emma Stone should find their way to her before the sheen from Big Bang starts to wear off.

Gary Oldman

What’s Working: He’s one of the greatest actors of his generation, and recently finally got that Oscar nomination we’ve all been complaining about him not having.

What’s Not Working: I get that we all want a lake home and a Lexus, but why is it that Gary Oldman keeps taking thankless roles in dumpster bin Hollywood blockbusters (note, I haven’t seen Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but I hear it’s pretty good so I’m not including that yet).  Paranoia, Lawless, and RoboCop are not the sorts of films that he should be making right now (at least they’re not the only sorts of films that he should be making right now).

What He Needs to Do: Be a little less Johnny Depp (taking a career renaissance and making gazillions of dollars off his newfound respect) and a little more Colin Firth.  The iron is still hot enough that if he found his King’s Speech people would head his way.  Oldman should heed this warning: we all saw what happened to Mickey Rourke after The Wrestler…

And those are my pieces of celebrity advice for this week.  Do you like this column?  Do you want more of it?  And if so, what other actors should I advise?  Share in the comments!