Birthday Boy: Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling turns 35 this year and I feel like it's been forever since I've seen him in a movie and in fact his last film I've seen was the critically-panned Only God Forgives two years ago and I didn't even see it in theaters! The last film of his I saw in theaters was The Place Beyond the Pines which was back in 2012! Let's all fondly remember The Year of Gosling (aka 2011) with the trio of Drive, Ides of March, and Crazy Stupid Love. Good times.

At least the Gosling Comeback is in full overdrive next year. The most exciting project of his for me is the musical he's doing with Emma Stone directed by Whiplash's Damien Chzelle, La La Land. He'll also appear in a Terence Malick film and another film where he'll star opposite Matt Bomer (and Russell Crowe, whatever). Plus he's apparently still working on that new Blade Runner film which... sure, okay. I don't care just give me films starring Ryan Gosling in my eyeballs now. Happy birthday!

(Photos by Nikos Aliagas)

Birthday Girl: Kate Winslet

Just a few days ago, I saw Kate Winslet being absolutely wasted on Insurgent and it made me long to see her in great films again. Thankfully I don't have to wait long as she's currently making the publicity rounds, most recently at the New York Film Festival, for her role in Steve Jobs which many believe might be the film to get her back to Oscars' good graces. Not as if she needs it since she's still one of the best in the industry and certainly one of my favorites.

Today is actually Kate's 40th birthday and apart from Steve Jobs, I'm glad she has a couple of other films coming out. The photo above is from The Dressmaker which looks absolutely fun and gorgeous. It had its world premiere last month at the Toronto Film Festival but no word yet on when it'll be released to the general public here in America. Then there's Triple 9 which looks so outside the box to Kate's usual films that I'm probably more excited about it than the two films I've already mentioned (only slightly though). But just look at her...

These are low quality stills from the recently released trailer. And all I can say is... yes, please... more, please... give it to me now! Anyways, happy birthday Kate!

Birthday Boy: Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio celebrates his 40th birthday today. And even though he's been a bunch of movies for which he has garnered lots prizes and Academy Award nominations, he will ALWAYS be Jack Dawson to me. He can cover himself up in presidential old-age make-up, make-up a fake identity or two or three, and have a lot of dead wives... but he'll still be that fresh-faced artist from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin who saved a girl in every way a person could've been saved. So basically, happy birthday Leo and oh, draw me like one of your French girls.

Happy September 22nd!

Apparently today is a big pop culture day. It's the 20th anniversary of Friends, the 10th anniversaries of Lost and Veronica Mars, and it's the birthdays of Rose Tyler, Draco Malfoy, and Sarah Manning (and Alison Hendrix, Cosima Niehaus, Helena)... well the actors who play them. So...

HAPPY 20TH FRIENDS!

I would never say that this is the greatest sitcom of all time, but due to its cultural reach, especially to my generation, it's definitely one of the most popular show even two decades remove from its debut. I'm pretty sure an episode of Friends is airing right now somewhere. I still watch re-runs on Nick at Nite whenever I can and recently aced a supposedly super difficult trivia quiz on it. Its series finale is one of my absolute favorites. Though I have yet to visit Central Perk so that's on my to-do list. Now go sing Smelly Cat or tweak your nubbin to celebrate the day.

HAPPY 10TH LOST!

Even though I've seen every episode of Lost and have love/obsessed over this show (and its cast) all the way to the end, it's pretty funny that I actually didn't start watching the show until the third episode had already aired. Couldn't commit to the 2-hour pilot (incidentally one of my favorite pilots ever) and yet once I did see it, I was all in for the 121 episode journey of madness and brilliance. Too bad there really hasn't been a true replacement for it on network TV.

HAPPY 10TH VERONICA MARS!

I mistweeted earlier today saying I saw the pilot of Veronica Mars when it aired, but I just realize that I had disowned UPN (whoa old school!) after Buffy ended so I didn't get to see the show until a friend burned DVDs of the first season to me a year or so later. Of course, I didn't get to finish watching the first season until THIS YEAR with my roommate pushing me to do just that and watch the entire series so we could see the movie which came out in March.

