Sound Alikes

I used to think Mumford & Sons sounded like Bruce Springsteen.  But upon further reflection, I now think Wrecking Ball sounds like Mumford & Sons.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Jay Cutler

I totally understand now why Jay Culter has been such a pissy bitch since he came to the Chicago Bears.  What was the point of hiring a quarterback like this without putting the right people around him?  With Mike Tice at the wheel and Brandon Marshall on the field...well, it's a new day!  It's a long road to New Orleans but I think I'll clear February 3rd just in case!

Dane Sanzenbacher

On the other hand, the only problem with my baby, Dane Sanzenbacher, justbarely making the team is that, barring an injury to someone up the roster, we're never ever going to see him play.  This is a real problem.

Working Class Hero

I'm so grateful to Anne Helen Petersen at The Awl for helping to explain why I'm drawn to Jeremy Renner's good old-fashioned, brawny, American maleness.  I love the through-line she draws from Brando to Springsteen to Renner.  I, for one, welcome these manly-men as a respite from the carefully groomed metrosexual, the self-conscious hipster, the soulless financial titan, and the wan computer geek.  I'm also glad that after years of outsourcing to the blokes from Australia (Russell Crowe, Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, Joel Edgerton, etc., etc.), America may finally be getting back into the business of Man-manufacturing.

Perhaps the one element Petersen misses, however, is the emotional resonance of the Brando/Springsteen/Renner archetype.  There's a thoughtfulness and a personal pride that elevates them above their calloused hands and begrimed skin.  The most attractive American working class heroes never give an indication that they are limited to physical pursuits or suffer from mental failings.  I'm not interested in just gobbling up the eye candy or descending into some brutish romance novel stereotype.  Brando, Springsteen, and Renner, through their characters as well as public personae, display intelligence, curiosity, and empathy.  (For this reason, I don't really agree with her inclusion of Channing Tatum who is probably a nice boy but who doesn't seem to have too many gears turning upstairs.)

Don't get me wrong, I've still got love for the nerds.  But in these final days of summer, during a political season of calculated name-calling, I'm deliriously happy to dream of a Man who is proud of the product of his own hands, who can build his own house, and who will smash the face of any asshole who tries to take it from him.

Rennerotic

I could watch Jeremy Renner in this B-roll from The Bourne Legacy all night long.  The action surrounding the motorcycle, starting at 4:30, is intensely arousing.

You're perfect, Jeremy.  Funny, smart, talented, stubborn, sweet, proud, wild, controlled.  You're everything a man should be.  Now shut the fuck up and go make the movie you were born for:

The Steve McQueen Biopic

Man of the Hour: Jeremy Renner Part IV

The Bourne Legacy was the perfect choice for playing hooky on a Friday afternoon.  God, I love when the boss is out of town.

All those expectations, all that anticipation was worth it.  That was an enjoyable movie.  Jeremy Renner was the BAMF I expected but there was also a subtle vulnerability.  I can't really think of another actor his age who can simultaneously sell "sensitive" and "action star."

Rachel Weisz was unexpectedly good.  She's believable playing a "smart person" (I hate when dumb actors are asked to play smarter than they are.  It never works.) and she also does freaked-out-and-panicked very convincingly.

However, the movie definitely needs more of this:

Divided Loyalties

I caught the finale of the first season of Sherlock on PBS again last night.  How does Andrew Scott manage in just these few minutes, to completely creep me out and turn me on?



I think he might be an acting genius.

(Oh yeah, Benedict Cumberbatch is there, too!)

Simultaneously, I'm absolutely captivated by these pictures of Jeremy Renner at the premier of The Bourne Legacy.

 

It's like he's staring into my soul.  I feel like those eyes will follow me around the room.

I can't blink.

I don't want to.

Photos

Introducing, Dixie Followill

Congratulations, Caleb and Lily!

You gave your daughter an awesome name.  So far, you're great parents!









Source

Throttle Up

Jeremy Renner and Universal aren't messing around with their roll-out of The Bourne Legacy.  This cover story from Empire is building my anticipation.




Very nice work behind the camera, Sarah Dunn!

(Oh, those arms.  Those arms!)



And then there are these shots of Jeremy leaving Chateau Marmont on a motorcycle.  I sat on a motorcycle for the first time ever last night.  My desire to learn how to ride has been growing steadily over the past year and the thought of saddling up with Jeremy?

BAMF

Source

Man of the Hour: Jim Moriarty

Or, more specifically, Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty.

Not to worry - a new trailer for The Bourne Legacy is due at the end of the week and I suspect Jeremy Renner will regain his position of honor here soon enough.

