Hey, girl: How Ryan Gosling recruited the feminists

All of us here at TCP love Ryan Gosling (much like the rest of the Universe).  But Radina Papukchieva got the chance to write an essay about him for her Sexuality and Public Discourse class.  If that wasn’t the case, someone else would have written a 10-page appreciation of the Gos, no doubt. Read on.

Since he was propelled into mass-audience fame in 2011, Ryan Gosling has become an unexpected feminist ideal.  From his acting choices (quiet, sensitive guys who don’t quite fit in their environment), to his interviews in which he talks about being raised by his mother and older sister, Gosling has gained, over the past few years, the appreciation of women as being ‘that guy who understands us and listens to us.’  His charms even extended to the feminist community, when a Gender and Women’s Studies student, Danielle Henderson, started making flashcards with Ryan Gosling, annotated with feminist theory and always followed by the cheeky greeting “Hey, girl.”  Her website, Feminist Ryan Gosling, became an overnight hit. Although she claims she started making these as a joke in order to help her memorize all the theories she was studying, the success she gained (a book with the ‘memes’ has now hit the shelves) points to an interesting development: there is a new male ideal out there and he is not the virile, macho type that we are so used to seeing.

Of fathers and sons

There is something of a Greek tragedy in Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines.  The director, whose penchant for painful drama became evident in his heartbreaking 2010 feature Blue Valentine, co-wrote and directed this story about two cracked familial lineages whose paths intertwine in a very dark way.

Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a bleach-blond motorcycle stuntman, with a bleeding dagger inked on his left cheek, and a multitude of regretful tattoos all over his torso, arms, and neck.  He signs autographs at the arcades at night, and hangs around aimlessly during the day.  That is, until one day he learns that he has fathered a baby boy with flame Romina (Eva Mendes).  Luke feels that it is his duty to provide for her and the child, but his set of skills is way too special to get an ordinary job.  So he gets hired by, in typical film-noir fashion, garage owner Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) who teaches him a thing or two about robbing banks. “If you ride like lightning, you’re going to crash like thunder,” he warns him, and this piece of wisdom is what drives the entire film.  Luke becomes so good at it, that pretty soon he is scheduling more than one bank robbery a day.  But that is an occupation doomed to go down in fumes eventually, when the police weighs in after a robbery goes wrong.

Welcome to the family

Whenever a film delves into Freudian theory, there is an unspoken promise that you will be disturbed.  That Chan-wook Park may decide to explore the depths of the human psyche is no surprise, considering some of his previous work, most notably Oldboy (2003).  His Hollywood debut, Stoker, could be analyzed as a family melodrama/psychological thriller that is the perfect mixture of allure and (moral) disgust. The film was written by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller, marking a surprise screenwriting debut for the actor.

The movie begins with India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) standing proudly above a ditch, looking at something below her. The camera zooms in on her expressionless face, her black hair flowing in the wind, freezing the frame as if to make us notice every strand.  She is looking at red flowers and wondering “how they got their color,” emphasizing a theme that runs throughout the film – how do we become what we are.  “I wear my father’s belt on top of my mother’s shirt, this is who I am.”

Photo of the week

Lightning storm – South Carolina, U. S. A. 

There’s just something about a wicked storm. In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, it rains every afternoon for about an hour. Then before you can blink, the sky is clear again – as blue as the water below it, and as peaceful as the pond full of swans near the beach.

On our last night, we witnessed our first real storm. A tornado was passing through the region and although it missed South Carolina, it did leave a few destructive souvenirs in its wake. When the rain started to beat down, and the sky turned black (not grey, but apocalypse-like black) people sprinted through the parking lot, towels over their heads, panic on their faces. I watched calmly from our balcony, in awe of the wild lightning and thunder. Just like in the movies, the sky would flash a bright white every few minutes, lightning would twist across the sky, and the ground would shake from the thunderous roar. It was the craziest storm I have ever seen, and the most gorgeous. Standing near the metal railing, snapping dozens of shots, was probably not the brightest idea… but with every crackle I felt a little more hardcore.

Photo and write-up by Sophia Loffreda

@sloffreda

Oscar 2013 and what they wore

The Academy Awards have come and gone, and all we have to show for it is red carpet pictures of beautiful people in questionable clothes. What better ways to honor our beloved celebrities than to nitpick at their style choices in the hopes that they will do better next time. I have to say that though I was relatively pleased with most of the dresses, no one really stood out as a surefire best dressed candidate. Check it out and you be the judge.

