Looking Forward To...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Release: September 21, 2012
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Director:  Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Johnny Simmons, Nina Dobrev, Melanie Lynskey, Mae Whitman, Joan Cusack and Paul Rudd

Looking Forward To...

Our Idiot Brother
Release: August 26, 2011
Distributor: Weinstein Company
Director: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Hugh Dancy, Zooey Deschanel, Steve Coogan, Emily Mortimer, Adam Scott, Rashida Jones, and Paul Rudd

Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later

Ten years ago, Wet Hot American Summer debut in New York City and according to Wikipedia, it promptly became a "commercial and critical flop." Was the film perfect? Hardly. But it had an energetic cast doing silly antics and has thus gaining a cult following of which I'm a proud member. I re-watched the film today and I was cracking up at all of the same places I cracked up a few years ago. The film is also a wonderful time capsule of the careers of most of the actors in the film who have since gone on to bigger fame. Thus this following quote from the film, uttered by the then unknown Bradley Cooper, takes on new meaning:

Hey, let’s all promise that in ten years from today, we’ll meet again, and we’ll see what kind of people we’ve blossomed into.

Let's see just how they blossomed, shall we?


Both Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce were already household names when they did the film back in 2001. They already got a couple of Emmy nominations, with Pierce winning three at that point for Frasier. So really it was all downhill from there. Okay, not really. Both kept working throughout the decade mostly sticking to TV. Garofalo most recently appeared on the now-canceled Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior while Pierce finished his stint on the Broadway stage in La Bête earlier this year.


Michael Showalter wrote the film with the director David Wain. Both were part of the MTV series State in the mid-90s. He has mostly stuck to writing and hosting in his own shows, sometimes collaborating with fellow co-star Michael Ian Black. Browsing through her credits, it's probably easier to name TV shows that Marguerite Moreau hasn't appeared in. She was clearly in demand before the film and kept quite busy since. More recently, she made a multi-episode appearance in Parenthood and Shameless.


This entry is really devoted to these two. Not many people knew who the heck Amy Poehler and Bradley Cooper were when this film came out and now? Let's start with what happened right after the film was released. She started her stint in Saturday Night Live and he went on a show named ALIAS. The rest, shall we say, is history. She went on to appear in a few movies and TV shows before branching out on her own show Parks and Recreation where she is brilliant and has been twice Emmy nominated. He, on the other hand, has turned into a in-demand Hollywood heartthrob getting his huge break in The Hangover. He starred in the film's sequel this year and is rumored to play Lucifer in an upcoming film adaptation of Paradise Lost.

Academy Adds New Members

It's been a busy week for the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts and Sciences more commonly known as AMPAS to us Oscar freaks. The AMPAS released a few press releases this week highlighting changes to its Academy Awards. They started with a bang, choosing to increase the Best Picture nominee list from 5 to 10. They followed that up by limiting the Best Original Song category and relegating special honorees to their own black-tie dinner.

I am not a fan of any of these decisions and I don't pretend to know why they even made them. I can hypothesize that the exclusion of critical and audience-favorites WALL•E and The Dark Knight last year coupled with decreasing ratings might have something to do with the decision to increase the Best Picture nominees. And it seems pretty evident that the other two decisions were made to shorten the infamously bloated ceremony. Then again I'm one of the few that wishes it were actually longer. Despite what a lot of people think, the length of a show is immaterial. It's all about entertainment. Two hours of crap is worse than five hours of awesome entertainment.

But neither here nor there. I actually made this entry to comment on the latest release from AMPAS. Today the Academy welcomed 134 new members. They will now have the power to vote for the Academy Awards. I'm jealous. You can view the complete list by clicking on that link to the full press release, but I wanted to comment on a couple of names.

Before I get talking about the actors, I just wanted to say how refreshingly known all of the actors are to me. Usually there would be a name (or a dozen) of someone who I've never seen or even heard of, but this year I know their filmography quite well.

Thank you for hosting: Hugh Jackman. They loved his hosting so much they welcomed him in. Couldn't say I disagree with them.

First time nominees from last year: Viola Davis, Anne Hathaway, Taraji P. Henson, Melissa Leo, and Michael Shannon. Very good choices here though I do hope they all get nominated again sometime soon.

Former nominees: Casey Afleck, Amy Ryan, and Michelle Williams. What took them so long? Oh well, at least they are members now. I'm especially happy with Michelle's inclusion. Looking forward to her second nomination whenever it comes.

Really should've nominated by now: Emily Blunt, James Franco, Emile Hirsch, and James McAvoy. I can name a film (sometimes two) for which these actors should've been nominated, but they're all still young (and scorchingly hot) so methinks it's only a matter of time.

Really REALLY should've been nominated by now: Brendan Gleeson, Jeffrey Wright, and Jane Lynch. How they've never been nominated is astounding. I'm especially tickled that Jane Lynch is now a member. She's fantastic.

Really funny in a WTF kind of way: Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, and Paul Rudd. Along with Jane Lynch, comedy made a big showing. But while I agree with Lynch and even Rudd's invitation, Rogen? Really? But even then I get it. But Michael Cera?! I can't even wrap my mind around that one.

And while they are not actors...

They still love Slumdog Millionaire: Anthony Dod Mantle, Danny Boyle, Chris Dickens, A.R. Rahman, and Christian Colson. Winning Best Picture catapulted these filmmakers to an invitation. But no room for Latika? I'm half-kidding.