BIRTHDAYS! BIRTHDAYS! BIRTHDAYS

Billie Piper, who turns 32 today, was the first companion of the rebooted Doctor Who and thus was a lot of people's entry to the now 50-year old sci-fi institution (she was part of the celebration last year). I had no previous history with her and didn't even know she was a pop singer, but she was fantastic both with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. All New Who companions are still compared to her. Currently she's starring in Penny Dreadful which I haven't seen, but I thought she was excellent in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Turning 29 today, Tatiana Maslany's star continues to rise as the lead of Orphan Black winning two Critics Choice Awards and being nominated for a Golden Globe for playing half a dozen or so characters on the small BBC America show. That show is her breakout role as she mostly appeared on Canadian productions prior to that. She memorably appeared in a couple of episodes of Parks and Recreation last year. Hope she gets more opportunities!

Finally, Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy of the Harry Potter films is 27 today and he seems to have been typecast in these villainy type roles the past few years such as his roles in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and this year's Belle. He stars in TNT's Murder in the First and has a few films lined up where he hopefully plays not the bad guy.

Birthday Boy: Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul celebrates his 35th birthday today. Just a couple days ago, he picked up his third Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series making him the youngest and only actor to win the award three times. He won it for playing one of the best characters in TV, Jesse Pinkman, who went from meth-head punk to sympathetic hero in the course of Breaking Bad's run. His character to many, including myself, became the heart of Breaking Bad especially towards the show's end and he and the show will be missed. I still remember that Labor Day weekend four years ago when I started watching the show and noticed Paul's talents.

Of course, I had seen Paul prior to his Breaking Bad stint most memorably in Big Love playing the love interest of Amanda Seyfried's character. He was also pretty good in Smashed alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead. He also appeared in bit parts on a few TV shows and movies such as Veronica Mars, Joan of Arcadia, Mission: Impossible III, Get Real, and a whole bunch more. As for what his future entails, he starred in Need for Speed earlier this year and will be in Exodus: Gods and Kings. neither of those projects excite me. Instead, I look forward to next year for Fathers and Daughters which reunites him with Seyfried and John Hillcoat's Triple Nine which has an enviable ensemble (Winslet, Reedus, Harrelson, Affleck, Mackie, Ejiofor).

But really whatever he does now, he'll always be Jesse Pinkman and everyone will always want him to call them bitch. I know that's my dream.

Birthday Boy: Roger Federer

Roger Federer celebrated his birthday today as he spent most of his tennis career, winning. He beat David Ferrer in Toronto to book his spot in the semifinals (his 8th SF or better result in 11 matches this year). He's actually the only top 4 seed through and the only member of the Big Four still around. Not bad for someone who just turned 33 years old.

Relative to his tough 2013, 2014 has been practically rosy. He's already won two titles and reached the finals of 3 big tournaments including Wimbledon where he lost to Djokovic in five sets. He's solidly ranked number 3 behind Djokovic and Nadal and still one of the most beloved players on tour. Oh yeah and he became a father of four earlier this summer when his wife delivered a set of twin boys to go with their twin girls from a couple years ago.

Happy Birthday Roger!

Birthday Boy: Joss Whedon

Happy 50th Birthday Joss Whedon! I know it's All Marvel All The Time now, but he'll always be the creator/director of my favorite show ever. Nothing will ever change that.

Birthday Girl: Meryl Streep

Today is the great Meryl Streep's 65th birthday. Since her 60th birthday, she has done five live-action films garnering her three more Academy Award nominations (for a record-extending 18 total) and winning her third Academy Award for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Though is it weird that my favorite performance she's given the past five years might be her Mrs. Fox in Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox?

In any case, Streep is NOT slowing down with four films coming out just this year including Into the Woods due out this holiday season, her first musical since 2008's global blockbuster Mamma Mia! What will the next five years bring? Probably more awards, but hopefully riskier and more fun projects. I'm already looking forward to her role as an aging rock star in a film written by Diablo Cody due out next year. Happy Birthday Meryl!