Amanda Seyfried in Alexander McQueen

Not your average McQueen and that’s what made it work for her. The colour suits her and the neckline is a nice departure from the usual strapless look.

And the Oscar goes to…(the best for last)

The nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role are:

Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour

Like Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence has been receiving rave reviews for her turn in Silver Linings Playbook long before the major awards season was underway, and rightfully so. Her Tiffany was funny and vulnerable, strong and weak, smart and irrational; it’s also great to see such a young actress (22 years old) with so much potential get her work valorized by her peers and the industry. An Oscar win for Lawrence will only cement her position as the rightful heir to Hollywood. With so many young actresses making a name for themselves in indie and blockbuster films (Emma Stone, Elizabeth Olsen, Chloe Grace Moretz, Elle and Dakota Fanning, Anna Kendrick… ugh why so white?), Lawrence seems to be the one most people are also rooting for; her online fan base is huge, and her
appearances on late-night talk shows make me wish she will be around for a long, long time. It’s so great to see someone so talented be so down to earth. The only other nominee I see as a potential upset is Jessica Chastain for her incredible work in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. The other three actresses are great, too (Emmanuelle Riva in Amour, Naomi Watts in The Impossible and Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild), but not enough people have seen them and their films for them to really (seriously) be contenders. — Chris Hanna

This is my favourite category this year, because although I found the films in 2012 to be less than amazing, the female performances were just all over the place.  Anne Hathaway in Dark Knight Rises, Michelle WIlliams in Take This Waltz, are Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea are among the biggest snubs.  But then again, all of the nominees are amazing too, and I would narrow the competition down to Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain and Emmanuelle Riva. Jennifer Lawrence is the star of tomorrow, and I think she has a big and bright future ahead. The reasons why Chris wants her to win are the reasons why I think she shouldn’t be given an Oscar just yet.  She’s young, she’s already been nominated once before for Winter’s Bone (a role more far out there than her turn as Tiffany in Silver Linings) and she will be nominated again.  I guess I’m afraid of the Oscar curse (Reese Whitherspoon and Halle Berry’s careers have both gone downhill since their win). I just think that this role is not the best of Lawrence, it’s great, and Silver Linings is my favourite from all the nominees, but it’s not the role that should get her the gold.  Same for Jessica Chastain.  She has already become, very quickly, one of the greatest American actresses.  She likely has that Meryl Streep future of being nominated every year, and if she doesn’t win this year she probably will the next.  I think that the Oscar should, and will, go to Emmanuelle Riva for Amour.  She was the force that drove the film, especially considering how hard to watch it was.  Also, she has never won before and she’s had an amazing career, starring in Alain Resnais’ classic Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959) and Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors: Blue (1993), among other things. - Radina Papukchieva

And the Oscar goes to…(Part VII: Sound, Score, Song)

The nominees for Best Original Song are:

J. Ralph(“Before My Time”) for Chasing Ice
 Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer (“Suddenly”) for Les Misérables
Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree  (“Pi’s Lullaby”) for Life of Pi
Adele, Paul Epworth (“Skyfall”) for Skyfall
Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane (“Everybody Needs a Best Friend”) for Ted

Adele and Paul Epworth’s “Skyfall” for Skyfall will be the first Bond song to ever take home the award. Can you believe it? “Diamonds Are Forever,” “Goldfinger,” “Die Another Day…” (crickets). Since this is all but guaranteed, let me devote this space to my last tirade against the biggest snub at the Oscars this year. Adele and Epworth may have had some competition in this category if John Legend’s “Who Did That to You” from Django Unchained was nominated. Like “Skyfall,” the song fits the movie’s tone and theme perfectly, not to mention the singers’ voices have been proven to stop people in their tracks (ok, me, one person, but others will agree I am sure). Along with “Skyfall,” “Who Did That To You?” was not only one of the best movie songs of last year, but it may one of the best songs (period!) of the new decade. Seriously. Give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments or on Twitter (@Chris_Hanna). I won’t even talk about the other nominees for respect to the only song that actually belongs in this category, (which has been kind of a joke in the past, so I’m not surprised why it’s especially messed up this year). - Chris Hanna

And the Oscar goes to… (Part IV: Visuals)

The nominees for Best Achievement in Costume Design are:

