2008 Diva Cup Awards: Best Actress

Anna Faris
The House Bunny

One of my biggest frustrations concerning Anna Faris's performance in The House Bunny was obviously not the performance itself, but, rather, other people's hypocritical reaction to my (and at least one other person) claiming it as one of the year's best. Anytime I mentioned on some various Oscar blog that Faris was utterly fantastic in The House Bunny, there were usually at least one or two people who would say something along the lines of, "An Oscar nomination for The House Bunny?! Let's be serious." What killed me was that these are the same people always complaining that Oscar never nominates comedic performances. What more do you want out of a comedic performance? Faris elevates the cheap jokes of this film to the point that the performance reminded me of Groucho Marx in Duck Soup (my favorite comedic performance ever) in that the zingers just kept coming and coming, one right after another, and they all had my convulsing with laughter. Sure, this may not have been acting in the traditional sense of the word, but Anna Faris is one of the most fearless comediennes around and her talent needs to be rewarded ever chance you get.

Anne Hathaway
Rachel Getting Married

Oh Annie. How far you've come in eight years from when we first met you as the Princess of Genovia. You went through your "I'm gonna show my breasts!" phase in both Brokeback and Havoc (a seriously fearless and edgy performance in an otherwise craptacular film), played the straight-woman to Meryl Streep (and Emily Blunt for that matter), dabbled in the British prestige picture (please, let's never try that one again, hmmm?) and even worked your budding star mojo in a middling action comedy blockbuster. But then came Rachel Getting Married, which provided you with your strongest role yet--a recovering drug addict returning from rehab just in time for her older sister's wedding--and your greatest performance to date. Finally, after a couple of years of being on the brink of being a "legitimate" actress, you proved you have what it takes to tear Hollywood apart. After your darkly comic, awkwardly (in a good way) self-centered and all-around magnetic performance in Rachel Getting Married, I seriously can not wait to see what you have in store for us in the (many) years to come (Here's hoping you hit it out of the park with this one). Congrats Annie, you've truly made it and no one deserves it more than you!

Sally Hawkins
Happy-Go-Lucky

Poppy should have been too much to handle. I should have wanted to punch her in the face from the third minute and not wanted to stop until the whole movie was over. I know that if I met someone like Poppy in real life, I don't think I would be able to listen to her endless cheeriness and eternal optimism. Considering all of these prejudices, you have to give Sally Hawkins major credit for creating a character like this that you actually want to spend hours and hours with in the cinematic world. Her spirit is infectious and, for awhile, I actually wanted to be more like her instead of the constant cynic that I am. That feeling eventually subsided, but the brilliance and hilarity of this performance never did.

Melissa Leo
Frozen River

It's always a joy seeing reliable character actors finally enjoying a lead role in a film because it often feels like they realize they only have one chance to get it right and they throw themselves into the part. We already saw Richard Jenkins do just that with The Visitor and now Melissa Leo, a prolific character actress whom I warmly remember as Benicio Del Toro's long-suffering wife in 21 Grams. Playing a hard-as-nails, desperately broke mother slaving away at a dead-end, minimum wage job only to have it gambled away by her good-for-nothing husband, Leo's haggard, world-weary face could have done most of the work for her. Leave it to her, however, to dig deep and provide a refreshing spin on the maternal sacrifice story we've seen since Oscar's beginning. I'm most surprised at how honest and true to life Leo's Ray feels. There are no emotional meltdowns or smashing plates against the wall to show how PISSED she is; it's all quiet and tender and some of the most heartwrenching stuff you're likely to see (especially if you've ever experienced the direness of poverty and living paycheck to paycheck).

Brittany Snow
Finding Amanda

From my review of Finding Amanda and Snow's performance in particular: "You may find it suprising, however, to see that Snow ignores the usual crutches of this [hooker with a heart of gold] archetype and crafts a visibly unique spin on it. From the moment that we meet Amanda, enticing dirty old men by the elevators at a seedy motel with a sweet, bubbly demeanor, we can tell that something just isn't right. She's too happy, too obsessed with keeping her apartment pristine and free from anything that will soil it (she tells her uncle to take off his shoes as soon as he enters the doorway). Snow is smart enough to only hint at the darkness of her past and the unhappiness in her present- she doesn't lay all of the cards on table right away and allow you to read her so easily. When she confesses to her uncle about being sexually abused by a member of the family, she tosses the information out there like it was nothing extraordinary, much to her uncle's incredulation. Snow's Amanda thinks she has moved on from this experience, even if her actions say otherwise."

