Monday MVP: Gabourey Sidibe

If Gabby Sidibe can immerse herself in the grotty and forlorn world of Precious for three months of filming, and hold up to global press barrages as a first-time actor, and still roll up giggling this infectiously and throwing down this hard on The Ellen Show there is no. reason. I cannot make it through another week of waking up early to go to work. (It helps that my job is neither grotty nor forlorn, but I do wish it involved more dancing.)



Trawling for Ellen clips on YouTube is a personal weakness, but I should tip you off that In Contention was equally seduced. And it would seem that my prophecy just last week about Sidibe's chances for the Oscar and her best means of campaigning for it are sounding less unusual all the time. But remember: she doesn't want to talk about it.

Overheard at CIFF (Updated)

Favorite Exchange (in the audience for Mother):

Older WOMAN, paging through the festival program:
A-ha! Police, Adjective. I found it.
That's why I wanted to see that, because I like Romanian films.

Older MAN, not reading the program:
Is it about oppression?

WOMAN:
Yes.

MAN, very earnest, still not reading:
Oooh, sounds good!

WOMAN, after two beats:
It says it "does a lot by only doing a little."
I think I have to see that!

Favorite Non-Sequitur (in the audience for Red Riding: 1974):

MAN, to his viewing partner:
I have a friend, and he is adamantly Croatian.
I mean, he went to prison.

Favorite Refusal to Budge (in the audience for Face):

MAN, to his viewing partner:
Daniel Day-Lewis is French.

WOMAN, after an incredulous beat:
Of course he's not French. He's English.

MAN:
No, Daniel Day-Lewis is French.

WOMAN, after two beats:
Listen to the name. "Daniel Day-Lewis." There's no way he's French.

MAN, unflappable:
He is French.

WOMAN pulls out her iPhone. Tip-taps. Eventually:
"Daniel Day-Lewis, born 1957, in London, England."

MAN:
But he is French.

(Note: Day-Lewis has had Irish citizenship for years, but I wasn't about to cut in.)

By Far, the Most Tortured Word:

Vincere, aka VIN-SEER. VEE-VUH-RAY. VINKER. VINCER, like "pincer." VEEN-SAYR. VINKERY. Quite memorably, Vuh-RENTZ. Save a thought for the poor Italians at the screening: moaning, wounded. VEEN-chayray, they yelled, to no avail. Hell hath no monolith like a Chicago accent doing whatever the hell it wants.

But anyway, back to Precious: keep those comments going!

Tracey Takes On...

...a long, dull day of transcribing notes toward my manuscript. Thank God my reconnection with Tracey for yesterday's Meryl Streep post spurred me to look for more of her on YouTube. I try to avoid blog posts with so little content, but what could I add to the teats of Helen Mirren and the confusion of Judi Dench?

Anticannes

Even if you thought you were following the Cannes reportage closely, you weren't. If you can't match these taglines to their proper films—and, God help you, if you can—you simply need to follow Tim's instructions and click over to this two-part Guardian catalogue of the scintillating wares being hawked in the notorious Market section of the festival:

"It's Our World. It's Their Island."
"Perhaps the Scariest Norwegian Movie Ever!"
"Someone Has Your Phone and Your Life."
(same film, same poster:) "His Voice Destroys Me"
"Shatter Your Belief in Reality"
"If You're Going to Play, You Need to Bring Your Balls"
"Payback Is a Bastard"
"Estonia's Lavishly Produced New Historical Thriller"
"These Guys Are the Hero of Recession Era?" [sic]
"He's Scarier. He's Hairier. He's Terrier!"
"Nice to Have Your Friends for Dinner"
"The Crystal Meth House Is Haunted"
"One Will Die for Every Incorrect Answer"
"Share This Story with Your Love, She Will Laugh with You"

Amidst all of this, the latest and laudably reviewed film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, which makes it all even weirder. And also the Junebug scribe is finally back, penning a policier for Robert De Niro and Edward Norton. And then, with even less hoopla, a Soderbergh-produced film with Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, and Mary-Louise Parker? What went wrong there? And why is Liliana Cavani, of Night Porter fame, making sunny-looking Einstein biopics?

Also: you're only hurting yourself if you don't click over my thumbnail image and relish not just the title and the premise but the headlining stars of this production. Out of the blue, indeed. Now, raise your hands if you're ready to admit that you'd rather watch Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus or Gnaw or whatever this is than Map of the Sounds of Tokyo or Johnny Halliday in Vengeance.

P.S. Too good to be true!! This debuts on DVD tomorrow, and as the 513th best-selling DVD on Amazon, which I'm sure you'll agree is Not Nothing.