Jacqueline Durran for Anna Karenina
Paco Delgado for Les Misérables
Joanna Johnston for Lincoln
Eiko Ishioka for Mirror Mirror
Colleen Atwood for Snow White and the Huntsman

I’m probably the only person who actually really liked Anna Karenina, but that might be due to my profound love for
Russian literature, Joe Wright, and Keira Knightley. So I might be biased. Regardless, I thought the costumes in the movie were exquisite, and by the way, in case you actually read the book, they matched Tolstoy’s descriptions exactly.  When Anna appeared in that divine black dress at her first dance with Vronsky, I gasped. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran was also the mastermind behind the costumes in Wright’s Atonement (that green dress Knightley wore has to be the most memorable dress in movies) and last year’s sly spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Yeah, so Anna Karenina for me. - Radina Papukchieva

I’m so glad Mirror Mirror is nominated in this category. The film was nothing great, just another Snow White adaptation in a long string of Disney-inspired remakes, starring Phil Collins’ daughter Lily and Julia Roberts. But, the costumes were breathtaking (swan hats, corsets, feather-embellished cabooses, and more). Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka was a master, and if Mirror Mirror takes it home, it will be a post-humous win for Ishioka, who passed away from cancer last January. However, Anna Karenina is the frontrunner. As a period piece with glorious jewelry and majestic gowns, Jacqueline Durran had her hands full from the get-go. Staying true to Tolstoy’s vision is no easy task and the twice-nominated Durran (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) will probably prove the old adage right on Oscar night — third time’s a charm. - Sophia Loffreda

And the Oscar goes to…(Part III: Animation)

The nominees for Best Animated Feature are:

 Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman for Brave
Tim Burton for Frankenweenie
Sam Fell and Chris Butler for ParaNorman
Peter Lord for The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Rich Moore for Wreck-It Ralph

The category was created in 2001 when the Academy finally realized that there was some quality animated fare out there: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to be considered for Best Picture (back when there were only five films up for the award). Up and Toy Story 3 joined the exclusive club, but only after the best picture field was increased to “up to 10.”

And the Oscar goes to…(Part II:Writing)

The nominees for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen are:

Michael Haneke for Amour
Quentin Tarantino  for Django Unchained
John Gatins for Flight
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty 

Quentin Tarantino won the Golden Globe for his Django Unchained screenplay, but I think it’s garnered too much
controversy to take the Oscar on Sunday. John Gatins’ screenplay for Flight was a project 12 years in the making, and I’d love to see him win because he’d be extra appreciative. I’m going to pick Mark Boal’s work for Zero Dark Thirty over Michael Haneke’s Amour and Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola’s Moonrise Kingdom, the indie darling’s only nomination.  — Chris Hanna

Quentin Tarantino’s work is always original in the sense that he comes up with the stories, but it is also often uninspired: a protagonist wants revenge. That’s it.  Besides, I am actually surprised that Django Unchained garnered any nominations at all.  Inglourious Basterds was a much better film, and it had biting dialogue. It didn’t win, so Django won’t either. Amour didn’t really have a plot.  My favorites for this award are Moonrise Kingdom and Zero Dark Thirty.  Like Chris, I think Mark Boal did an extraordinary job with the script for Zero Dark Thirty; putting all that research together into a story that made sense. Besides, it caused controversy which is always a plus. - Radina Papukchieva

The hardest thing to accomplish successfully when it comes to a two-hour movie script is tension. Tension is the fairy dust of any good screenplay and a film that can keep that tension rising, all the while telling a story that everyone in the audience knows the end to, should take home our good friend Oscar. That my friends, is a given. Mark Boal’s Zero dark Thirty is deserving of all the hype - Django, on the other hand, not so much. I have never understood the fascination with Tarantino. His movies are not so much controversial as they are meant to shock. His dialogue has never been astounding — his creativity, directing chops, and actors have been. However, this one belongs to the word smiths and plot-wielding wizards, a.k.a. Boal or Anderson/Coppola. Unfortunately, I don’t think Moonrise Kingdom has garnered anywhere near the amount of attention it takes to bring home this kind of award, which is a shame because the writing was poignant and sharp. Still, I’ll be glad when Zero Dark Thirty wins it. This film left me breathless and wildly impressed. The torture scenes caused an uproar, but they were handled with aplomb and tact script-wise. The dialogue was minimal when it had to be, funny when we were on the edge of our seats, and wrought with emotion and intelligence the whole way through. -Sophia Loffreda