If Only There Were Six: Julianne Moore, Blindness and Savage Grace

Rest of the Top 10: Meryl Streep, Doubt...Natalie Portman, The Other Boleyn Girl...Kristin Scott Thomas, Il y a longtemps que je t'aime [I've Loved You So Long]...Nicole Kidman, Australia

And the Diva Cup Goes to: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Lily Van der Woodsen

The reports are coming in and it looks like the lovely and talented Brittany Snow is making her return to television, after her breakthrough in NBC's American Dreams a few years ago, in the upcoming Gossip Girl spin-off. The shows follows Rufus and Lily, the adults on Gossip Girl, during their teenage years and is set to premiere on May 11th as a special Gossip Girl episode. I can't even begin to put into words how excited I am at the prospect of seeing Brittany every week. And did I mention that the show is set during the 80's? Can you imagine how glammed out Brittany is going to look with teased hair, ill-fitting jackets, too much makeup and leg warmers? Oh my God, she is going to be fabulous.

Finding Brittany Snow

Finding Amanda, with its depiction of a desperate, middle-aged male loser (played by Matthew Broderick, natch) trying to find himself in all of the strangest and worst ways, hardly has what you would call an "original concept" these days. Every 40-something white male undergoing a mid-life crisis has written their own Finding Amanda and, more often than not, they are often the same whiny, mopey film (only Woody Allen has really done this well...and repeatedly, I must add). This film, I must say, falls prey to this on occasion; the beginning, especially, is rather flat due to the fact that we have seen this (a fallen-from-grace TV writer/creator who is a recovering alcoholic with a gambling problem in danger of losing what little he has left) before. Once he gets to Las Vegas, hoping to drag his wayward niece Amanda (Brittany Snow) away from her destructive life as a hooker and drug addict and into a rehab facility in Malibu, Finding Amanda finds its stride and actually turns into a surprisingly funny and ultimately touching film.

The film's saving grace is, however, one Miss Brittany Snow, whom you will all probably recognize from Hairspray as Amber von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer's delightfully awful daughter). I know I've mentioned before how talented I think she is and how much potential she has, but after the atrocity that was Prom Night (which she did her damndest to save, even if it was all in vain) I thought that I may have been too quick to assess her talent. But here comes Finding Amanda and not only have my expectations about her potential been met but Snow also delivers one of the best performances of the year so far.

Playing a hooker with a heart of gold is one of the oldest tricks in the history of cinema, winning Oscars as far back 1931/32 (for Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet) and propelling others into international superstardom (Julia Roberts anyone?), so you can't fault Snow for wanting to take on one of her own, obviously hoping for similar acclaim. You may find it suprising, however, to see that Snow ignores the usual crutches of this archetype and crafts a visibly unique spin on it. From the moment that we meet Amanda, enticing dirty old men by the elevators at a seedy motel with a sweet, bubbly demeanor, we can tell that something just isn't right. She's too happy, too obsessed with keeping her apartment pristine and free from anything that will soil it (she tells her uncle to take off his shoes as soon as he enters the doorway). Snow is smart enough to only hint at the darkness of her past and the unhappiness in her present- she doesn't lay all of the cards on table right away and allow you to read her so easily. When she confesses to her uncle about being sexually abused by a member of the family, she tosses the information out there like it was nothing extraordinary, much to her uncle's incredulation. Snow's Amanda thinks she has moved on from this experience, even if her actions say otherwise.

When Snow's Amanda does reveal a crack in the facade, it's quite a fascinating sight to behold. There's a scene where she runs into an old client of hers while with her uncle and the client tries to get Amanda to admit that she remembers him. After getting a little agressive with her, Amanda tells him that she remembers his dick which was the size of a roll of dimes. He spits in her face and Snow's Amanda, out of nowhere, unleashes an untapped swell of rage and hatred. The surprised look that Matthew Broderick gives her when he sees this scene transpiring is the exact same look we're giving out in the audience- where did all of this rage come from? After the incident, she has a crying jag in the bathroom and it's really the only time we see her completely lose control of her emotions. We realize here that maybe Snow's Amanda isn't as strong as she thinks she is and maybe her life could stand a little improvement.

