Geeky Dreamboats

Someone out there has compiled a book of "Geeky Dreamboats." The examples provided are Michael Cera, Daniel Radcliffe, the Jonas Brothers, and Flight of the Conchords.

Michael Cera? Uh, he always plays geeks and he always plays himself, so I guess he can stay. Plus, he's just wrapped up filming a comic book movie, which he was apparently already a fan of when he was cast. However, I hesitate to apply the "dreamboat" label, although this is subject to further contemplation once he looks like he has hit puberty.

Daniel Radcliffe? Free pass, he's Harry freakin' Potter.

Jonas Brothers? Get out right now. As far as I know, there is absolutely no basis in referring to them as "geeky," and I wish I knew much less about the Jonas Brothers than I actually do.

Flight of the Conchords possess sugalumps that I would check out any day.

Suggestions for improving this list, in order by surname:
--Colin Morgan. He makes Merlin the most adorable medieval wizard of all time, and his dream role is a character from a Terry Pratchett book. He also has dorky giant ears.
--Chris Pine, aka Chris Fine, aka Captain Fine. He's James Tiberius Kirk and he will not hesitate to punch you in the face. Additionally, he went to Berkeley and studied all the time, which is definitely dreamy in my book.
--Zachary Quinto. Admittedly, I've never seen him in anything besides Star Trek XI, but that clearly qualifies him.
--Jason Schwartzman. He possesses a great amount of je ne sais quoi in the geekiness department. Is it the way he looks in giant nerdy glasses? Is it the way he sounds while voicing a woodland animal with a sock on its head? The world may never know.
--David Tennant. He portrays one of the best-loved figures of science fiction, as well as having been in a Harry Potter movie. He is also lanky and enjoys licking things and doesn't freak out when finding out that he is the subject of a great quantity of pornographic fanfiction.
--Aidan Turner. He makes it okay for vampires to be able to go out into the sunlight without burning or causing the sparklepocalypse.
--Anton Yelchin. Having participated in two wildly popular sci-fi franchises, he is definitely qualified for the list. There was also that great scene in "Charlie Bartlett" where, as the titular character, he does his homework while on Ritalin.

Oh Goodeness.

Matthew Goode has been cast in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's latest collaboration.

I'm trying to formulate words that express how excited I am about this, but all I can really say is that I leapt out of my chair and did a celebratory fist pump. I've been on a huge Matthew Goode kick since the release of Watchmen (I even watched the Spanish movie where he's blond and kind of a pedo), and Gervais and Merchant can do no wrong. I'm so excited!

What does Charles Ryder really want?

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been watching way too many movies that I ordinarily wouldn't have been interested in, just because Matthew Goode is in them and I'm secretly 14 years old. (Chasing Liberty made me want to repeatedly punch myself in the eye, and all I could think about was how weird it is that Mandy Moore married Ryan Adams. My Family and Other Animals was hilarious and a pleasant surprise, and Imagine Me & You was tolerable.) While I do think he is genuinely talented and not just a pretty face, he has unfortunately been in some films that aren't particularly good by a long shot.

Anyways, yesterday I finally got around to watching Brideshead Revisited, which I legitimately have been wanting to see for a while, having loved the book. I wish I'd seen it in theatres, because everything and everyone was beautiful. Castle Howard is so gorgeous. Anyways, I'm not really sure what I thought of it overall. Ben Whishaw's Sebastian was perfectly heartbreaking, but I do wish that there had been more time spent on the Charles/Sebastian relationship. While it was nice that the homoeroticism that was very obvious in the book was fully acknowledged on Sebastian's part, I didn't really get the impression that the attraction was reciprocated. Sure, there was the occasional sidelong glance or gesture, but my interpretation of Charles from the book was one who would have gladly kissed Sebastian. In the book, I thought that Charles' considered Sebastian's beauty with something between lust, infatuation, and an artist's aesthetic reverence. At the same time, Charles was also always very distant, which I thought Matthew Goode's performance captured well. Now, I know that I have to take the book and the film as completely separate entities, but I found the film to be much less passionate and compelling. The film was visually stunning, but fell short when it came to the script.

NME Awards '09

Winners are bolded.

Best British Band
Bloc Party
The Last Shadow Puppets
Muse
Oasis
Radiohead
(Not surprising, although I don't know why you'd choose Oasis over Radiohead.)

Best International Band
Crystal Castles
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
(Seriously? Day & Age sucked.)

Best Solo Artist
Ladyhawke
Laura Marling
Lightspeed Champion
Jay-Z
Pete Doherty
(Pete Doherty, I will always love you.)

