Caryn James

The Oscar Show: When to Watch, When to Take a Bathroom Break

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 25, 2011 8:08 AM
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  • 1 Comment
Even when the hosts are unpredictable - James Franco is an original; Anne Hathaway not so much, but she can be surprising – the Oscar show follows a predictable pattern. There’s a very funny opening routine, some early awards excitement, then a slog as people you don’t care about thank their agents, you wonder where the hosts have gone, you look at the clock and can’t believe this interminable show is only halfway through. Will it ever change? Probably not, but we can get smarter about it.

Charlie Sheen Goes Haywire Again; UPDATED with Video

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 25, 2011 3:10 AM
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So now CBS thinks Charlie Sheen has gone too far, as if they couldn't have seen it coming.

Watch a Preview of James Franco on General Hospital

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 25, 2011 12:37 AM
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James Franco brings the term self-referential to a whole new level in this sneak peek from tomorrow's appearance on General Hosptial. Dressed in a tuxedo, he says he has "a big event to attend ... That's what I get for spending my spring between a rock and a hard place. Gosh, I hate cliches, but that was funny, right?" Right. Best Oscar promo yet. He even plugs his nomination for 127 Hours.

James Franco's Artist-Psycho-Killer Character Returns to General Hospital

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 24, 2011 7:49 AM
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The James Franco-ABC synergy didn't start with the Oscars. In 2009 he appeared on General Hospital, part of the same fascination with TV that led him to make a film about Three's Company.

Watch Jimmy Kimmel's Cross-Eyed Possum Predict Oscar Winners

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 24, 2011 2:58 AM
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This week Jimmy Kimmel is enlisting Heidi the Cross-Eyed Possum to predict the Oscar winners - and really, at this late stage of awards season, doesn't that seem as sensible a way to guess as any? Besides, as Kimmel pointed out, "Possums are the most film-savvy of all the marsupials."

Watch Franco and Hathaway's Lovely Little Pre-Oscar Dance

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 23, 2011 10:10 AM
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Looks like a meta-video by the artist known as James Franco, feels like an Oscar promo.

My Oscar Predictions (Trust My Taste, Not My Math)

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 23, 2011 3:42 AM
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IndieWire’s annual poll of critics and bloggers – a Will Win / Should Win format for the Oscars and Spirit awards – has almost arrived. Here's a quick view of my Oscar choices:

Steve Martin’s Oscar Holy Week Continues

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 22, 2011 7:50 AM
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Day by day, Steve Martin’s sharp-edged tweets have been leading us toward that holiest of Hollywood events, the Oscar ceremony. Here’s his latest Oscar-worshipping entry, sure to make awards losers feel better.

"Kings of Pastry": Hegedus and Pennebaker In a Different Kind of War Room

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 22, 2011 2:18 AM
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The great documentary team of Chris Hedegus and D A Pennebaker have made enormously influential films like The War Room, which changed the way we see political theater. But they also have a taste for lively, entertaining docs like their latest, Kings Of Pastry, a delightful bon-bon of a film which shows why they’re such masters: they find the narrative, the personal story and the unexpected high drama in a pastry competition in France.

The Oscar Gem on the "Fish Tank" DVD

  • By Caryn James
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  • February 22, 2011 1:59 AM
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Andrea Arnold’s Oscar-winning short, Wasp, is every bit as accomplished and harrowing as her amazing feature, Fish Tank, and takes the same gritty, realistic approach to its working-class characters.

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