In the meantime, however, I finally watched the last episode of the second Sherlock series.  Benedict Cumberbatch is still exotically brilliant but Andrew Scott is the one I'm thinking of in the shower these days.  His Jim Moriarty is chillingly intelligent and diabolically manipulative.  Here, at his slippery and calculating best:



and



Moriarty is, obviously, an insane force for malevolence but he also shows great humor, flashes of vulnerability, and, most of all, a very humanizing sensuality (something largely lacking in Cumberbatch's Holmes).  For example, this scene is wildly creepy but the way Scott works his eyes is undeniably sexy:



The series' finale suggests Moriarty won't be returning for more opportunities to send shivers (good and bad) down my spine.  I suppose I'll have to keep calm and carry on.

Best Scene on the Worst Show

I hate myself for watching the whole season of Smash.  Badly-written, insane characters played by actors whose skill-levels range from mediocre to incompetent.  If only the production numbers weren't so charming.

Case in point: this delightful scene wherein Derek fantasizes about Karen as Marilyn.



I love the way he stares at her with the pure innocence of a little boy.  Well played, Jack Davenport.

You Either Think All People Are Created Equal or You Don't

We can no longer afford the luxury of a leisurely attack upon prejudice and discrimination.  There is much that state and local governments can do in providing safeguards for civil rights.  But we cannot, any longer, await the growth of a will to action in the slowest state of the most backward community....We must strive to advance civil rights wherever it lies within our power.
 

-President Truman, Address to the NAACP, June 28, 1947

Man of the Hour: Jeremy Renner, Part III

Yowza.  According to my Blogger stats, somebody out there sure loves them some Jeremy and it's not just me.

So, let's feed the beast.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Jason Merritt/FREDERIC J. BROWN/Getty

And, he is a beast, isn't he?  I like the way he's looking at Scarlett.  I love how he actually looks at people.  Like he's honestly engaged with them.  He also looked at her that way at the Oscars last year:

Ivan Vejar / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Or how about when he looked at Carey Mulligan that way at the Oscars the year before?

Wireimage.com

I guess I'll have to put The Avengers on my To Do List so I can look at him that way for a while.

Man of the Hour: Jeremy Renner, Part II

In truth, the real Man of the Hour is a past-lover/former-boss who recently became the current-boss of a good girlfriend/former co-worker/past-lover.  My life isn't actually as soap opera as that sentence reads but I swear the scenario is true.  Plus, neither one knows that the other used to be my lover.  Plus, despite now being married, he's sending me flirty messages via my unwitting friend.  He's certifiably a dick but it was the best sex I've ever had.  So, although I will not reciprocate his flirtation, the fact that he still wants me fills me with hot lava.

I will distract myself with the reigning Man of the Hour, Jeremy Renner.  Dude, I don't care if you're gay, straight, bi-, reclusive, whatever.  I just love a man with talented fingers.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

We give life to books and, in turn, they sustain us.  Thank you, Moonbot Studios, and congratulations on your well-deserved Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

Death Comes to the Grammys

"I'd like to collapse with you
and ease you against this song."

So.sexy.

I was happy to see Gerard Smith, the late bassist for TV On The Radio, make it into the Grammys "In Memoriam" death reel.  It was a difficult night for anyone other than Whitney Houston to get the appreciation they deserved:

I'm glad they kept the little tribute to Etta James.  Bonnie Raitt's weathered soulfulness triumphed over Alicia Keys' usual "look at me" warbling as well as her misplaced mentioning of Whitney.  Please.  James' voice was far superior to Houston's.  Don't take my word for it: on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Singers, Etta is #22 while Whitney is back at #34.  Also, their legacies aren't anywhere close to being comparable.  Without Etta James, there would have been no Whitney Houston. (Or Alicia Keys.  Or Bonnie Raitt, for that matter.)

The "tribute" to Don Cornelius, on the other hand, was mediocre at best.  Soul Train was one of the most successful music television shows ever and, through it, Cornelius had a hand in popularizing black culture among millions of Americans.  Yet all he gets is a shout-out from LL Cool J followed by a half-assed performance by Chris Brown and Lil Wayne?  Not cool, Grammys.  Where is your peace, love, and soul?

Anticipation

The Chinese calendar may say that this is the Year of the Dragon but anyone who has looked at the movie release schedule knows that it could more accurately be called the Year of the Renner.

The Bourne Legacy trailer is out and I can.not.wait until summer.



That broken vulnerability with which he says "Reno" kills me.  Then comes all the ass-kicking.  The menacing look at 1:26?  And the Grizzly Adams beard?!  And Edward Norton?!

My god.

Lady boners all over the place.  Oh, the exquisite anticipation.

Lord, Have Mercy

Posh may look miserable, but she's a damn lucky woman.

Also, shout out to The Animals.

So In Love With You

I've always loved the President, but I was never attracted to him.  Until now:





In my mind, an imaginary Barack and Michelle periodically put on old records and slow dance in the living room, a la the Huxtables.  You know he sings to her....