Best New Band
Glasvegas
Late Of The Pier
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
White Lies
(I can't remember if I voted for MGMT or Vampire Weekend. Still, good for them, they've come a long way in the past year. Also, I found it quite fitting that people out of the Skins cast presented the award to them, considering that "Time To Pretend" was such a huge part of the series 2 finale.)

Best Live Band
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
Muse
Oasis
Radiohead
(No surprises here.)

Best Album
Bloc Party – 'Intimacy'
Glasvegas – 'Glasvegas'
The Killers – 'Day & Age'
Kings Of Leon – 'Only By The Night'
Oasis – 'Dig Out Your Soul'
(But people in the UK are supposed to be familiar with their older and vastly superior work!)

Best Track
Kings Of Leon – 'Sex On Fire'
The Last Shadow Puppets – 'The Age Of The Understatement'
MGMT – 'Time To Pretend'
The Ting Tings – 'That's Not My Name'
Vampire Weekend – 'A-Punk'
(A good choice. And hey, it wasn't "Sex On Fire.")

Best Video
The Last Shadow Puppets – 'My Mistakes Were Made For You'
Late Of The Pier – 'Heartbreak'
Oasis – 'The Shock Of The Lightning'
Radiohead – 'House Of Cards'
Vampire Weekend – 'A-Punk'

Best Live Event
Glastonbury
Isle Of Wight
Reading and Leeds
T In The Park
V Festival

Best TV Show
Gavin & Stacey
The IT Crowd
The Mighty Boosh
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
Skins
(I really need to watch more Boosh.)

Best Dancefloor Filler
Bloc Party – 'Mercury'
Crystal Castles – 'Courtship Dating'
Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris – 'Dance Wiv Me'
Friendly Fires – 'Paris'
Late Of The Pier – 'Bathroom Gurgle'

Best DVD
Arctic Monkeys – 'At The Apollo'
Foo Fighters – 'Live At Wembley Stadium'
Kaiser Chiefs – 'Live At Elland Road'
Muse – 'HAARP'
The Rolling Stones – 'Shine A Light'

Hero Of The Year
Alex Turner
Barack Obama
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Noel Gallagher

Villain Of The Year
Amy Winehouse
George Bush
Gordon Brown
John McCain
Pete Doherty

Best Dressed
Alex Turner
Alexa Chung
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Noel Gallagher
(Alexa is so pretty!)

Worst Dressed
Amy Winehouse
Brandon Flowers
Johnny Borrell
Katy Perry
Pete Doherty
(Has she given up on those terrible slippers yet?)

Worst Album
Britney Spears – 'Circus'
Coldplay – 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends'
Jonas Brothers – 'A Little Bit Longer'
Razorlight – 'Slipway Fires'
Scouting For Girls – 'Scouting For Girls'
(hahaha. I must say, if I compare their to the bad emo poetry I was writing when I was 15, they're acceptable.)

Worst Band
Fall Out Boy
Jonas Brothers
Oasis
Scouting for Girls
Tokio Hotel
(I personally voted for Tokio Hotel. However, Jonas Brothers have that nasty thing where they're significantly more pervasive in culture than Tokio Hotel, thus upping their ability to be annoying.)

Sexiest Male
Carl Barat
Keith Murray
Matt Bellamy
Miles Kane
Pete Doherty
(This is a travesty. Keith Murray is much, much, much sexier.)

Sexiest Female
Alison Mosshart
Hayley Williams
Kate Jackson
Lykke Li
Stephanie Dosen
(Are people blind? How could you possibly compare Hayley Williams to Alison Mosshart?)

Best Website
Bebo
Facebook
Last FM
MySpace
YouTube

Best Venue
Brixton Academy
Manchester Apollo
London Astoria
Glasgow Barrowlands
London O2 Arena

Best Album Artwork
The Cure – '4:13 Dream'
Guillemots – 'Red'
The Killers – 'Day & Age'
Muse – 'HAARP'
We Are Scientists – 'Brain Thrust Mastery'

Best Band Blog
Foals
Lightspeed Champion
Little Boots
Noel Gallagher/Oasis
Radiohead

As far as red carpet style went, Alex Kapranos and Paul Thomson from Franz Ferdinand looked like they went shopping in Ozymandias' closet, but they can do no wrong in my eyes. Noel Fielding wore some sort of burgundy velvet tunic thing that David Tennant would probably love and some totally awesome silver boots that I want to make mine. I also really want his bag. (Years ago, I accepted the fact that I dress like a British man.) The Geldof spawn continue to be disgusting, and Patrick Wolf continues to be fierce and crazy. Despite some sort of lace shirt with asymmetrical buttons being involved, MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden was wearing the most normal outfit I have ever seen him in, though he probably had an emergency head scarf in his pocket. Despite some sort of lace shirt with asymmetrical buttons being involved and looking more busted than ever, I still find him weirdly attractive.