Birthday Boy: James McAvoy

James McAvoy, one of my favorite actors, celebrates his 35th birthday today. Even at a relatively young age, he's done countless of stuff including award-winning TV series, Oscar-nominated films, and blockbuster movies. He's been nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA and recently won Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards and British Actor of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards. And yet, I still think he should be more popular and bigger than what he is now. Certainly he should've already been nominated for at least two Academy Awards for his performances in The Last King of Scotland and Atonement. His "snub" for the latter still gives me nightmares sometimes.

Maybe this year, he'll finally reach that next level of fame and success. First, he's back as Charles Xavier in X-Men: Days of Future Past and rumor has it he's the main lead. Then his award-winning film Filth will finally be shown for US audiences and I'm hoping the reception will be similar to what it got last year in Britain. Later in the year, he'll join Jessica Chastain in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby which was screened at the Toronto Film Festival last year to positive reviews. All three of these films would make my Most Anticipated Films of 2014 if I actually created such a list.

But really I just want all the best for him. I mean I've seen a good chunk of his filmography and will continue to do so. Out of his 19 post-2000 non-animated films that have been released in the US, I've seen 15 including his small, almost forgettable role in one of my guilty pleasure films Wimbledon (hello, huge tennis nerd here), which hilariously is the very first time I saw him in anything! I also thought he was quite excellent in the original, British versions of State of Play and Shameless and if you haven't seen them, you really should.

Happy Birthday James McAvoy!

Birthday Girl: Alyson Hannigan

Alyson Hannigan is celebrating her 40th birthday today. If you don't know her then I don't even understand you. At the very least, you should know that she played Willow Rosenberg aka my favorite TV character in one of my all-time favorite TV shows. Really, I love her.

Hannigan also played the one girl, who did that thing at band camp that one time, in the American Pie films and more recently have been starring in CBS' How I Met Your Mother which just aired its penultimate episode tonight. After nine years, her show is ending next week, so she's going to have lots of free time. I think she's already attached to a pilot possibly for next season, but I wouldn't blame her if she took a little break to just enjoy life with her husband, fellow Whedonverse alum Alexis Denisof, and their two adorable children together.

Happy Birthday Alyson! P.S. Your stepmother is an alien!

Birthday Boy: Oscar Isaac

Happy birthday to the supremely talented Oscar Isaac who turns 35 today! You should know him from his starring role in last year's Inside Llewyn Davis, which should have netted him his first Oscar nomination. Thankfully, he was honored by a handful of critic awards including the prestigious National Society of Film Critics, as well as honored with Spirit and Golden Globe nominations. And not for nothing, but he took the top prize for Best Actor in my own year-end personal awards.

I first saw Isaac in the TV movie The Nativity Story where he played Jesus's father Joseph, but he didn't catch my attention until his wonderful turn in 2009's Agora opposite Rachel Weisz. In fact, I nominated him all the way back then as well for my own awards. Since then and prior to his leading role in the Coen brothers musical film, he's been relegated to small, but memorable roles in films like Robin Hood, Drive, W.E., and 10 Years. That latter film is the first time I heard him sing, which should've prepared all of us for what was to come.

Oscar Isaac in 10 Years

Fortunately, it looks like we'll be seeing more of Isaac in the next couple of years with no less than four films completed for this year or currently filming/in post-production including films with Drive writer Hossein Amin and Oscar-winning The Departed writer William Monahan. But I'm looking forward the most to A Most Violent Year, directed and written by J.C. Chandor and set to be released later this year, mostly because I'm hopeful it'll build on the great momentum he had this past year with the industry.

Birthday Boy: Brad Pitt

Three-time Oscar nominee, 2-time recipient of People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive honor, and perennial Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt hit the big 5-0 today! And man has he done a lot. I mean I've seen 21 of his films and that's less than half of what he has done and he's far from done. Just this year, he starred in *and produced* the unexpected hit World War Z as well as this year's Oscar front-runner 12 Years A Slave.