This realization, however, doesn't last long, because the next time we see Amanda, eating a meal she prepared herself with her uncle and her loser boyfriend Greg, she's right back to her usual, cheery self, with no hint of the troubles she endured the last time we saw her. The topic of some random girl Greg brought in the house and Snow goes through a real test of her skills. She gets mildly upset at first, agreeing with Greg that it is okay for him to sleep with other women, but letting him now that it's not okay that she was in her home- "This place is sacred!" she tells him. When the emotions get too complex though, we see Snow's Amanda literally swallowing the unpleasant feelings and returning to the situation with a smile, refusing to think about it anymore. The facade slowly fades away again when, a few seconds later, Matthew Broderick's character tells Amanda that the girl wore her shoes in the house. Snow's Amanda loses control- she yells, "God damnit, Greg!"- and is more visibly upset at this revelation than the previous one; the fact that some stranger brought in the dirt of the outside world to her clean and cozy little haven from the dirtiness of her job and life really sets her off. The fact that Snow is able to handle all of these complex emotions without over selling the fact that she's "performing" or that she doesn't just ignore them completely is an extraordinary feat and makes this potentially throw-away scene pop with energy. The film as a whole benefits from Snow's performance immensely. Without her, Finding Amanda would have been aimless and Broderick's journey and eventual redemption probably wouldn't have held much weight; with her, Finding Amanda smolders with complexity and doesn't answer the questions it brings up with easy answers.

Finding Amanda: B-
Brittany Snow: A

A Message to Hollywood About Horror Films

Dear Hollywood,

Prom Night (Nelson McCormick, 2008)
This is not how you do horror movies. Seeing horribly boring and trite caricatures of modern teenagers being randomly slashed to death by a psychopath is not scary. At all. And when you're actually so bored with the movie that you get up while the film is playing, toast a bagel, come back and realize that you haven't missed a thing, that's a pretty tell-tale sign that things aren't working. Don't even get me started about that screenplay, ugh. What was the point of introducing that bitchy prom queen wannabe when the killer wasn't going to kill her (or get anywhere near her for that matter). And why would you go back in and grab a shawl when there is a fucking fire alarm going off and why is no one at all concerned that the building could errupt in flames at any second. Brittany Snow, please, for the sake of our relationship, pick a good movie next time. You are so above this crap it's not even funny. F

Bug (William Friedkin, 2007)
This is how you do horror films. Friedkin, director of what I consider the scariest movie I've ever seen (The Exorcist) is back and better than ever. His slow buildup to that frightening third act (you can definitely see Bug's stage origins, but it's surprisingly not much of a problem) perfectly brought us into a state of mind that made Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon's decension into madness some of the most unsettling and nervewracking shit I've ever seen. Oh my God, it's been a week and I'm still a little shaky just thinking about it. It may seem a little farfetched, but in the right vulnerable state of mind, this could probably happen to anyone. B+

In Order to Avoid Any Confusion

I would like to thank this lovely gentleman for his lovely comment yesterday, but I want to clear something up:

This is me

This is Brittany Snow, star of American Dreams, John Tucker Must Die and Hairspray

Sorry if my profile picture caused any confusion. And my sincerest apologies go out to that nice Argentinian who thought he was hitting on a hot chick and ended up hitting on me.

Random Top 10: People I Fell in Love With in 2007

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but a few weeks ago I changed my banner from Dame Judi Dench (in honor of her birth) to the present banner of Adam Brody, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Hudson and Channing Tatum. I like to think of these four as the ones I "discovered" in 2006 andwith whom I quickly fell in love with. Well, now that 2007 has ended, it's time for a new batch of people to obsess about for a whole year.

10. Mark Ronson, Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen

Moment I Fell in Love: "Rehab" led me to discover Amy Winehouse, which led me to producer Mark Ronson, which led me to Version, which led me to Ronson's other protege Lily Allen.

9. Ellen Page

Moment I Fell in Love: "No, it's Morgan Freeman" and "WHOA dream big"...no can spin lines into gold the way she does.

8. Ashley Tisdale

Moment I Fell in Love: Her request for exit music...a diva dream of mine just came true

7. Casey Affleck

Moment I Fell in Love: I admit that it's only been 5 days since I saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but, damn, that was one hell of a performance.

6. Paula Deen

Moment I Fell in Love: The episode where she deep fried butter and a bust of her head made out of butter was given to her.