Scattered thoughts on Oscars '09

Oh my God. This was, um, this was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell and Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story.

When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.

I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.
--Dustin Lance Black

Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this, but I, and I want it to be very clear, that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often. But I am touched by the appreciation and I hoped for it enough that I did want to scribble down, so I had the names in case you were commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns, and so I want to thank my best friend, Sata Matsuzawa. My circle of long-time support, Mara, Brian, Barry and Bob. The great Cleve Jones. Our wonderful writer, Lance Black. Producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks.

And particularly, as all, as actors know, our director either has the patience, talent and restraint to grant us a voice or they don't, and it goes from the beginning of the meeting, through the cutting room. And there is no finer hands to be in than Gus Van Sant. And finally, for those, two last finallies, for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support.

We've got to have equal rights for everyone. And there are, and there are, these last two things. I'm very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant man president and a country who, for all its toughness, creates courageous artists. And this is in great due respect to all the nominees, but courageous artists, who despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge, Mickey Rourke rises again and he is my brother. Thank you all very much.
--Sean Penn

Do a Holocaust movie, get an Oscar. Words of wisdom, Ricky Gervais.

Ben Stiller as Joaquin Phoenix was amazing. I couldn't even tell who it was under that giant beard until he turned to the side and I recognised his profile.

I almost cried during Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn's speeches, ngl. I'd say I was surprised that Westboro Baptist Church protested, but they've gone so far that they can't be shocking anymore.

As much as I love Paul Newman, etc., the In Memoriam thing took so long that I thought M.I.A. was going to recover enough to show up.

The dance routine to Jai Ho was so epic until John Legend came along. No surprises with Slumdog Millionaire--the little kids were way too adorable, and everyone involved obviously took great pride in their work. Dev Patel, let's get married.

THIS IS THE SKIN OF A KILLER. Our friend RPattz was clearly getting a headstart on looking like a tortured stalker.

Not that Hugh Jackman was bad, but it would have been nice if someone like Tina Fey had hosted. I think that these sorts of things generally go over better if a comedian hosts.

Dominic Cooper was lookin' fly (as were many other people), too bad Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens had to be involved in that musical extravaganza. I am so excited for An Education. The previews made me even more pumped for 500 Days Of Summer, too--Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are way too cute.

Little Obsessions: Andrew the Taco Psychic

I've been listening to little else besides MGMT for the better part of a week, and procrastination has led me to trawl Flickr for photos of them. I discovered a rather lovely set of pictures of Andrew VanWyngarden hanging out at the beach that I keep looking at over and over. I'm not usually into pastels, but the faded colors are really beautiful and give the photographs a dreamy, vintage feel. (And he's so beautiful he could be a part-time model.) This picture of Andrew having his palm read is particularly striking--I love the composition, with the palm trees in the background.

Check out the whole set here.

Little Obsessions: Jason Schwartzman

Microphone - Coconut Records

Despite the fact that I've only seen Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Marie Antoinette, and half of Shopgirl, I'm a little obsessed with Jason Schwartzman. I could discuss how he and I would have really ridiculously short children, but I'll settle for talking about how talented he is. Of course he's talented, he's a Coppola who isn't Nicolas Cage's creepy goth son! I'd love him even if all I knew of his work was the Coconut Records album Nighttiming, considering that he did almost all of it by himself. I am in awe of people who can proficiently play multiple instruments, and Jason Schwartzman is no exception. I love every song on Nighttiming, and I am so excited to hear his second Coconut Records album, Davy, which is released later this month. I've posted the first single above.

Then there's Rushmore. Rushmore is my favorite Wes Anderson film and in my top five movies overall. It's got all of the Anderson trademarks, but is not as opulent as The Royal Tenenbaums or The Darjeeling Limited. I adore Wes Anderson, but it's really Jason Schwartzman's performance that is the centerpiece of Rushmore. Max Fischer is funny, tortured, quirky, and undeniably charismatic, even in his somewhat absurd battle against Herman Blume.

Also, the fact that he co-wrote The Darjeeling Limited with Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola displays versatility, which can only be a good thing. "I love you, but I'm gonna mace you in the face."