But let's back up just a bit. Now, I actually don't have a *favorite* performance of his, but who didn't rewind their cassette tape (haha, wow) when J.D. appeared in Thelma & Louise or totally got obsessed with vampires after his turn in Interview with a Vampire? Or had wicked dreams regarding Tyler Durden and his fondness for tight pants and shirtlessness? Yeah, those were the days. Yup... wait, where was I? Oh right! If you said no to all of those, then you're not me. So with those fond memories, just have to say happy birthday Brad!

Birthday Girl: Ming-Na Wen

This picture was taken a couple weeks ago. Today she turns 50. But since it's Ming-Na Wen, is anyone really surprised she looks this amazing?

Now, I wished she did more. I've been a fan of her all the way from her Joy Luck Club/Street Fighter days and of course ER. Then she was the voice of Mulan, who is only the most kick-ass Disney princess ever. Currently she's kicking ass in Joss Whedon's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. so I at least see her more regularly now.

Anyways, happy birthday to her!

Birthday Boy: James Marsden

James Marsden celebrates his 40th birthday today. That picture above was taken last month. Yeah, fuck.

You can currently see him on the big screen in Lee Daniels' The Butler as a very handsome JFK or you can re-watch the final season of 30 Rock where he was the handsome husband of Liz Lemon. Or you can pop in an X-Men DVD where he plays the handsome mutant Cyclops or the dozen of movies he's starred in as the handsome ex-boyfriend. Basically he plays handsome well. I mean he even played a Disney prince! So happy birthday you beautiful man.

Birthday Boy: Andrew Garfield

No offense meant to Toby Maguire or Reeve Carney when I say this but Andrew Garfield aka my favorite Spider-man celebrates his big 3-0 birthday today. Granted The Amazing Spider-Man wasn't a great movie or anything, but I could never truly discount the film mostly due to the effortless charm Garfield brings to the popular web-slinger. Plus the film was also responsible for bringing together Garfield with another one of my favorite actors recently, Emma Stone. And as a sidenote, I found out just yesterday that their couple name is apparently Stonefield which is one part adorable and another part a J.J. Abrams top secret movie or something.

But back to the birthday boy... he's currently working on the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man and will continue to work on the franchise for the next few years as there's already two more films scheduled through 2018. At least that's not all he's doing. Just last year he had his Broadway debut as Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman which garnered him his first Tony Award nomination. Film-wise, he has been cast in 99 Homes from the director of Goodbye Solo and in Martin Scorsese's Silence.

Happy Birthday!

Birthday Boy: Roger Federer

Today is Roger Federer's 32nd birthday and I think this is the year that him and many of his fans would like to forget. Unlike last year, where he was pretty much on top of the world, 2013 has been a tough year.

It started out solidly enough with him losing to Andy Murray at the Australian Open semifinals in five sets, but it wasn't until mid-May in Rome when he reached his first final of the year, losing to rival Rafael Nadal. That gave some hope that he'd make another good showing at the French Open, but he instead lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters in straight sets. He did win his first title at Halle, Germany a couple of weeks after that again showing optimistic signs that at least in grass Federer is still the king. And then... the world fell apart.

This year's Wimbledon is already one of strangest tournaments I've ever witness with so many top players upset in the first week including past champions Maria Sharapova, Nadal, and of course 7-time champion Federer, losing in the 2nd round to 116th ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky. That loss snapped Federer's unbelievable streak of 36 straight quarterfinal appearances in majors, probably the greatest streak in all of tennis. Worse yet, that loss doesn't seem to be an anomaly with Federer losing to lower ranked players in the two smaller clay tournaments he has played since.

This week he's in Cincinnati preparing to defend the title he won last year instead of playing with the other top players in Canada. He has a good chunk of points to defend through the fall, but nothing too insurmountable. For all we know, he could go on a streak like he did a couple of years ago and perhaps even winning his 18th Grand Slam trophy at the US Open in a few weeks. But then again, I'm also an eternal optimist when it comes to the old man.