5. Blake Lewis

Moment I Fell in Love: During the Top 24 on American Idol, when he sang Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know"

4. Diablo Cody

Moment I Fell in Love: Months before I saw Juno, I read an article about her in Entertainment Weekly and it was this quote that won me over: "If there's a female protagonist or a romance, they just assume it's up my alley. What, because I have a vagina?"

3. Brittany Snow

Moment I Fell in Love: When I finally saw John Tucker Must Die over the summer and realized that this woman can make anything work (well, not the film, but her performance)

2. Zac Efron

Moment I Fell in Love: "And I'm....Link"...I was practically squealing right along with Tracy and Penny.

1. James Marsden

Moment I Fell in Love: When I first heard him sing "The Nicest Kids in Town" on the Hairspray soundtrack, I knew it was love at first sight. Enchanted only proved that my love for him is never ending.

Things That Annoy Me: People Who Should Be Famous But Aren't

There are few things that annoy me more than when young and talented actors are overlooked for the likes of annoying tabloid-hogs like Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Mischa Barton and those bitches from The Hills. I love my quasi-celebrity gossip but, Jesus, let some actual talent get a chance to become famous (for, lets say, being a good actor and not by leaking a sex tape or getting out of cars without wearing panties). Here are two actors that, if the world were a perfect place, would get better roles and be more famous than Paris and Nicole put together.

Brittany Snow

Where You've Seen Her Before: Most recently, Brittany appeared as Amber Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter) in Hairspray, but before that she starred in the underrated TV show American Dreams and the Mean Girls imitation John Tucker Must Die.

Who She Might Remind You of: Vanessa Hudgens plus talent and minus the naked pictures or a toned-down version of Ashley Tisdale.

Why You Should Give a Shit: Because she has the talent to become a major star in the Reese Witherspoon vein. Brittany was definitely the most interesting Pryor child on American Dreams (she was the only actual character who developed over the series next to stereotypes like the Golden Child J.J. and Annoying Smart Ass Patty) and more than proved herself worthy of great roles. After the show was canceled in 2005, Snow landed a 5 episode role on Nip/Tuck as the son's Neo-Nazi girlfriend. I've never seen the show, but I saw parts of it and, although startling to see her go from "I love American Bandstand" to "Heil the Fuhrer!", she was pretty convincing. I suppose the only reason she took her role in Nip/TuckJohn Tucker Must Die was for a paycheck and mainstream exposure, but I'll be damned if she wasn't the only positive aspect of that dreadful Mean Girls imitation. She milked as many laughs as she could from that putrid script and acted circles around Ashanti and that gardener from Desperate Housewives. Finally, with Hairspray, Snow caught a break with her perfect casting as Amber (an amazing reverse take on Meg Pryor) and even managed not getting swallowed whole by the A-list adult cast and ambitious teenage cast. Plus, she had that hilarious phone call scene which still totally makes me laugh ("This is...Mike." "Mike who?" "It's MIKE."---well, it was better in the film than on paper).

What She's in Next: A bunch of indie films it looks like: On the Doll (the weird ass trailer is here); a dark comedy called Finding Amanda in which she plays a prostitute/stripper; and in Tony Kaye's (director of American History X) newest film Black Water Transit. Plus, in order to pay the bills, she's starring in the PG-13 horror film Prom Night out next April.

Shawn Pyfrom

Where You've Seen Him Before: He plays Marcia Cross's gay son Andrew on Desperate Housewives.

Who He Might Remind You of: A less skanky Shia LaBeouf (he's an okay actor, but ugh) or a non-singing and dancing Zac Efron.

Why You Should Give a Shit: Because, for awhile, him and his constant battles with conservative mother Bree were the absolute highlight of the show---and we all know how hard that is with all of those housewives begging for attention. He was angry, bitter and manipulative and, yet, we still cared about him (or at least I did). Andrew only did the things he did because his mother didn't accept his sexuality and believed he was going to hell. Well, that's kind of a lie (he was a vindictive little bastard) but he was still a ton of fun...a far cry from your average gay teen on TV. Who else but Andrew would have had sex with his mother's sex addict boyfriend just to piss her off? So, it was a shame when last year, after returning home from a few months in the street, Andrew turned good again and hasn't gotten a single storyline since. He has the talent (he's proven it before) now give him something interesting to do.

What He's in Next: No upcoming films or anything. If he gets a juicy storyline on Desperate Housewives this season, however, that won't even matter.