Happy Birthday Roger!

Birthday Girl: Lisa Kudrow

Today Lisa Kudrow, my favorite Friends, turns 50 and as much success as she has had, doesn't it always feel like she should have more? Certainly most everyone seems to agree that she should've gotten an Oscar nomination for her great work in The Opposite of Sex and while she has already won an Emmy for Friends, she really deserved more than a sole nomination for The Comeback. I'd just love it if some big-time director crafted a movie role just for her perhaps where she plays Michelle Williams caustic mother/older sister in some dark comedy.

In the meantime, she's not exactly doing nothing. Last week, the two main projects she's been working on recently had their season premieres, her reality show Who Do You Think You Are? and her Showtime series Web Therapy which I briefly talked about a few years ago when it was just a simple web series. Unfortunately, I haven't seen Web Therapy since it moved offline, but from what I've heard the high quality evident in the web series is still very much there. I'll catch up eventually! I also saw her recently on Hollywood Game Night where she was on a team with Martin Short and Alyson Hannigan and competed against her old Friends co-star Matthew Perry.

Speaking of Friends, Kudrow will always have Phoebe Buffay and no one can ever take that away from her. So to celebrate her birthday, everyone should watch this compilation of all the songs Kudrow sang on Friends:

Tony Awards and Birthday Boy Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris was the first celeb I gave a birthday shout out to on this blog and today he turns the big 4-0! Happy Birthday!

He will be wrapping up the final season of his hit show How I Met Your Mother during this upcoming TV season, but he should be able to land on his feet afterwards. At the very least, he can always hosts awards shows for a living. In fact, he just brilliantly hosted the Tony Awards for a fourth time last Sunday with his usual mix of show-stopping numbers and charming asides. Speaking of show-stopping numbers...

He deservedly got a standing ovation off the bat with an epic opening number that literally had everything Broadway has to offer:



He then was in the mix for one of the most inspired numbers ever held at Tonys with a few Broadway vets lamenting their canceled TV shows:



Finally, he ended the show with his usual Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned rapping recap of the night with bonus appearance of the amazing Audra McDonald who literally dropped the mic:



If I had it my way, every awards shows would only be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Hugh Jackman... in any combination. After the cut, a full list of the Tony Awards winners and very brief non-Neil Patrick Harris thoughts...

Birthday Girl: Carey Mulligan

Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan turns 28 today and it's shaping up to being a pretty good year for her film-wise. She currently stars as Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, which has easily become Luhrmann's highest grossing film. Her second film of the year, Inside Llewyn Davis, just won the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival and is on many pundits shortlist for the Academy Awards as is her supporting role in the film.

If Mulligan does get nominated, it would already be her second time after getting a Best Actress nomination just four years ago in 2009 for An Education where audiences this side of the pond started noticing her. Since then, she's kept busy with her most daring work coming just a couple years ago with the trio of Never Let Me Go, Drive, and Shame for which I was shocked she didn't pick up more award notices. Instead, they just solidified her status as one of the more talented and sought after actress of her generation.

To me however, she'll always be Sally Sparrow. Yes, before she became all Hollywood famous, she was in one episode of Doctor Who and what an episode it was. The episode was "Blink" and it's the first time we meet the Weeping Angels. Among fans, it has become a modern classic and I myself have used the largely stand-alone episode to lure in non-fans to the show. I sometimes wish Mulligan didn't get super famous soon after that since her return to the show would have been a wish come true. I guess it's on to bigger and better for her! Happy Birthday Carey!

Birthday Boy: Henry Cavill

Jersey boy Henry Cavill will soon play the all-American superhero Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent on the big screens next month in Man of Steel. Of course, he was actually born in Jersey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom 30 years ago on this day. Happy Birthday!

Apparently there was a small controversy about getting a non-American actor to play Superman, but I sure as hell am not complaining. I mean, have you seen him?